GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Revised 23 December 2011
The grant application period is once annually, 1 – 31 October. It is announced in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper in September. The application is made in the Foundation’s electronic grant-issuing system, accessible here. The grant application information and relevant appendices are electronically transferred within the grant-issuing system to the Foundation. In addition to this, the completed application must also be printed and delivered as one signed copy to the Foundation’s office address: Juho Vainion Säätiö, Kalevankatu 17 A, FI-00100 Helsinki, Finland. The research and project plan as well as the possible publication and/or curricula vitae should be attached in written form to the application.
The postmark on the applications sent by post should be dated 31 October at the latest. Applications should not be delivered as registered post. In the event that an applicant wishes to deliver his/her application in some other way than by post, it must arrive at its destination – the office of the Juho Vainio Foundation – no later than 16.00h (Finnish time) on the last day of October. However, if 31 October is a Saturday or Sunday, the application must be at its destination on the preceding Friday no later than 16.00h (Finnish time). Applications must not be telefaxed or delivered by email. Late applications will not be processed.
The Foundation will not return applications or their appendices and will only be responsible for their storage until the end of September the following year.
The Foundation issues personal and project grants. The purpose of a personal grant is to ensure the livelihood of the grant recipient, so that s/he is able to concentrate on the research work or project for which the grant has been issued. A personal grant may be used to cover costs related to the research or project to a maximum of 20 per cent of the entire amount of the grant.
A project grant is issued to a working group (research group) functioning under the direction of an appointed person, and its purpose is to cover the costs necessary to implement the research project, such as the salary costs for working group members as well as other expenses. When the project grant applicant is a working group, the application should be made in the name of the group’s person in charge / group leader. S/he shall be responsible for reporting to the Foundation on the use of the grant and research progress. If the project grant is distributed to the leader of the working group or its members as a grant rather than as a salary for their work, s/he should also report their personal details of the grant recipients to the insurance institution (Mela) responsible for social and pension insurance, in the event that the individuals concerned operate with this grant for a period of at least four consecutive months.
A grant may also be solicited for research work or a project that has already been initiated. If the Juho Vainio Foundation has previously supported the same already initiated research or project, the applicant should label the new application as a continuing application on the application form.
The Foundation no longer asks for references to support grant applications.
The Board of the Foundation makes the decision regarding issuing of the grants after having heard specialists. The grant distribution ceremony will be held on the 20th of January or the following weekday. Those persons who have received grants shall be informed about the occasion by separate invitation. The stipend register documents are distributed during this event. The grant recipients not present at the occasion shall receive their stipend register documents after this ceremony is over, by post at the address they have reported in their applications.
For the payment of grants, each recipient should open a separate grant account and notify the Foundation regarding the account number in accordance with the grant-issuing system guidelines. Grants will not be paid into accounts that contain personal funds. In the event that there is a wish to administer the grant issued via an institutional or other association-based bank account, the grant recipient should report this association as the account holder and its account number, as well as report his/her own name as grant recipient in the message section and the possible grant administration codes desired by the account holder. In this case as well, the grant recipient should report his/her own identity number and also the Business ID of the association acting as the account holder. The Foundation reserves the right to adjust administrative or general cost reimbursement possibly withheld from grants by the institution or other organization to a reasonable level (see point 7 of the application form).
Awarded grants can only be withdrawn during the year following the application period, i.e., during the year for which the grant was awarded, unless otherwise separately agreed on the basis of a grant recipient’s written initiative and reasoned application.
THE GRANT RECIPIENT’S SOCIAL SECURITY
Under certain conditions, grant recipients fall within the sphere of statutory pension security, rehabilitation benefits and group life insurance in accordance with the Farmers’ Pensions Act (MYEL). They also fall within the sphere of statutory occupational accident security in keeping with the Act on Farmers' Occupational Accident Insurance (MATAL), the earnings-related unemployment allowance benefits in accordance with the Sickness Insurance Act (SVL), and the Social Insurance Institution’s rehabilitation allowance.
A grant recipient residing in Finland is obligated to obtain insurance if s/he works on a grant continuously for at least four months, and the amount of the grant exceeds the prescribed minimum limit (in 2011: 1,149 euros). The minimum limit changes annually. The taking of insurance is compulsory when the terms for the same are fulfilled. Under certain conditions, the sphere of insurance also covers grant-based work performed abroad and grant-based work performed by a foreigner in Finland. Information on these matters, too, can be obtained from the Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution (Mela).
The grant recipient should personally agree on insurance matters with Mela as well as personally remit all related payments. Insurance must be applied for within three months of starting work on the basis of a grant. The insurance premiums are approx. 14% of the amount of the grant. Insurance coverage applies only to working. If the grant or part thereof is intended to cover costs caused by work, a cost specification must be presented in the insurance application as well. If the grant is awarded to a working group and the grant or part of it is paid to the person in charge of the working group or its members as a grant rather than as salary, the required reports should be prepared and delivered to Mela.
The Foundation’s information on social security has been given above. Further information on grant recipients’ social security can be obtained from Mela, tel. +358 (0)20 630 0500, e-mail vakuutus@mela.fi, website www.mela.fi, and from Mela’s regional representative (contact information at www.mela.fi).
REPORTING
If a research work or project for which the grant was awarded has not been started in accordance with the plan delivered to the Foundation, the grant recipient shall immediately send a brief free-form account of the matter by post or email to the Foundation. In the event that working group members have been changed, this must also be reported to the Foundation.
All grant recipients must always send a free-form report of grant-funded research or other project progress to the Foundation’s office by the end of January.
The final report must be submitted no later than three months from completion of the research or other project. The final report should provide an account of research or other project results, conclusions, benefits and other necessary circumstances, as well as an itemized financial account of the use of the grant. The information is to be given on the Foundation’s form and in a separate appendix. Electronic accounting forms are available on the Foundation’s website. On request, grant recipients are also obligated to draw up a popular account of the work results for the Terve Elämä (Healthy Life) pages published on the Foundation’s website.
The grant awarder reserves the right to stop the use of grants if research subjects have been altered without the permission of the Foundation’s Board, or if the general or special terms set by the Foundation have been infringed.
To the extent that the grant has not been used for the purpose for which it was issued, it should be returned to the Foundation.