Central Fund Grants

Benefits

The amount of grant sought must be based on a cost estimate and funding plan by the applicant. A whole-year personal grant is normally approximately EUR21.000, in other words EUR1.750 per month. It includes statutory social security contributions (about 14%) and normal costs for travel, work equipment and a workroom. The applicant may use some of the grant to pay a share of the overheads of the research institute, if required.

If the grant sought entails costs considered greater than normal or if the grant sought is for another purpose than personal work, the cost to cover the work involved and other expenses should be specified as follows:

• Personal grant is the proportion of the grant to cover the work involved. The proportion of the grant that covers the work of the members of a working group should also be entered in this section. A grant for at least four months continuous work should include statutory social security contributions (about 14 %).

• A travel grant can be sought to cover exceptional travel costs relating to a grant project. Only limited support is provided for meeting and lecture travel costs.

• Material and equipment costs in the arts include major acquisitions such as instruments, and in science especially large acquisitions of equipment by new research groups starting up.

• Additional staff costs and purchased external services, which means acquisitions of input necessary for completion of the project. Taxation and social security contributions must be taken into account if a grant is used for employment of additional staff. The salaries and fees paid by a group or organization, including statutory related payroll costs, should be specified here.

• Other costs, which means costs for renting space, for instance.

The recipient of a grant must obtain any permissions relating to copyright required for the project.

A personal grant to cover the work involved is awarded for one year at a time. If such a grant is sought for three years, only the personal grant for one year shall be entered in the application. However, a cost estimate and funding plan for the whole project period must be presented in the work plan.

A group or organization can be awarded a grant for more than one year. The costs for the whole duration of the project shall be stated in the application. If further funding is sought, a report on the progress of the project and a statement from the supervisor (if applicable) are needed. Major cultural projects can be supported with notably large grants.

Application information

Applications will be treated confidentially.

Central Fund grants are awarded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation's Board of Trustees on the basis of recommendations made by experts in various fields. The experts vary from year to year.

Regional fund grants are awarded by their administrative councils, which have a wide range of expertise in the regional culture. External experts are consulted in evaluating the applications.

The Cultural Foundation does not reveal the reasons for individual grant decisions and does not disclose the names of the experts consulted in the evaluation of the applications. The Cultural Foundation receives very many good applications every year, and each year the number of applications is greater than the number of grants that can be awarded.

Information on decisions

The grants awarded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation are announced at the annual gala of the respective fund after which they are listed under Grants on the Cultural Foundation's website. The annual gala of the Central Fund is on 27 February, the eve of Kalevala Day. Dates for the annual galas of the regional funds are available on this website.

A grantee will be informed about a grant awarded in writing about two to three weeks before the annual gala. However, the decisions of the Central Fund will be announced before the application period for regional funds ends on 10 February.

Application guidelines

When you enter the electronic application system for the first time, you can register as a user of the service by creating a user ID. Write down your user ID and password so that you can later log in again to access your application.

An application in the electronic application system includes the following pages: applicant, grant, work plan, résumé, other funding, appendices, undertaking and sending. When you have filled in the applicant page, you can fill in the other pages in any order of preference. The data are saved automatically when moving from one page to another.

The application does not need to be completed from beginning to end at once. The application remains a draft and information in it can be supplemented until it is sent. The service is available throughout the application period.

You can view your application in print preview format. To preview and print, you need the program Acrobat, which you can download and install for example via a link in the electronic application system.

Enquires about applications will be answered by the fund from which the grant is sought. Contact information can be found on the Cultural Foundation's website or at the end of these guidelines. Support for technical questions relating to use of the system is provided by technical support by email (tekninentuki@skr.fi).

A good application is

• planned and reasoned
• clearly and straightforwardly written
• concisely presented

Relevant Links

1. Visit scholarship website
2. Visit scholarship provider website

Additional information

Application field

In the application, identify one field that you consider the main field of the application. If necessary, you can identify alternative fields at the beginning of the work plan. The appropriateness of the application field will be checked in processing the application. The aim is to forward the application to the expert panel best suited to evaluate it.

An undergraduate student (for example, working on a degree dissertation) should select the basic science and art studies option, although the specific field of music should be identified for basic music studies.
Translating scientific literature and writing general non-fiction books and other publications should be categorized under the appropriate field of the arts or science.

Also identify the field you consider the main field of an application to a regional fund for a local project (for example history, folklore or an arts field).

There are five fields in visual art. If applying for a personal grant for work, equipment acquisition or costs relating to work, select one of the options Sculpture, Graphics, Fine Art or Other Fields of Visual Art. Select the option Exhibitions and Events if applying for a grant only for setting up an exhibition or organizing an event, or if the applicant is a working group or an organization.

In music, Festivals, Opera and Orchestra is intended mainly for organizations. Identify the appropriate field of music for a smaller series of concerts and events.

An application for a grant in the arts may include scientific or research work (for example undertaking a further degree in an arts university). Select the appropriate option depending on whether you prioritize your field as the arts or under research into the arts. In the latter case, the application will be evaluated by a panel of experts in arts research jointly with applications in science.