Research grants

The application should include a separate research plan, which is written in Finnish, Swedish or English. Familiarize yourself with Guidelines for writing a Research Plan.

Ensure that all necessary permits/licenses for your research project are valid, and list them in your application. Copies of permits/licenses may be requested before grant disbursement. For more information, refer to the “Permits and Statements for Grant Applications” guidelines.

Applicants for student grants, non-doctoral researchers, and researchers working in teams must provide a statement from the responsible research supervisor. While a separate report is not required in the application, please include the supervisor’s contact information and confirm whether the supervisor has reviewed the research plan.

Apollonia, the Dental Foundation, and the Joint Fund of Dental Organizations do not fund general university overhead costs.

Report any grants received from other sources in the past three years or any pending grant applications in your application.

Familiarize yourself with the evaluation criteria for grant applications [in Finnish]

For researchers with a dental license conducting doctoral thesis, for expenses and work, up to 5,000 euros.

For researchers with a doctoral degree, up to 8 research months at 2 500 euros per month and/or an expense grant, up to 20 000 euros.

Dental medicine students who are Apollonia members can apply for this grant. If you are a student for a primary degree during the application period, you may only apply for a student grant. The student grant is available for scientific work and research-related expenses, with a maximum of 3,000 euros.

This grant is awarded to dental researchers conducting doctoral researc, including those in postgraduate programs. The grant recipient must work on the research full-time during the grant period. Before starting the grant period, the recipient must submit a detailed written plan for using the grant and work hours to the Finnish Dental Foundation’ s agent (Vesa Pohjola, firstname.lastname@shlts.fi). In October 2024, applications for the Young Researcher Grant can be submitted for the period from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The Young Researcher Grant may be awarded for scientific work (work grant), covering expenses related to work (expense grant), or both scientific work and expenses (work and expense grant). The grant amounts for Young Researchers are 21,500 euros (12 months) and 12,000 euros (6 months).

Grants for 2025 will be announced in March 2025. Applicants will receive an email of whether the grant has been awarded. Grant recipients will also be asked to provide their bank account and personal information in the grant system.

Grant recipients need not inform Apollonia of their grant acceptance separately. If a grant recipient is unable to accept the awarded grant, they should contact Apollonia’s Operations Manager, Kaisa Laukkanen, at firstname.lastname@apollonia.fi.

Payments for research, incentive, and student grants in 2025 will begin in March 2025 after the Apollonia Symposium. Grants are generally paid in one instalment during the year 2025. Grant recipients can specify their preferred payment date, which one adds to the payment plan in the grant system.

The first instalment of the Young Researcher Grant will be paid according to the agreement, and the second instalment will be paid six months later after the grant recipient has provided a progress and continuation report via email to the Finnish Dental Foundation agent (Vesa Pohjola, firstname.lastname@shlts.fi).

Grants must be used for the intended purpose.

Payment of the Young Researcher Grant requires full-time research work. Payment will be suspended during paid employment, temporary work/tenure, military service, parental leave, or similar circumstances. Extensions of the grant period may be negotiated if payment is interrupted due to military service, parental leave, or other reasons.

Grants received from elsewhere during the last three years and pending grant applications will be indicated in the grant application. Other grants awarded during the grant application period do not need to be reported.

The Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution (Mela) handles the mandatory pension and accident insurance for grant recipients. According to the law, insurance coverage applies to individuals within Finland’s social security scope who have received a research grant for scientific work.

This obligation applies to individuals receiving personal grants and those working as part of a team on a grant. It does not apply to grants for basic degree studies or covering expenses only. Insurance premiums are based on income. Pension insurance premiums are tax-deductible.

The Finnish Dental Society Apollonia and the Finnish Foundation for Dental Medicine report the grants they have awarded Mela when the grant meets the criteria for duration and amount. For more information on pension and accident insurance, visit www.mela.fi.

Every January, Apollonia submits an annual statement to the tax authorities regarding the grants paid out in the previous year. The obligation to report tax-free grants also applies. Grant recipients must verify their pre-filled tax return information and make any necessary corrections.

Grant recipients do not need to provide a tax card to Apollonia, and Apollonia does not withhold tax from the grants, even if the total grant amount paid in a calendar year exceeds the tax-free threshold. Any applicable taxes are delivered later on the portion of the grant that exceeds the tax-free amount. With questions about tax deductions for pension contributions and other expenses, one should turn to the tax authorities.

For more information about grant taxation, visit www.vero.fi

Grant recipients must submit a report using their research grant through the grant system by the end of the calendar year following the grant year. When applying for a new grant, the applicant must have reported using a grant previously awarded by Apollonia, the Finnish Foundation for Dental Medicine, or the Joint Fund.

All Finnish Dental Society Apollonia members are eligible to apply for research grants and other Apollonia member grants. However, communications often mention only dentists representing most of our members.

The panel of experts consists of seven members, each of whom reads and scores each application. This procedure is designed to ensure equality and transparency. The panel assesses the scientific quality of the applications, the relevance of the research, and their feasibility. At the panel meeting, proposals for grant recipients are made to the Boards the Finnish Dental Society Apollonia, the Finnish Dental Foundation, and the Joint Fund of Dental Organizations.

The grant you apply for should be chosen according to your “status” at the time of application. If you are a student at the time of application, you can apply for a student grant. If you are applying for a “post-doctoral fellowship”, you must have already completed a doctoral degree at the time of application.

A detailed and precise plan includes research objectives, background information, hypotheses, methods, timeline and expected results. The plan should also explain the current status of the project. When writing the application, it is helpful to focus on what the money will be used to do – without losing sight of the bigger picture. In particular, if, for example, half of a larger project has already been completed and published, these achievements and the researchers’ previous work in this area should be highlighted in the background information. The plan should be well-founded and scientifically significant. In your plan, describe your research team and possible collaborators. In addition, describe your role and the expertise of your team and other research team members.

The application clearly targets the joint research grant call of the Finnish Dental Association Apollonia, the Finnish Dental Foundation, and the Joint Fund of Dental Associations.

A poorly written plan is unclear, inconsistent, or contains too little detail. In addition, the hypotheses and methods are not sufficiently well founded. The plan’s budget is inaccurate, unrealistic, or overly generous, and there is no breakdown of costs and no justification of costs. In a poor research plan, the scientific and societal relevance of the research cannot be identified or is not sufficiently justified. In general, too many objectives can also make it difficult to understand what the applicant considers to be the most relevant to the project.

A poor application will have an unrealistic and unclear timetable for the research. Furthermore, the applicant has not demonstrated sufficient commitment to the study.

Please attach the requested annexes and list precisely the questions specifically asked in the application. For example, permits should be listed in the application in the space provided; simply listing them in the research plan is insufficient.

An encouragement grant is intended for a researcher working on a doctoral thesis. Applicants are usually required to have one publication. Dissertation studies abroad are not an obstacle to applying for the grant.

You cannot apply for a post-doctoral research grant or an expense grant if you have not completed your doctorate before the application deadline.

You should apply for an encouragement grant since you have not completed your doctorate. In your application, you should clearly explain your situation. Based on your application, the expert committee will decide on the possible grant, its category and the amount of the grant.

A Young Researcher Grant is awarded to a dentist carrying out doctoral research. For example, you may be a trainee at a research school. You must be doing research as your main job during the grant period.

We aim to pay the grant in the month you have requested it when you complete your payment plan in the grant system.

The Finnish Dental Society Apollonia, the Finnish Dental Foundation, and the Joint Fund of Dental Organizations do not fund any overhead costs the University charges.

Recipients must submit a statement or a report of using their research grant to the grant system, preferably by the end of the calendar year following the year of award. It should be noted that when applying for a new grant, a statement of any previous research grants awarded by the Finnish Dental Society Apollonia, the Finnish Dental Foundation, and the Joint Fund of Dental Organizations must have been completed

In Apollonia’s electronic grant system, you can also refer to the structure of the statement, which can be found in the “statement” section of your application. A free-form report, abstract or poster can also be attached to the report.