Content
- 1. The Foundation’s grant policies
- 2. Who can apply for a grant and for what purpose
- 3. What grants are not awarded for
- 4. Processing of applications
- 5. Making an application
- 6. New grant for the same project
- 7. Proof of Concept projects
- 8. Notification of grant decisions
- 9. Data protection
- Once you have read the instuctions, log in to the online service and complete your application.
General Application Guidelines
Please read these guidelines carefully before completing the application form.
1. The Foundation’s grant policies
The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation awards grants for internationally significant scientific research with breakthrough potential and for art and culture that has the potential to meet demanding international criteria. The Foundation selectively awards grants also among other things for projects relating to higher education, sports and third sector activities.
When evaluating grant applications for scientific research, particular attention is given to the expertise and achievements of the researcher and working group as well as to the research objectives, the implementation plan and the relevance and effectiveness of the results. The project implementer must have access to an appropriate infrastructure, partners or the required specialization.
Scientific grants are mainly targeted at research groups and at supporting postdoc research; postdoc researchers at all career stages may apply. Although the Foundation does not award grants for individual doctoral dissertations or postdoc stage research, a working group may also include researchers in the dissertation and postdoc stage.
The objectives must be clearly defined in applications and the implementation plan must be realistic. The financing plan must be reasonable, clear and well justified. Measurement and concretization of the relevance and effectiveness of the project are also evaluation criteria.
Applications may be made for a short-term (one year or less) or multi-year project: the length must be set out and justified in the application and will be evaluated in conjunction with processing the application.
A new application may be made for a project for which the Foundation has already awarded a grant.
The Foundation uses external experts to support decision-making. The identities of the experts and their rationale are not published. The Foundation does not justify its decisions.
Grants may be awarded conditionally.
The Foundation requires research to comply with the responsible conduct of research of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (www.tenk.fi/en).
2. Who can apply for a grant and for what purpose
All Finns or private persons, registered associations and other organizations living or operating in Finland may apply for a grant. Also, persons or parties living or operating outside of Finland may apply if the object of the grant has a clear and strong connection to Finland. Applicants must also be of legal age.
We award grants as a rule to research groups and organizations particularly for long-term projects and broad themes, bold and innovative work. Also, a consortium of more than one working group or organization may apply for a grant.
Applications may be made for a short-term (one year or less) or multi-year project.
Working groups may apply for a grant for work and/or expenses. The working group must have a person acting as the lead applicant and who is responsible for the use of any grant awarded and for reporting to the Foundation, to other members of the group and to the necessary parties. Only one application may be made for the same purpose: members of a working group may not separately apply for a personal grant for the same project. A project carried out by one person for a justified reason is also considered as being a working group. However, grants are not awarded to an individual researcher for postdoc stage research.
Consortia formed by more than one working group or organization may apply for a grant for work and/or expenses. The working groups in a consortium may represent different organizations. A joint application by several parties must have one person responsible or organization acting as the lead applicant and who is responsible for the use of any grant awarded and for reporting to the Foundation, to other parties to the grant and to the necessary parties. Only one application may be made for the same purpose: the different parties in a consortium may not separately apply for a grant for the same projects. NB! Any grant may only be paid to the organization represented by the person responsible or to the organization responsible for redistributing the grant to the other parties to the grant.
A registered entity may apply for a grant for work and/or expenses, incl. wage costs. If the entity is not registered, the application is submitted as a working group (see above).
3. What grants are not awarded for
The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation does not award grants
- for profit-seeking business activities
- on social grounds (for purposes falling within the scope of private life)
- for individual doctoral dissertations, nor for postdoc stage research: a working group may also include researchers in the dissertation and postdoc stage
- to fund studies and for internships
- as a travel grant
- for individual small equipment purchases, tools and musical instruments
- to finance any activity on a permanent basis
- for activities covered by public service provision
- if the applicant or project has no fixed connection to Finland.
The Foundation only awards grants, and doesn’t make sponsoring or cooperation agreements, for example.
4. Processing of applications
The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation accepts grant applications every day of the year. There are no separate application times. Only electronic applications for grants made through the online service are accepted. Applications or requests for grants sent in other ways will not be considered.
The Foundation’s Board of Trustees makes decisions to award grants at meetings four times a year in March, May, September and December. The exact dates are not made public. The Foundation can give no guarantee that an application will be considered at any particular meeting. Since the average processing time for applications is 4–6 months, the best way to try to get an application considered at a particular meeting is to submit it to the Foundation six (6) months before the required month of the meeting.
With regard to applications in the fields of science, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees considers applications in medicine at its meetings in March and September. Meetings in May and December consider applications in the fields of technology. Applications in culture, art and other fields are considered at all meetings.
The Foundation does not provide interim information when processing applications.
The Foundation does not justify its decisions.
Applications are processed as follows:
- Office preparation: does the application comply with the Foundation’s rules
- Two-stage expert evaluation according to the evaluation criteria
- Examination by the Expert Committee
- The Executive Committee prepares a proposal to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees
- The Board of Trustees makes decisions of the grants
- Notification of decisions to all applicants
Applications are evaluated confidentially, and disqualification principles are applied in decision-making.
Neither the identities nor the rationale of the external experts used by the Foundation are published.
5. Making an application
Applications for grants can be made by completing the electronic application form in the online service. Applications, requests for grants or cooperation, application attachments or more information submitted in other ways will not be considered.
Use personal banking codes to log in to the online service. Individuals who do not have Finnish banking codes log in to the service by creating user IDs. Before completing the application, applicants must read the instructions on this page on how to apply for a grant. Since the instructions are updated from time to time, it is advisable to re-read them when making following applications.
The online service guides applicants in making their application. Place the cursor over the question marks [?] to reveal more information and instructions. The form can be saved and completed later. Incomplete applications are stored for one year before being deleted from the system.
Information sent once the application has been submitted will not be taken into account, except for any changes in the funding situation of the project for which a grant has been applied for and which the applicant must notify the Foundation of by email to saatio@jaes.fi.
It takes about 4–6 months to process applications after submission. (see Processing of applications).
The Foundation treats applications equally and fairly and does not provide advice on the content of the application for example on the subject, research or financing plan.
The Foundation will contact the applicant where necessary if more information is required.
5.1 Instruction on how to complete the application form
Applicant section
Choose whether you are applying for a grant for personal work, a research or working group or for the project of an organization. Most applications are for grants for a research group even though the application is submitted by an individual. With an organization’s project, the lead applicant is the organization.
Application section
Write the ”Project background and overview” text so that a reader not familiar with the subject clearly understands the objectives and importance of the project.
Choose the stage of the project for which you are applying for a grant. For example, you can apply for funding to complete a project already under way or for the initial stage of a project that is about to start.
The place at which the project is carried out means the organization where you are working during the project and which is responsible for the financial administration of the project.
A consortium means a joint project by two or more organizations. A joint project by different faculties in the same university is not a consortium but a joint project between two different universities is.
Plan section
The texts in the Plan section serve as a summary and abstract of your project. Don’t repeat the texts you wrote in the application form in the future work plan appended to the application.
Financial plan section
In the ”Total project funding” section indicate in conjunction with any other funding sources whether this is funding that has already been secured or has just been applied for. Specify information about the overall financial situation of the project in the text field. If several applications for overlapping funding should become reality, how would this affect the implementation of the project?
Other funding section
In the “List funding obtained in the past three years” section also mention currently ongoing funding even if it was granted more than three years ago.
Attachments section
All the attachments to the application must be submitted with the application. The attachments requested are submitted in PDF format compiled into one file (max. size 5 MB).
Please provide the following for applications for a grant for scientific research:
- Work plan, maximum of 8 pages
References are included in the number of the pages. In the references, clearly state the title of the article, year published and the publication, the first and last publisher as well as any link to the relevant publication. - CV of the group leader in Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK format, maximum of 3 pages. For consortium projects, TENK format CVs for all main contractors, maximum 3 pages per main contractor.
- List of publications of the group leader (the 10 most relevant with regard to the project for which funding is being applied for). For consortium projects, publication lists of all main contractors (up to 10 most relevant to the project applied for/main contractor).
Please provide the following for applications for a grant for culture, art or other project:
- Work plan, maximum of 8 pages
- Overview of the organization or the CV of the group leader, maximum of 3 pages. For consortium projects, CVs of all main contractors, maximum 3 pages per main contractor.
- If the applicant is an entity, a copy of the previous year’s annual report, financial statements and auditor’s report must be provided as attachments to the application. The documents may be submitted either compiled into an attachment file or as separate links in the Link to material or website section.
Do not repeat the summaries you wrote in the application form in the work plan to be attached to the application. Instead, focus in the work plan on describing concretely, concisely and comprehensibly how you intend to implement the project. The format of the work plan is informal and may be shorter than the maximum length stated.
5.2 Amount of grant applied for
There are no upper or lower limits or other limits on the amount of the grant applied for or for cost items in the financing plan. Costs must be reasonable and well justified.
The financing plan for the project is completed straight onto the application form.
Any calculations made in other ways appended to the application will not be taken into account when processing the application.
Any grant decision made by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees is linked to the original financing plan submitted with the application and which must be followed during the project. Any significant changes taking place during the project must be agreed in writing with the Foundation.
5.3 Share of overheads in grant applications for scientific research
The Foundation does not comply with a total cost model but a maximum of 15% of the overheads of the direct costs of the project. Direct costs are wages and salaries, including indirect employee costs, as well as research costs (excl. equipment costs, see “Equipment costs”).
Share of overheads is an evaluation criterion.
5.4 Pay or grant
The grant application may include the wage costs of persons in the working or production group, including those of the project leader, based on the working hours spent on the work. As a rule, the salary of a principal investigator/team leader cannot be included in the budget if he/she is employed by the university/organisation. Statutory indirect employee costs according to the collective labor agreement. Work may not be paid as a grant.
Grants are paid in accordance with the Foundation’s operating model to the responsible organization, which pays those participating in the project a salary.
5.5 Equipment costs
The Foundation does not provide support for project equipment purchases such as laptops, mobile phones and other similar small devices.
Where the purchase of a certain item is essential to carry out the project, this must be clearly justified in the application and the cost included in the equipment costs (not for example in the research costs) in the project financing plan. Even then, the cost may not be included in the direct costs based on which the share of overheads is calculated.
5.6 Recommendations
For recommendations, it is a good idea to ask a person who is able to open up the importance of the research, project or activity and who is capable of assessing the applicant’s ability to carry it out.
Applicants may ask a maximum of five referees for recommendations.
Applicants give the email addresses of referees in their application. Requests for recommendations are sent to referees electronically from hakemustuki@datalink.fi in conjunction with submitting the application. The message includes a link to the online service where referees, if they wish, can submit their recommendations in pdf format. A recommendation code matches the recommendation with the right application. Recommendations must be submitted within 14 days of sending the request.
Applicants are themselves responsible for ensuring that email addresses are written correctly and that referees know of the forthcoming request beforehand. Requests for recommendations cannot be re-sent and the Foundation does not accept recommendations submitted in any other way.
Applicant is not able to see the recommendation or whether a recommendation has been submitted. Referees are not able to see the application in the online service, so the applicant needs to provide the referee with the application, if needed.
If a request does not reach a referee’s email, it is advisable to check the spelling of the email address and to check the spam folder in case the request has inadvertently gone there.
6. New grant for the same project
It is possible to apply, by a new application, for a new grant to continue a project for which the Foundation has already awarded a grant. In this case, application processing and the evaluation process and guidelines are the same as if applying for a grant for the first time.
If a project has been awarded a new grant, the final report of the previous grant must have been submitted and approved before payment of the new grant can begin.
If not all of the previous grant has been used, you must contact the Foundation at saatio@jaes.fi.
7. Proof of Concept projects
The Foundation also awards grants for high-risk Proof of Concept projects. Funding is for a maximum of two years.
In Proof of Concept projects, the idea is promising but there are few earlier results from the field. Preliminary results supporting the idea are an advantage, but the purpose of the project is to collect sufficient conclusive results as the basis for a broader project. When evaluating applications, attention will be given to productivity in the researcher’s career, the originality of the project and the potential of a breakthrough.
A Proof of Concept project can lead to a broader research package and following a successful project, it is possible to submit a new application. The same criteria as for other projects are used to evaluate new applications.
8. Notification of grant decisions
Applicants will be notified of the decision soon after the meeting at which their application was considered.
Successful applicants will receive an award letter by post. Grants awarded are also published on the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation website, after which the decision to award the grant is public and the grant recipient may freely disclose the information to their own target groups.
Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email to the email address stated in their application. It is advisable to check the email spam folder to ensure the notice has not accidentally gone there.
The Foundation neither provides interim information when processing applications nor justifies its decisions.
9. Data protection
When submitting an application for a grant to the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, applicants send information to the Foundation about themselves, which forms a register containing personal data for the Foundation. The data controller’s right to collect, store, use and otherwise process information is laid down by law.
Once you have carefully read the guidelines for applications, you can use your online banking credentials to log in to the online service, complete your application and submit it to us.