Theses and research projects

The Wellbeing Services County of Vantaa and Kerava offers numerous opportunities for conducting theses and research projects.

All research, and theses that involve the collection or processing of personal data require a research permit. The Wellbeing Services County of Vantaa and Kerava also has a lighter research notification process for situations where personal data is not collected, and clients or patients are not studied. However, either a research permit or a research notification is required in the following situations:

  • The research involves collection or processing of personal data.
  • The research targets the patients or clients of the wellbeing services county.
  • The research targets clients who visit, are treated, or reside in the outsourced service units of the wellbeing services county.
  • The research targets the staff of the wellbeing services county.
  • The results of the research will be made public in a report or publication (excluding the publication of a thesis in a thesis repository).
  • The patient or client registry data of the wellbeing services county is intended to be used for research purposes (excluding data permits granted by Findata).
  • A staff member of the wellbeing services county wishes to collect data from the wellbeing services county for their own thesis.

A research permit or research notification is not required in the following situations:

  • A student conducts a literature review that does not require collaboration with the wellbeing services county.
  • A student undertakes a learning or development task during their internship that does not involve the collection of personal data and is not published.
  • The wellbeing services county centrally conducts research or investigations targeting its staff.
  • A staff member of the wellbeing services county conducts a routine development or management-related investigation as part of their official duties, which is not published outside the wellbeing services county and is not related to the individual’s studies.
  • An authority requests information from the wellbeing services county under the right to access information.
  • The data to be collected is or would be publicly available. All materials on the Vantaa and Kerava Wellbeing Services County’s internet sites are freely available for use as research data. Some public documents may also be found on the wellbeing services county’s intranet sites, but using these in theses or research always requires a permission of the responsible manager.

What to consider when planning research?

A responsible person from the wellbeing services county must be designated for the research before applying for a research permit. The responsible person acts as the representative of the wellbeing services county in the research and, for example, sends the interview invitation or questionnaire to our staff after the research permit has been granted. The staff of the Vantaa and Kerava Wellbeing Services County will only respond to survey or interview invitations that come from within their own organization and mention the granted research permit or supported research notification.

The student’s educational institution is responsible for guiding the content of the research. The Vantaa and Kerava Wellbeing Services County requires students to have their research permit application and its attachments reviewed by a teacher before submitting them to the registry office. If the research targets the researcher’s own work community or their own patients/clients, the Vantaa and Kerava Wellbeing Services County may require an ethical pre-assessment of the research. For ethical reasons, we generally do not grant research permits for interviews with one’s own colleagues or subordinates.

Data permits

When the application concerns only data stored in the registers of the wellbeing services county of Vantaa and Kerava, the application for a data permit is made using the research permit application form, which is submitted to the registry office of the wellbeing services county, together with the required documents (kirjaamo@vakehyva.fi).

Processing of personal data

By signing the research permit application, you undertake not to disclose any confidential data obtained in connection with the research, to familiarise yourself with the requirements set out in legislation and to comply with the research ethics requirements. You also undertake to familiarise yourself with the requirements on the processing of personal data set by current legislation, especially the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act, and your responsibility for the lawful processing of the data.

More information

Contacts, further information and enquiries

tutkimusluvat@vakehyva.fi

Submission of research permit applications and required documents

kirjaamo@vakehyva.fi