Grants | Public education

The Kordelin Foundation promotes breakthroughs in society.

The Foundation awards grants to private individuals and collectives for projects which strengthen the role of research and expertise-based knowledge.
A successful breakthrough largely reaches its target group and leads to change. We want to strengthen critical thinking, diverse voices and democracy.
Our aim is an educated and active citizen.

 

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Application period: 15.–31.8.2025
Decision: November 2025

Purpose of the grant

Public education grants are awarded for projects which strengthen the role of research and expertise-based knowledge and critical thinking and promote making knowledge available to a wider audience. The projects should strengthen the ability of individuals and communities to play an active role in society.

The Foundation supports broader projects, such as series of articles, publications and related events. Grants are not awarded for individual publications or articles.

When evaluating a project, the focus is on its impact. An impactful public education project carries one or more of the following aims:

  • Strengthening critical thinking. The audience learns to evaluate information critically and to separate reliable sources from unreliable ones. This helps to combat false information and to increase trust in science, expertise and democracy.
  • Strengthening a sense of community and social cohesion. The ability of individuals and communities to participate in societal discussion and decision-making is strengthened. The project may also build bridges between different population groups and reduce polarization.
  • Promoting internationality and global perspective. The project increases understanding about different cultures and customs and promotes tolerance. The project may highlight the importance of international co-operation in advancing sustainable development or human rights, for example.
  • Developing practical skills. The project provides information, education and concrete tools for developing literacy, digital skills or media literacy, for example.

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 will applications be evaluated?

Evaluation of the applications will be based on the following considerations:

  • What kind of knowledge and skills will be the result of the work?
  • What is the project’s target audience and how will they be reached and engaged in the project?
  • What is the significance of the project and what aims does it have?
    (See above: 1. Strengthening critical thinking, 2. Strengthening a sense of community and social cohesion, 3. Promoting internationality and global perspective, 4. Developing practical skills).
  • How will the knowledge created in the project be presented to the target audience and/or brought into societal discussion?

Being multidisciplinary and co-operating with different operators will be considered an advantage.

Grant applications are evaluated in two pools:

Pool 1. Grants for private individuals
Pool 2. Collective projects

Each applicant will select on the application form the pool in which the application will be assessed.

The evaluation process consists of 3 stages:

  1. Public education division experts assess the applications in two pools.
  2. Applications selected for the next stage are assessed and funding decisions are prepared at a joint meeting of the pools.
  3. The board of the Foundation makes the final funding decisions.

Amount and duration of the grant

Private individuals can apply for a personal working grant for full-time continuous work for a specific period. The grant is €45,000 and is intended to cover 12 to 18 months of work.

Both working costs and expenses can be included in the working grant. The expenses may cover materials and purchased services, for example. The grant also covers employment pension insurance, occupational accident insurance and group life insurance. For more information, please visit the Mela website. The grant cannot be applied for purely for costs and expenses.

Collectives can apply for a working grant to cover the working costs of project participants and/or for an expense grant to cover the project’s expenses in accordance with the tax authority’s instructions. The grant ranges from €50,000 to €100,000. The duration of the project can be a maximum of 24 months.

The expense grant covers expenses resulting from the project, such as labour costs and purchased services. The expense grant is paid into an account managed by the collective. Working grants are paid directly to those participating in the project. Receipt of working grants requires their recipients to be named on the application. The working grant is €45,000 per person and it is intended to cover 12 to 18 months of work.

Applying for a grant

The application period is from 15 to 30 August 2025. The application period ends on 31 August 2025 at 4 pm Finnish time. You can apply for the grant using the online grant service. Grant applications can be drafted and submitted in the service only 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.

Attachments

Private individuals

  • CV (mandatory). We recommend using the CV template for researchers created by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK) where applicable.
  • Work plan (mandatory). Maximum length five (5) pages.
  • Confirmation of interest (mandatory). The foundation requires the applicant to indicate during the application stage that the project partner has shown interest in the project. This can be verified by attaching an email or a document from the partner, such as a confirmation from the producer, venue or publisher or an invitation to exhibit from a foreign gallery. Contracts should not be submitted.

Collectives

  • CV of the person responsible for the project and/or working group members (mandatory). We recommend using the CV template for researchers created by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK) where applicable.
  • Project plan (mandatory). Maximum length five (5) pages.
  • Confirmation of interest (mandatory). The Foundation requires the applicant to indicate during the application stage that a project partner has confirmed their interest in the project. This can be verified by attaching an email or a document from the partner, such as a confirmation from the producer, venue or publisher or an invitation to exhibit from a foreign gallery. Contracts should not be submitted.
  • Project budget (mandatory)
  • Report on operations and financial statement (mandatory)

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 of the grant

The personal grant is intended for full-time work over a time span of 12 to 18 months. See the amount of part-time work allowed during the grant period. A collective’s projects may run for a maximum of 24 months.

The work or project can begin immediately after receiving a positive grant decision. The work must commence during the following calendar year. If, for instance, the grant is awarded in 2025, the work must commence during 2026.

Grants are not awarded retrospectively.

A report of use of the previous grant from the Kordelin Foundation must be submitted before applying for a new grant.

Grants and taxation

For further information please see our Grant Recipient Instructions. Tax regulations can change and interpretation of them may vary to some extent. The Kordelin Foundation accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information and provides no taxation advice. In case of doubt, the beneficiary should seek guidance directly from the tax authority (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 November. We will notify all applicants of the decisions via email during November.