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Open science and research

Open science and research aims, within the boundaries of research ethics and legality, to make research data, methods used in research, and research results available to all interested parties. This is intended to improve the quality, reliability, and visibility of research, as well as promote the societal impact of research and the emergence of new innovations.

Research permits

You need a permit for research or a survey about our students or staff. Read the instructions below carefully and apply for a permit using the forms below.

You do not need to apply for a research permit for the small-scale surveys that are part of the studies at Oamk.

Applying for a permit

  1. Fill out the form in Finnish or English. Fill in at least the fields marked with an asterisk.
  2. Save the form in pdf format.
  3. Send the pdf-application with attachments for processing to tutkimusluvat(at)oamk.fi. Subject the message: Research permit application, your last name.
  4. You will soon receive a message from OAMK Sign asking you to sign the application. Log in to OAMK Sign (instructions for using OAMK Sign).
  5. When your application has been processed, you will receive information about the decision in your e-mail.

Processing time

The applicant must reserve enough time for processing the application. We try to process applications within two weeks of receiving the application. During Christmas, June-July and other holidays, the processing time can be longer.

Contacting the subjects

The request to participate in the survey is placed in the intranet of staff or Tuudo-application. We don’t send the contact information of students or staff as an e-mail attachment. Research requests are not sent by e-mail to research subjects either.

After receiving a research permit, send the accompanying text of the study/survey to the address tutkimusluvat(at)oamk.fi. The accompanying text must include:

  • The title with which you want the announcement to be visible. E.g. Nursing student: participate in a study on the use of social media
  • study/survey expiration date
  • link to the survey or research answer form
  • researcher’s contact information
  • At the end, mention that the survey/research has been granted a research permit from Oamk.

Contact information

Vice-rector Jyrki Laitinen is responsible for research permits. The processing of research permits is coordinated by Sirpa Ahvenlampi.

For more information about research permits, please contact: tutkimusluvat(at)oamk.fi

The information sent in the form is stored in the information system of Oulu University of Applied Sciences, where it is stored for ten years. The information is only processed in matters related to the granting of the permit.

The condition for granting a research permit is that the author of the research undertakes to comply with the provisions of the EU Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act when processing data. Information about the data of individual persons that may be generated in the research will be anonymized or archived after the research is finished. The researcher destroys the personal data after the publication of the results. https://tietosuoja.fi/en/destruction-anonymisation-or-archiving-of-data

Privacy policy

Good scientific practice and research ethics

At Oulu University of Applied Sciences, we adhere to the guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) regarding good scientific practice, handling of suspicions of misconduct, as well as ethical principles for research involving humans and the ethical pre-evaluation of humanities research. The responsibility for adhering to good scientific practice lies with the entire university community and every individual engaged in research and development work, as well as teaching staff.

TENK: Research misconduct

TENK: Ethical review in human sciences

Joint Ethics Committee of Human Sciences of Centria, KAMK and Oamk

Centria University of Applied Sciences, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK) and Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk) are committed to the ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences prepared by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK.

The ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in the human sciences in Finland. Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK guidelines 2019. (2nd, revised edition.) In PDF format; Plain-text version

Ethical review in research with human participants

The committee conducts ethical reviews of research designs for which ethical review is not regulated separately in the Medical Research Act (488/1999). Besides humanities and social sciences, these research designs include research with human participants in the natural sciences and technology, in artistic research, and in some cases also in non-invasive health or medical research.

The committee conducts ethical reviews of research related to research, development and innovation activities as well as post-bachelor’s degree research at Centria, KAMK and Oamk.

A request for an ethical review statement can be submitted by a member of staff at Centria, KAMK and Oamk. In the case of research conducted by the higher education institution’s staff, an ethical review is requested from the higher education institution for which the research is being carried out.

For master’s degree theses, an ethical review request for the research is jointly submitted by the student and the thesis supervisor.

The committee does not issue statements on research that has already been completed.

The committee’s statement is free of charge.

If the study is a medical study as defined by law (Medical Research Act 488/1999), the review is conducted by the local Medical Ethics Committee of the wellbeing services county of North Ostrobothnia (Medical Ethics Committee – OYS).

A statement from the ethics committee is not a research permit. A permit to conduct research is always issued by the organisation in which the research will be conducted. In addition, the individual research participants must give their consent to be involved in the research.

An ethical review does not shift the researcher’s responsibility of their research and its moral solutions to the ethics committee.

In addition to the ethical review of research, the committee’s purpose is to promote training in research ethics, contribute towards maintaining and enhancing the quality of research and serve as an expert body on research ethics in its member organisations.

What does the ethics committee assess?

The researcher must request an ethical review statement from a human sciences ethics committee before data collection if the research contains one or more of the following factors:

  1. Participation in the research deviates from the principle of informed consent.
  2. The research involves intervening in the physical integrity of research participants.
  3. The focus of the research is on minors under the age of 15, without separate consent from a parent or carer or without informing a parent or carer in a way that would enable them to prevent the child’s participation in the research.
  4. The research exposes participants to exceptionally strong stimuli.
  5. The research involves a risk of causing mental harm that exceeds the limits of normal daily life to the research participants or their family members or others closest to them.
  6. Conducting the research could involve a threat to the safety of participants or researchers or their family members or others closest to them.

If none of the above factors is met, ethical review is not required.

In Finland, neither legislation nor TENK’s guidelines require ethical review by an ethics committee for research based purely on public and published data, registry and documentary data or archive data.

The funder or publisher of the research or the organisation granting the research permit etc. may require an ethical review in a situation where it is not required in the Finnish system. In this case, the ethics committee may provide the requester with a description of the Finnish system rather than a statement (Advice and materials | Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (tenk.fi) ).

Documents to be included in the statement request

The statement request will be processed as a single PDF file with the following documents:

  1. Statement request form (LINK TO FORM)
  2. Research plan (maximum 10 pages, excluding appendices) and its summary (maximum 1 page)
  3. Data management plan
  4. Information intended to be given to research participants, the possible consent form and other data to be given to participants (e.g. questionnaire, interview outline), as well as the possible participant recruitment notification
  5. Data protection statement for scientific research (if data containing identifiers is gathered from participants or a personal data register is established)

Instructions for submitting a statement request and the processing of statement requests

  1. The statement request and its appendices must be submitted to the ethics committee (eettinen.toimikunta@oamk.fi) at least 14 days before the next meeting. Once the statement request has been received, you will get a confirmation email. If you do not receive confirmation, please contact us by email at eettinen.toimikunta@oamk.fi.
  2. If necessary, the applicant is invited to the meeting to present the study. This allows for discussion and clarification.
  3. The committee will announce its decision within 14 days of the meeting. The ethical review statement provided may be either positive or conditionally positive (requiring changes). The statement may also be negative (requiring changes).
  4. Any corrections by the committee that are marked clearly on the statement request must be delivered to the committee within three months of the request for these corrections. After this, a new statement request must be submitted to the committee.
  5. If the researcher fails to comply with the guidance in the statement received, this may constitute a violation of responsible conduct of research (RCR).
  6. If the person who has requested an ethical review statement does not accept the changes proposed in the statement or the decision of the ethics committee, they may request a statement on the matter from TENK. The request for a statement, including the grounds for requesting a statement, must be submitted within two months of the ethics committee’s decision.
  7. If the researcher is unsure of the need for an ethical review, contacting us in advance at eettinen.toimikunta@oamk.fi is recommended.
  8. For more information on the statement process, please contact the secretary of the ethics committee or the organisation’s research ethics support person.

Meetings of the committee and deadlines for submitting a statement request

Committee meetingDeadline for submitting statement request
Wed. 9 October 2024Wed. 25 September 2024
Wed. 11 December 2024Wed. 27 November 2024
Wed. 19 February 2025Wed. 5 February 2025
Tue. 29 April 2025Tue. 15 April 2025
Tue. 3 June 2025Tue. 20 May 2025

Members of the committee for the period from 19 February 2024 to 31 December 2025

Ordinary members:

Centria University of Applied Sciences:

Hanna-Mari Pesonen (Principal Lecturer, Nursing), Chair

Kajaani University of Applied Sciences:

Petri Koponen (Principal Lecturer, Technology), Vice Chair

Jaana Lappalainen (Principal Lecturer, KAMK Master School)

Oulu University of Applied Sciences:

Pekka Isomursu (Principal Lecturer, Well-being and Culture)

Niko Männikkö (Principal Researcher, RDI Unit, Business Development), Secretary

Ulla Virranniemi (Legal Counsel, Administration, Data Protection Officer)

Research ethics support persons who do not participate in the processing of statement requests:

Hanna-Riina Aho, Centria University of Applied Sciences

Riitta-Liisa Karjalainen, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences

Päivi Aro and Reetta Saarnio, Oulu University of Applied Sciences

Research ethics support services

The research ethics support system was initiated in 2017 at the initiative of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK). The goal of the support system is to enhance the awareness of the internationalizing research community regarding Finnish good scientific practice and to provide low-threshold personal research ethics advice in universities.

Contacts:

Jyrki Laitinen
Vice Rector, Administration
Phone: +358 50 3441733

Päivi Aro
Principal Lecturer, Business and Natural Resources Education
Phone: +358 50 5298364

Reetta Saarnio
Principal Lecturer,
Health Education
Phone: +358 40 1440341

For research permit matters, please contact Jyrki Laitinen. For research ethics issues, contact Päivi Aro and Reetta Saarnio.