Research permit applications at Uniarts Helsinki

Published 23.4.2026 | Updated 7.5.2026

Ensure the ethics and legality of your research

All research conducted at Uniarts Helsinki must comply with the guidelines and recommendations of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK). The decision to participate in a study is made individually by each invited person based on informed consent. 

We comply with applicable laws and regulations in all our operations. We require that all research carried out at Uniarts Helsinki complies with applicable laws. 

When is a research permit required?

You will need a research permit if your research involves interviewing or observing Uniarts Helsinki students or asking them to answer questionnaires in teaching contexts or similar situations. 

If you are a researcher based outside Uniarts Helsinki, you will also need a research permit if your research requires the use of Uniarts Helsinki staff’s working hours for interviews or surveys carried out during working hours or for the collection of other research material or if you are organising an intervention in a teaching situation.

As a researcher who is not part of our university community, you will also need a research permit if your research involves the university’s equipment, non-public facilities or events to which the public does not have free access.

There may also be other reasons for applying for a research permit. If in doubt, ask for advice from our Research Services.

The research permit is granted by the vice rector for research.

When is a research permit not required?

You always need consent from research participants. A research permit is not the same as consent.

You do not need to apply for a research permit from Uniarts Helsinki if:

• a staff member participates in your research in their free time,
• in your research, you observe or interview university students or ask them to fill in questionnaires in contexts that are not teaching or similar situations,
• you are completing a bachelor’s or master’s thesis project at Uniarts Helsinki,
• the university is requested to disclose register or document materials under the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. In this case, you must submit a request for information to the registry.
• you are carrying out development or analysis measures on your own teaching,
• you are conducting a market analysis.

Usually, a research permit is not required when a person requests forwarding a survey to staff or students through the university’s general channels, and the university is not asked to disclose personal data or other confidential or non-public information. It is at the discretion of the person forwarding the message whether it is justified to share the invitation to participate in a study.

In addition, a permit is usually not required if the research is carried out by a staff member or student of Uniarts Helsinki and the subject of the research is the university’s staff. However, teaching situations are an exception.

Requests for information for research purposes

The university may disclose its data for research purposes on the basis of a request for information and a decision on it. A decision on the disclosure of data is required in the following cases:

• if you want to examine the university’s non-public documents,
• if you need information for research from the university’s datasets or registers containing personal data.
  

Submit an information request according to Uniarts Helsinki’s instruction.

Cancellation of a research permit

The research permit can be revoked if you violate the terms of the permit decision. In this case, you must return the data and materials you have collected for the research.

Permit application form

The research permit is applied for using a separate research permit form. Apply for the permit before you start your data collection.

The following appendices are mandatory for the application: 

• a research plan that clearly describes the objective and research methods of the research as well as the material used for the data collection (such as a message to the research participants, a consent form, a questionnaire form or an interview framework),
• a privacy notice (if you are collecting identifiable data on research participants).

In certain cases, you may also need to attach your research permit application with certain other appendices. These include, for example, a statement from an  ethical review committee or a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Before preparing a DPIA, you must contact the data protection officer of the data controller, and they will determine whether an impact assessment is needed.