One of the main types of inverse problems for partial differential equations are problems in which the coefficients of the equations or the quantities included in them must be determined using some additional information. Such problems are called coefficient inverse problems for partial differential equations. Coefficient inverse problems (identification problems) have become the subject of close study, especially in recent years. Interest in them is caused primarily by their important applied values. They find applications in solving problems of planning the development of oil fields (determining the filtration parameters of fields), in creating new types of measuring equipment, in solving problems of environmental monitoring, etc. The standard formulation of the coefficient inverse problem contains a functional (discrepancy), physics. When formulating the statements of inverse problems, the statements of direct problems are assumed to be known. The solution to the problem is sought from the condition of its minimum. Inverse problems for partial differential equations can be posed in variational form, i.e., as optimal control problems for the corresponding systems. A variational statement of one coefficient inverse problem for a one-dimensional heat equation is considered. By the solution of the boundary value problem for each fixed control coefficient we mean a generalized solution from the Sobolev space. The questions of correctness of the considered coefficient inverse problem in the variational setting are investigated.