Instructions for grant recipients

Grant payments

General instructions

Research grants may only be used for budgeted expenses given in the application. Possible changes in the purpose for which the grant is to be used must be agreed in writing with the secretary general of the Cancer Foundation.

A maximum of 15 per cent of research grants of over €10 000 may be paid as overheads’ reimbursement to the place where the research is conducted.

The first instalment of a research grant is paid in December of the year the grant was awarded. Subsequent instalments are paid biannually, in May and December.
In addition to the letter approving their grant application, grant recipients will receive instructions concerning matters such as social security payments and taxation.

According to a decision of the Tax Administration, the Cancer Foundation is to notify the Tax Administration of all grants above €1000. It is for this purpose that the headquarters of the Cancer Foundation requires the social security ID of each recipient.

Dissertation grants and travel grants are personal stipends paid to the recipients’ private bank accounts.

Banking details

Grants are paid to the bank accounts of universities or corresponding institutions. Only dissertation grants and travel grants are paid to researchers’ own bank accounts.

Grant recipients are to provide the Cancer Foundation with their banking and reference details on the appropriate form.

Payment schedules

Grants are paid in 2 – 6 equal instalments: the first in December of the year the grant was awarded and on the basis of a signed commitment. Subsequent instalments are paid automatically biannually, in May and December.

Reporting

It is no longer necessary to submit separate interim reports in order to receive further instalments of a grant.

The researcher reports on the results produced with the help of the grant in two ways: 1) when applying for a new grant, and 2) based on a request sent through the Researchfish service.

When applying for a new grant, the researcher uses the relevant section of the application from to report on results achieved with a prior grant and how the research is progressing.

The Cancer Foundation uses the Researchfish platform to monitor the results and impacts of research conducted using grants.
It is not necessary to send the Cancer Foundation ready publications linked to research conducted, as they are reported on through the Researchfish platform.

Final accounting

The final accounting for the use of the grant must be sent to the Cancer Foundation in February of the year following the grant period. If by then the grant remains unused, the final accounting is to be submitted one year from this date. If the grant is still unused after this time, the grant period can be extended for sufficiently good reasons by application in writing addressed to the secretary general of the Cancer Foundation.

Final accounting is done with reference to original receipts and/or bank statements, or reports of an accounting agency handling the grant’s money transactions.

Final accounting is reported using the PDF form indicated at the bottom of this page. The use of the grant is to be specified in the accounting report.

Overheads must be accompanied by proof of payment. Unspecified institutional costs will not be accepted.

The original supporting documents or reports attached to the final accounting must cover the entire amount of the grant paid.

The grant recipient is to confirm by written signature concerning the appropriate and budgeted use of the grant.

The recipient of the grant confirms in writing the signatures of the granting of the scholarship and the budget. If necessary, the Cancer Foundation may ask for additional clarifications from the grant recipient.

Unused grant money is to be transferred back to the funding institution that disbursed it within a year of the announcement of its allocation, unless otherwise agreed with the recipient.

The dissertation grant is a personal stipend that does not need accounting.
If grant recipients do not submit a final accounting report by the prescribed deadline, the Cancer Foundation will send them a remainder. Delay may impede the chances of receiving new grants in the future.

If grant recipients do not deliver the final accounting by the date given in the reminder letter, any applications from the recipient will not be processed and any remaining parts of the grants received must be returned.

Travel grants

Travel grants are paid in one instalment on the basis of original receipts for hotel bills, congress registration fees or similar original document.

It can also be paid against the travel agent’s advance certificate, whereby the original document corresponding to the amount granted must be submitted retrospectively.

If the scholarship does not cover all travel expenses, the original receipt can be returned on request with a stamp to find out what portion of the cost the Cancer Foundation has reimbursed.

Communications

We request that grant recipients take account of the following points in any communications concerning grant:

The grant disburser is the Syöpäsäätiö (in Finnish), Cancerstiftelsen (in Swedish), Cancer Foundation of Finland (in English).
It is sometimes worthwhile mentioning too the source of a grant, e.g. the Pink Ribbon fund, the Movember fund, or the Juhlatoimikunnan rahasto.
We would like grant recipients to inform the Cancer Society of Finland’s communications unit about interesting research findings at [email protected]