FAQ | August

In accordance with its strategy, the Foundation will promote breakthroughs in society in the fields of science, art, and public education in 2025–2035. In the future, the Foundation’s funding aims to support more long-term and goal-oriented work and to respond to current societal challenges.

The amount of the grants open for application in August will increase and the grant periods will be extended, providing a more peaceful working environment and an opportunity to work for a longer period. Grant terms of use are also more flexible than before: for example, you can include an expense part in the grant if you so wish. In addition, it is possible to be in paid employment of up to 50% during the grant period.

Grants for public education are awarded to projects that strengthen the status of research-based and expertise-based knowledge, and promote the dissemination of information to the public. In personal grants for science and art, focus is on the grant recipient’s own career path, differentiation, and professional development. The application criteria for research grants will change substantially: grants will be awarded to newly graduated doctors to support them in finding their own career path, no longer for the completion of their doctoral research. The number of graduating doctors will increase significantly in the next few years because of the ongoing doctoral training pilot, and the Foundation wants to respond to this change with its grants.

Education is a resource that renews society and changes as times change. Science, art and learning promote education, people’s participation in society, and a sustainable future.

A one-and-a-half-year grant does not change the world, but it is essential for applicants to have a clear and ambitious goal, as well as a direction and plan for moving towards that goal. In science, art and public education, the word breakthrough refers to different things: In science, a successful breakthrough is the applicant’s transition to the career path they are aiming for. Our art grants support the internationalization and national appreciation of art. Personal grants are aimed at goal-oriented work that allows the applicant to stand out and challenge themselves as an artist. Communities are awarded grants for ambitious projects that create new kinds of content, operating methods, or audience experiences. A successful breakthrough in public education is a project that reaches its target group extensively and brings about change.

In the future, the Kordelin Foundation’s funding aims to support more long-term work. We want to allow artists to focus on their work, and support artistic work that is goal-oriented.

Our grants are larger than before, and the grant periods are longer. Grants will also be awarded to communities, and more flexible terms of use will allow for the inclusion of an expense share in the grant. The changes have been implemented based on the feedback received by the Foundation.

Correspondingly, there will be a lower number of positive grant decisions in the future. As we allocate a larger amount to certain fields of art every alternate year, it is more likely for a good application to receive a positive grant decision. We hope that applying for grants will remain meaningful for our applicants.

The strategy and grants of the Kordelin Foundation have been renewed in 2025. Significant changes have been made to the grants for science, art, and public education – these changes concern not only the focus areas, applicants, and eligibility criteria but also the purpose of the grants. Grants in line with the new strategy can be applied for the first time in August 2025, and the first grant decisions will be announced in November 2025. On our website you will find a Awarded Grants (Myönnetyt apurahat) subpage, but it is important to note that the application criteria for those grants were essentially different. Therefore, previously awarded grants cannot be used to infer the foundation’s current priorities; instead, applicants should carefully review the call for applications of each grant.

Grants are not awarded for activities other than those described in the application descriptions. Personal grants are not awarded exclusively for expenses. Grants are also not awarded on social grounds. According to section 82 of the Income Tax Act, only grants or scholarships received for studies, scientific research or the pursuit of art can be tax-exempt income. Grants and grants received for other purposes are always taxable earned income. Read more: vero.fi.

No, you can’t. In such a situation, the grant must be applied for in the next application round in August 2027. The grant work or project must start during the calendar year following the year in which it was awarded (excluding weighty reasons, such as parental leave or illness). For example, if the grant is awarded in November 2026, the work or project must start during 2027 at the latest.

The decisions on the grants will be made in November. We will notify all applicants of the grant decision by email during November.

Grants for science, art and public education can be applied for from 15.8. to 31.8. The application period ends on 31 August at 16:00 Finnish time.

Yes, you can. The grant can be applied for if the applicant has a solid connection to Finland through citizenship or, for example, their place of work or residence.

Yes, working groups and communities can apply for grants in the fields of art and public education. Working groups are eligible if the party responsible for the project, i.e. the applicant, is a community with which the members of the working group seek to cooperate. (see paragraph 6). In science, only private individuals can apply for a grant.

No, you can’t. Personal grants are awarded for work lasting 12–18 months. However, it is possible to include an expense on top of the working grant. For example, a personal grant of € 45,000 can be used for 12 months of work (€ 30,000), and €15,000 of the grant can be used for expenses.

The Foundation awards grants to professional artists and communities in the field of art. 

Working group X, which has two members, wants to apply for an art grant. The working group contacts an existing and active registered community Y, and agrees on cooperation (e.g. organizing a working group performance in a theatre) and applying for a grant with Y.

Community Y is responsible for preparing the grant application on behalf of the community, and is responsible for the implementation of the project together with the working group. In addition to the project, the community will also describe in its application the agreed cooperation with the working group, and name the members of the working group for whom personal working grants will be applied for. The project budget must also include personal working grants and the share of expenses, if any, to be paid to the community.

If the grant is awarded, personal working grants will be paid directly from the Foundation to the persons named in the application, and will be subject to the normal obligations related to a working grant. The expense share (e.g. salaries, outsourced services) is paid directly to the community’s account.

The community is responsible for ensuring that the project and work carried out with the working group proceeds in accordance with the objective. The community will also provide the Foundation with a report on the use of grants for the members of the working group.

No, you can not apply. The members of the working group must be identified already at the application stage, and they cannot be announced afterwards.

Yes they can, provided that the project carried out by the company and its objectives are of public interest. A sole proprietorship cannot apply for a grant as a community.

No, it can’t. The community must be registered and have a business ID already at the application stage.

No, it cannot. The foundation requires that applicants have either the permission to defend their dissertation or a doctoral degree certificate already at the time of application. All attachments must be submitted through the grant system within the application period. The foundation does not accept incomplete or late applications or attachments.

No, you can’t. Science grants are awarded to researchers who have recently completed their doctorate, are at the early stages of their careers, and have completed their doctorate no more than two years ago (less than two years from the date of their degree).

The Kordelin Foundation supports research in the humanities, natural sciences, technology, and social sciences. We fund work that has societal, scientific, educational or commercial development potential. On the application form, the applicant selects the pool in which the application will be evaluated. If the application is multidisciplinary, choose the pool based on what your application represents the most. For the time being, the Foundation does not award grants for research in the field of medicine.

For long-term work abroad, you can apply for a grant from the Foundations’ post doc pool. See Foundations’ post doc pool grants.

Different fields of art can be applied for in alternate years. In odd-numbered years, applications are open for applications in the fields of visual arts, music, architecture, and applied arts; in even years, for literature and the performing arts. Applications for opera/a musical are primarily directed to the field of music, depending on the content and priorities of the project.

No, you can’t. By first-time author, we mean an author who has not yet published his or her first work. Literature grants can be applied for in even-numbered years.

The Kordelin Foundation supports both the internationalisation and national recognition of the arts. We require applicants to describe in the form their long-term plans and how the applied grant relates to achieving these goals. The objectives do not need to be met during the specific working period; the focus may be further into the future. What matters is that the applicant has a clear direction and a plan for achieving the goal.

The Foundation supports larger entities, such as story series, publications and related events. Grants are not awarded for individual publications or articles. For example, if the book project involves an event or other element that makes information available to the public, you can apply for a grant.

Your project should be examined in in light of the application criteria provided by the Foundation. Grants for public education are awarded for projects that strengthen the status of research-based and expertise-based knowledge and promote the dissemination of information to the general public. Grant applications for internal development projects can only be made if they are linked to a larger objective or entity, or if the applicant can justify how the project promotes the objectives as stated in the application description.

The public education project can be an academic research project, but academic orientation is not a limiting criterion or requirement. For example, the project may compile existing research or provide information or education. In addition to the knowledge or expertise generated in the project, a key aspect is the target audience of the project and how the audience is reached.

No, you can’t. The Foundation supports long-term and goal-oriented work. The amount of the personal grant (private individuals) is € 45,000. For communities, the minimum amount of grants is € 50,000. Working groups applying with communities can apply for a grant of no less than € 50,000.

The minimum duration of a personal working grant (private individuals) is 12 months, and the maximum duration is 18 months. It is not possible to apply for a grant for a period of less than 12 months.

The personal grant of € 45,000 is intended for 12–18 months of work and expenses, in accordance with the applicant’s application. The grant of € 45,000 includes a working part and may also include an expense part. The applicant determines the share of the costs in the application according to their needs. The applicant can choose flexibly and based on the premises of their plan whether to use the grant entirely for work, or to include an expense part in the grant.

Example.
The applicant is awarded a grant of € 45,000 for 12 months of work and expenses. The applicant has determined the share of the working grant to be € 36,000, and the share of expenses to be € 9000. In this case, the amount of the working grant per month is € 3000 (€ 36 000/ 12 months).

No they can’t. The application and all its attachments must be submitted by the end of the application period through the grant online service. We do not accept late attachments or supplement incomplete applications retrospectively.

If the community applies for the grant only as an expense grant (no working grants for the members of the working group), the CV of the project leader must be attached to the application. If, in addition to expenses, the organization applies for personal working grants for the members of the working group, the CVs of the persons in question must also be submitted as attachments.

The Foundation requires the applicant to demonstrate already at the application stage that the project’s partner has expressed interest in the project. This is verified by attaching an e-mail or other document, received from the above-mentioned party, to the application as a pdf file.  You can ask for an expression of interest from a producer, distributor or publisher, for example. The expression of interest should clearly state the parties, the nature of the cooperation, and the author’s interest/willingness to cooperate with the applicant. Contracts should not be submitted.

The statement is voluntary. Ask the person giving the statement to submit it using a separate form in the statement service by the given deadline. Depending on the relationship between the applicant and the person providing the statement, the statement should support the objectives of the applicant’s application. If the statement is on cooperation, for example, it should describe the nature of the cooperation.

Check that the attachment is in .pdf format, and that it does not exceed the maximum size of 3MB. Make the file smaller and/or create the .pdf file again if necessary.

The application form can be filled in Finnish or English. The questions in the application form are available in these languages.

Yes, you can. However, for the sake of consistency of the application, we recommend that you use the same language both in the application form and in the appendices.

Do not include sensitive information, such as health information. Make sure that you have the necessary permits to carry out the project, and that cooperation has been agreed upon before adding the information to the application. Contracts should not be submitted as attachments.

You can edit your application within the application period by following these instructions:

1. Log in to the service.
2. The status of your application is “Submitted”.
3. Select “Open” next to your application.
4. At the bottom of the application form, you will see the option “Cancel the submission of your application to the Alfred Kordelin Foundation”. Click this option.
5. The form asks if you want to cancel the submission. Proceed as instructed.
6. The application now has the status ”Incomplete”, and can be edited. Make your changes and save.
7. Finally, resubmit the application by clicking “Send application to the Alfred Kordelin Foundation”.
8. An application has been successfully submitted when its status is “Submitted”.

Sending more than one application is allowed, but we encourage applicants to prioritize projects and submit one application per applicant.