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Instructions for those receiving funding

The funding has been granted for one year. Please note that those projects that have been accepted as continued projects (i.e. that are intended to be funded for several years) also have to re-apply for funding within the regular application period of the Foundation each year. The year code shown in the grant letter and E-NESSI means: funding period / proposed duration of the project, for example: a new one-year project 1/1, the second year of an intended three-year project 2/3, etc.

Managing the projects in E-NESSI

Projects that have received funding can be found at the E-NESSI main page under Active projects (state: project financed). By clicking the project number you can enter the project main page, where links to project persons and payment schedules can be found.

Personal information of the project leader (PL) and grantees can be filled in by clicking project persons. Please note: the social security number of PL must be also given. Submit a bank account number only if the person in question gets a personal grant. The filled in information can be updated until the payment schedule forms are sent. After this, personal information can be updated through the page my profile (personal information) at the E-NESSI main page. However, please note that the details updated this way will only be shown in new applications, not in the existing ones. The Foundation uses the newest available information in communication and, therefore, updating the personal information is important.

A grantee can be added to an active project in one of two ways: (1) A grantee can be given access to the project. The grantee must first register into E-NESSI and then click the link join a project. After that he/she must give the project number received from the PL, fill in the required information, and click the link send a request for joining. After this, the PL will receive the following notice shown at his/her main page: project has person(s) waiting for confirmation. By clicking this link, PL can confirm the joining (through edit; remember to save the confirmation). After this, the grantee can access the project through his/her own E-NESSI account, fill in and edit his/her personal information, fill in payment schedules for personal grants (PL approves the payment schedules, grantee cannot send them) and view all other information of the project except the personal information of other project persons. (2) The project leader can submit the information of the grantee. In this case, the grantee will not register him-/herself and will not get an E-NESSI account for the project. Upon separate agreement with the Foundation, new grantees can be added to E-NESSI in the middle of the payment period.

On the payment schedules -page you find a summary on the sums granted and requested, as well as links to the forms payment schedule a (other funding) and b (personal grants; grantees only have the link to the form b). In the form a you are asked to fill in the account details of your working place. The message field is for the internal project number possibly given in your working place. For the form b, the grantee’s account details are automatically transferred from the page project persons. Fill in and send (by clicking send payment schedules) the schedules by 1.12.2011. Check the schedules carefully beforehand because after sending they cannot be modified anymore. After sending, the state of payment schedules will change from 'payment schedules unfinished' to 'payment schedules sent' and the link payment schedules at the main project page will be replaced by the link payment records. Under payment records,  PL can see all the information while grantees can only access their personal grants and other funding. The grant is paid by the given schedule unless otherwise agreed. The payment schedule and other details (such as bank account number) can be modified in the middle of the payment period, if necessary, but the modifications cannot be made using the payment schedule forms. Instead, you are asked to send a separate request in writing (preferably by e-mail) to the Head of research in order to agree upon the changes.

Managing the grants

The Foundation pays personal grants each month directly to the grantee's bank account. The PL cannot pay personal grants from other project funds. Personal grants are only paid to the PL or other researchers in the group, not to assisting personnel. Personal grants cannot be paid to researchers that, at the same time, hold a full-time position with salary, are on parental leave or serve in the military.  The amount of the yearly grant is 20 000 euros (1666,66 euros/month) for PhD-students and 23 000 euros (1916,66 euros/month) for post doc -researchers. The statutory social security payments must be paid from the grant sum. The personal grants paid to the Baltic countries, Russia and Poland are half of the amounts paid to Finland.

For payment of other part of the funding, an account has to be opened at the university or research institute. If this is not possible, a separate bank account has to be opened for this purpose. The PL has to approve all the payments made with the research funds. Daily allowances may not be paid from the travel funds. PL has to maintain normal book-keeping records on the research expenses, if this is not carried out by the university's or institute's accounts office or corresponding body. PL is personally responsible for ensuring that there are no non-approved changes in the schedule or no exceedances in the use of funds.

Research assistants and laboratory technicians can be employed as assisting personnel. A student preparing his/her master's thesis can, for example, be employed as a research assistant. The PL has to take care of the assisting staff's social and pension security and insurance payments according to the law. Assisting personnel are not employed by the Foundation but by the site of the research (university, institute or a corresponding body) or the project leader.

Reporting

The PL has to submit a report of the project by the end of February following the research year. Reporting instructions can be found at the homepage of the Foundation under 'Grants' - 'Reporting'. Please note that the possible surplus has to be returned to the Foundation unless a separate written agreement (preferably by e-mail) on the transfer to the following year has been made with the Foundation's head of research. The researchers are expected, upon request, to be prepared for presenting their results and findings also to environmental authorities and decision makers, for example through 'Ympäristötiedon foorumi'.

Materials, equipment and literature purchased with the Foundation’s funding remain in the possession and guardianship of the research site. Research sites are to follow their own procedures in making purchases. The Foundation's role as the financial supporter of the research has to be mentioned in all the research articles, reports and other publications.

Social security and taxation

The Farmers' Social Insurance Institution (Mela) is responsible for the statutory pension and occupational accident insurance of the persons who have a grant or a scholarship and who have to be insured in Finland. This is the case if the recipient of a grant works uninterruptedly for at least four months and if the granted sum is higher than 1 149,45 euros (in 2011). The insurance is available also for foreign recipients of grants if they are covered by the Finnish social security. This insurance is mandatory and the recipients of grants must be active in the application process. The insurance application must be made within three months from the beginning of the grant work period. The insurance can start only once the decision of awarding the grant has been made. The application form and further instructions can be found at the Mela Internet site. The PL is expected to report the names of the working group members to Mela using the Group leader's notification form.

 At the end of the year, the Foundation makes a report in accordance with the tax legislation to the Helsinki tax office concerning the grants paid. Personal grants are tax-free up to the amount corresponding to the Finnish state grant for artists (19 029,51 euros in 2011). The Foundation does not make tax deductions from grants even if the amount of the grant exceeds the maximum tax-free sum. Instead, the grantees must inform the taxation authorities of their grants in their annual tax submissions. The mandatory social security payments may be tax-deductible. Those taking the insurance from Mela should notice that they must pay health benefit and daily benefit payments in connection of taxation. For more information, contact the Finnish Tax Administration.