FST’s grants

The board of the Finnish Society of Toxicology (FST) aims to manage the funds of the society in such a way that the real value of the capital is maintained or increased. The return of capital may be granted by decision of the board as grants to the members of the society for purposes consistent with the objectives set out in the rules of the society. The number and amount of grants to be awarded at one time is decided by the board of the society.

The purpose of this guideline is to describe the principles governing the awarding of grants and to ensure that all matters relating to the awarding of grants are handled in a uniform manner. Changes to the guidelines are decided by the board of the society.

Who are the grants intended for?

The FST may award grants to its members. The applicant must have been a member of the FST for at least one year when applying for the grant.

A grant is not awarded if: 

• the applicant has unpaid FST membership fees 
• no report has been submitted on the use of a previously awarded grant 
• a previously awarded but unused grant has not been returned

For what purpose can grants be awarded?

The purpose of the grant must be related to the field of toxicology. If necessary, the board of the society will decide the matter on a case-by-case basis. Grants can be awarded, for example, to participate in scientific meetings, trainings or to cover poster printing costs. Grants are not awarded to cover daily allowances.

Applicants for a grant are required to make their own active contribution at events (for example, their own oral presentation or poster), which will be described in the application, for example by including an approved abstract. If necessary, the grant can be awarded conditionally in advance and paid after an abstract etc. acceptance.

The amounts of the grants are equivalent to travel grants. The board of the society may also award a grant smaller than the amount applied for, to cover a specified cost item. For this reason, the application must include a breakdown of expenses, which must include not only estimated expenditure, but also grants applied for or received elsewhere.

Undergraduate students may also be awarded small-scale travel scholarships to participate in scientific meetings organized by the FST in Finland. No presentation, poster or other active contribution other than participation in the event is required for the undergraduate student’s travel scholarship.

Applying for grants 

The application process for grants is not continuous, but grants can only be applied for once the board of the society has opened the grant application process. Members are notified of this via the association’s email list. Applications are submitted to the board of the society in accordance with the instructions specified in the grant application at the time.

Applications will be processed at an FST board meeting. The members of the board of the society shall recuse themselves from processing applications, for which they may be considered to have a conflict of interest. (In other words, if a board member has such a relationship with the grant applicant or the purpose of the grant applied for that his/her impartiality or objectivity in relation to the matter is compromised).

Grants awarded

The grant will be paid after it has been awarded to the bank account indicated by the recipient in the application. If the awarded grant or the travel scholarship of an undergraduate student is not used at all (for example, the trip does not take place), the grant must be returned to FST.The grant recipient undertakes to submit a free-form written report on the use of the grant to the FST board. The report must be submitted within one month of the use of the grant, e.g. participation in an event, and can be published in the Toksikologit-magazine of the society.