Frequently Asked Questions

WHO CAN APPLY for grants?

WHICH GRANT should I apply for?

Question: I am a Master of Health Sciences graduate. Can Encouragement Grants be awarded to people with other medicine-related degrees, not just medical doctors and students?

  • Finnish Medical Society Grants are only available to medical and dental doctors and students.

Question: I have applied for an Eka Grant. Can I also apply for an Encouragement Grant or a four-month Research Grant?

  • No. You can only apply for one grant at a time. An exception is the Uudet tutkimusavaukset – grant, which can be applied in addition to other grants.

Question: Can I apply for one of the Foundation’s grants if I have previously applied for and been awarded a grant from the Postdoc Pool? The Pool grant only covers part of the costs, and I would like to apply for a Foundation grant as well, if possible.

  • The Foundation does not award further grants simultaneously with a Postdoc Pool grant.

Question: The Encouragement Grant is available to “young” researchers working on a doctoral thesis – what does “young” mean? Is there an age limit, or does it refer to being early in your research career?

  • Young researcher means early career researcher and does not refer to age.

Question: Should grant applications completed online also be printed and sent out to the Finnish Medical Foundation?

  • Grants are not sent via mail. All applications are sent in through the online service.

EKA GRANTS

Question: Should the application specify how the money is to be spent?

  • Eka Grants and Encouragement Grants do not require a breakdown of grant usage.

Question: If you apply for an Eka Grant, can it be transferred into e.g. an Encouragement Grant if that is a “better fit”?

  • No transfers will be made. Applicants must know which grant they are applying for. If you have no publications, apply for an Eka Grant; if you’ve been published, apply for an Encouragement Grant.

Question: Should Eka Grant applications include literary references?

  • Literary references are not necessary.

Question: Should the thesis subject be submitted before applying for an Eka Grant?

  • Submitting is not mandatory.

Question: If the public defence of a thesis takes place during the application period (May 1 to May 15), can and should Eka or Encouragement Grants be applied for?

  • Applying is not possible, as the thesis will have been finished before May 31.

ENCOURAGEMENT GRANTS

Question:  I am applying for an Encouragement Grant for working on a doctoral thesis. Should the application include information about a specific research project or the research plan for the entire thesis?

  • Include a research plan for the project you hope to be funded. If you want funding for the thesis, include the thesis research plan; if you seek funding for a smaller project, include the research plan for that project.

RESEARCH GRANTS

Question: Can the research plan be in English?

  • The research plan can be in English with the rest of the application in Finnish.

Question: I have been awarded an eight-month Research Grant, which I am currently using on a 50% basis, spending half the week on clinical work and half on research. Can I apply for the grant term to be cancelled if I’m unable to spend the awarded grant in its entirety? Should I suspend the research, I would naturally return the unused portion of the grant.

  • There are no rules for cancelling a grant term before it ends, due to the general principle that grants are awarded based on applications and that receiving the grant is subject to completing the research described in the application.

Question: Can Research Grants be used on drug or laboratory costs?

  • Yes, as long as the length of the research period corresponds to the awarded grant.

Question: I have understood that 25% of working hours may be spent on other paid work during the research period. Does this apply to the whole four-month period or each month separately?

  • Research Grant guidelines state that a maximum of 25% of working hours may be spent on other paid work during the research period. The purpose is to ensure that applicants can concentrate full-time on research work. The Foundation wishes that any additional work should be divided evenly across the research period.

RETURNING RESEARCHER GRANTS

Question: Can I apply for Returning Researcher Grants afterwards?

  • No – the applicant must still be abroad when the application process is started.

RESEARCH GROUP FOUNDER GRANT

Question: In the Research Group Founder Grant application form, the basic information section has a space for the total costs of the project. I am only applying to cover the wages during an 18-month project, with no other costs. Should I insert the annual wage for each year without additional costs, or should this section already include a total of all costs stated by the university, including incidental costs, etc.?

  • Please include all costs, making a note of the incidental costs.

Question: The instructions specify a maximum length of 10 pages for the research plan. Should the list of publications, curriculum vitae, cost estimate and funding plan all be included in these 10 pages?

  • The research plan itself should be a maximum of 10 pages – the rest can be included as appendices.

Question: Research Group Founder Grants are available to early career researchers. By separate request from the applicant, the grant may also be used to cover the wages of another researcher working on the project. The project leader already has an established research career and works primarily on research, not on clinical work. Does this matter if the grant is intended to pay for the wages of additional research staff?

  • Research Group Founder Grants can only be awarded to applicants spending half of the year (a total of 18 months in three years) on full-time research work made possible by the Foundation’s grant. The grant is not suitable for just hiring an additional researcher or researchers, because the grant is intended to make up for the applicant’s lost earnings arising from the leave of absence related to the research period. If funds are left over after the lost earnings have been covered, they may be used for additional costs or for paying additional wages.

PAYMENT

Question: When exactly are the funds paid out?

  • Payment date is when the Foundation makes a payment to the account provided by the grant recipient. The funds will show up in the recipient’s account within 1 to 3 banking days.

ABANDONED RESEARCH

Question: What if the research is abandoned?

  • If the research is abandoned, we will evaluate the situation on a case-by-case basis. In such cases we will request a report of how the grant was used and what it accomplished.