Purpose of the Grant
The Kordelin Foundation’s Gust. Komppa Fund promotes the field of chemistry by supporting its teaching and research, disseminating research results and applications, and enhancing both domestic and international collaboration in the field. The fund also awards grants for the popularization of chemistry to increase the field’s attractiveness. The goal is to deepen public understanding of chemistry and promote its application in society.
The grant may be applied for to support, for example, projects, international visits, or events. Grants are not awarded for studies.
In addition, the fund periodically awards the Jaakko Paasivirta Prize. Read more about our funds.
Funding path with the Foundation
The Foundation provides different types of funding methods, allowing a project to receive long-term funding during a span of several years. A project financed by a fund can start out as an experiment, building the basis for further, expanded operations. A promising project may become eligible for the Foundation’s August grant round, expand into a two-year Major cultural project, and, if successful, also receive bridge funding to ensure its continuity. Read more about the foundation’s funding models.
Who Can Apply?
Finnish citizens or private individuals operating in Finland and registered collectives with a Finnish Business ID can apply for a grant. A working group may apply for a grant if the official applicant is an association. In this case, the association applies for a grant on behalf of the members of the working group.
How Are Applications Evaluated?
Applications are assessed based on the following criteria, depending on the project goal:
- For all applications, the potential of the project to increase the visibility of chemistry, popularize the field, advance teaching or research, or promote domestic or international collaboration. The applicant must clearly define the goal of the grant.
- For outreach/popularization projects, the extent to which the project enhances the public’s understanding and interest in chemistry.
- For events, the target audience and the significance of reaching that audience: who the event/project is aimed at and how likely it is to reach them.
- For domestic/international collaboration, the significance of the visit for the applicant’s career path.
- The realism of the application, clarity of the plan, credibility of implementation, and adequacy of resources (budget, expertise).
Evaluation proceeds in three stages:
- Expert members of the fund assess all submitted applications.
- Funding decisions are drafted in a joint meeting of the foundation and fund experts.
- The foundation’s Board makes the final decisions.
Grant Amount and Duration
The typical grant amount is 5,000–10,000 euros. These are expense grants. Personal working grants cannot be applied for. Expense grants cover project-related costs, such as travel costs, salaries and purchased services.
How to Apply
Fund grants are available annually. The application period is 15–31 January 2026, closing at 16:00 Finnish time on 31 January. You can apply for the grant using the online grant service. Applications can only be created and submitted during the application period.
Applying for a grant requires signing in with personal bank identifiers or a mobile ID. When applying for a collective grant, the application is filled in by the person responsible for the project. The application and its attachments must be submitted using the online grant service within the application period. The Foundation does not accept incomplete or late applications or attachments.
Required Attachments
- CV of the project’s person responsible (mandatory). It is recommended to use the TENK academic CV template where applicable.
- Work or project plan (mandatory). Maximum length 5 pages.
- Invitation (mandatory) if the application concerns an international visit or event participation.
- Confirmation of interest /invitation/partner confirmation (optional). The Foundation considers it an advantage if the applicant can demonstrate already at the application stage that a project partner, organization, or inviter has expressed interest in the project. This can be verified by attaching to the application a relevant document or email from, for example, a university or other collaborating party. Contracts should not be submitted.
- Project budget (mandatory).
- Report on operations and financial statement (mandatory for organizations only).
Instructions for preparing and submitting attachments:
- Name the attachments in a way that describes their content, avoiding special characters.
- All attachments must be in PDF format and should be submitted as individual files through the online grant service.
- The maximum size of each individual attachment is 3 MB.
- If the application is incomplete, the service will prevent it from being submitted until all the required information has been added.
General Terms
The work or project can begin immediately after receiving a positive grant decision. The project should begin during the year the grant was awarded. If, for example, the grant is awarded in 2026, work must commence during 2026. Grants are not awarded retrospectively. A report on the use of a previous grant received from the Kordelin Foundation must be submitted before applying for a new grant.
Grant and Taxation
More information is available on our web page Instructions for Grant Recipients. Tax regulations may change, and their interpretation may vary. The Kordelin Foundation does not provide tax advice or guarantee the accuracy of provided information. With any unclear issues, grant recipients should seek the advice of the tax authorities (vero.fi).
Frequently asked questions
Please see Frequently asked questions.
Decisions
The Board of the Alfred Kordelin Foundation will make decisions on grant awards in March or April. We will notify all applicants of the decisions via email during April.
