Home Grants For grant applicants Application form and instructions for the online service Application form and instructions for the online service Applications are submitted through our online grant service. The application form can only be accessed when the call is open in September. Please read the instructions carefully before applying! GrantsFor grant applicants Criteria for applying Values and focuses in the general grant call Application form and instructions for the online service Evaluation and decisions Frequently asked questions Propose a peer reviewer For grant recipients Funding practicalities Fair practices in funded projects Grants+ Project communications Instructions for At the Well blog Instructions for project pages Kamari booking calender Funding programmes and thematic grant calls Funding programme: Is Democracy Eroding? (2021–2025) Thematic grant call 2025: Securitization and Democracy Thematic grant call 2024: Media and Democracy in Finland in the 2020s Thematic grant call 2022: The current state and challenges of Finnish democracy Thematic grant call 2021: Language, Power and Democracy Previous thematic grant calls Vuoden Tiedekynä Academic Writing Award You can go directly to each section by clicking the titles below. Go back to the top of the page by clicking the black arrow at the bottom right corner. Submitting an application Sections of the application form Selecting the evaluator for your application Attachments Attaching a recommendation and instructions for the referee Important dates Back to the top Submitting an application Apply for funding by submitting your application and attachments using the Online Grant Service. (https://koneensaatio.apurahat.net) The service is open during the annual application period in September (1.-15.9. 4:00 P.M. EEST) Applications cannot be submitted after the deadline. Applications cannot be sent via email or post. Applications cannot be edited after the deadline Please let us know as soon as possible if you are awarded other funding after the application deadline. After submitting the application, the status of the application will be marked as ‘Application received’. Within a week of the deadline, the status of the application will update to ‘Application under evaluation’. Language of the application The application form is available in Finnish and English. The application and attachments can be written in Finnish, Swedish or English. Certificates may be in languages other than those mentioned above. You can choose the language from the top right of the online service’s page (Finnish or English). Using Artificial Intelligence in preparing an application You may use artificial intelligence in drafting your application, but please remember that you are responsible for the content of the application. You must not plagiarise, falsify, or fabricate content. Please do not enter confidential information or personal data into AI tools. Although AI can help you express your thoughts more clearly, try to preserve your own voice and personality. Evaluators can easily recognise what is genuinely your own idea and what has been generated by AI. The use of AI consumes significant natural resources and energy, so use it thoughtfully and only when there is a real need. Kone Foundation does not use AI to evaluate applications or to make funding decisions. No information from applications is used to train AI models. The application form Grant calls Choose the grant call you are taking part in. Please note that in the September application round, you cannot submit the same application to both general funding call and Metsän puolella call. General funding call (open 1.-15.9.) Metsän puolella “For the woods” (open 1.–15.2. and 1.–15.9.) Application type Choose whether you are submitting the application as an individual applicant, working group or organisation. Individual applicantFill out the application in your own name. Working groupChoose a person responsible for the project to submit the application in their own name. We recommend that already at the application stage, you consider how the work will be divided within the working group and familiarise yourselves with the collaboration agreement template for projects funded by the foundation (link opens in a new tab), as well as with the ethical codes of conduct in your field. Legal entity with a Finnish business IDChoose a person responsible for the project to submit the application in their own name. Read more about the role of the person responsible of the project (opens in a new tab) Sections of the application form 1. Applicant Fill in the basic information. Research funding applicants using the ORCID identification code can provide this information in their applicant data. The details for working group members who are not applying for a personal monthly grant must also be listed on this page. Working group members’ names will be published on Kone Foundation’s website if funding is awarded. Gender and the applicant’s employment or study status are requested on the form for statistical purposes only. This information is not visible to the application evaluator and does not affect the evaluation of the application. 2. Type pf project The applicant must choose a category for the project: Research Art Research and art Please note that the foundation primarily awards funding for academic research and/or artistic work. The applicant must specify whether the proposed project is interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary (in research or in arts). Describe what kind of interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity does the project include. You may also list on the form keywords or fields related to the project and its themes. 3. Description Fill in the working title. In the summary (max. 2,000 characters), please provide a short description of your project’s primary content and the intended methods for implementing the work. You must also provide a more detailed work or research plan as an attachment. Applicants’ summaries are important in the evaluation of the applications – the summary is usually the first section the evaluator reads from the application. When a grant is awarded we may use the applicants’ titles and summaries in the Foundation’s communications (such as on our website or social media), and the text from these sections will be published online. The applicant must provide a brief description of the project’s duration and a timetable on the application form. 4. Funding On the application form, select the primary purpose for the funding: Academic research and/or artistic work Doctoral thesis Popularisation of research (Supported only in research, both as part of research projects and separately) Organising an event, festival, seminar or conference The applicant must select whether the grant request is for a multiyear project or a project lasting a maximum of one year. If you are planning a multiyear project such as a doctoral thesis, we recommend that you apply for funding for the whole project at once. Funding can be awarded to research applicants and artistic organisations for up to four years at a time. For individual artists and artistic working groups, funding can be awarded for up to three years at a time. Fill in the information for the monthly grantee(s). Individuals doing scholarly or artistic work are awarded personal working grants instead of salaries. You can also apply for a grant for an unnamed person if the members of the working group are not known at the time of application. In this case, select “Unnamed” as the monthly grant recipient and specify the duration and the role of the unnamed monthly grant recipient in the project. The amount of the personal monthly grant varies, depending on the stage of your career. Grant 1: €2,700/month, €32,400/year (early career applicants, under 10 years of artistic work, researchers working on doctoral thesis) Grant 2: €3,200/month, €38,400/year (mid-career applicants, min. 10 years of artistic work, post-doctoral researchers) Grant 3: €3,800/month, €45,600/year) (late-career applicants, min. 20 years of artistic work, experienced researchers (comparable to ‘dosentti’ in the Finnish academic system, which means that the person has, in addition to the doctoral thesis, several academic publications with the quality and scope of a doctoral thesis If you are applying for monthly grant 2 or 3, please describe your career phase. The level will also be assessed based on the CV. Personal monthly grants are usually awarded for full-time work for a minimum of one month. Smaller grants are available (25%, 50% or 75% of full grant) for part-time work. You can apply for a part-time working grant also if you receive a disability pension. In that case, please check your income limit. Please state in your application any planned leave of absence or similar arrangement if you are in full-time permanent employment and are applying for funding to work on a grant. Grants awarded by private foundations such as Kone Foundation are exempt from taxes below the limit of the Finnish state grant for artists. Read more about social security, taxation and grant certificate (link opens in a new tab). Recipients of annual grants can take around one month of holiday per year without their grant being suspended. Compensation for work lasting less than a month, such as a performance fee, can be applied for under ‘other expenses’, not as a monthly grant. When applying for funding to cover fees and salaries, tax and overheads must be taken into account. If funding is requested for expenses (e.g., travel, salaries, materials), a budget must be included as an attached PDF. Read more about the budget and funding for expenses. 5. Other funding Please list funding from Kone Foundation and elsewhere for the same project in the last three years and any pending applications for the same purpose. Inform Kone Foundation immediately if other funding or salaried doctoral progamme position is received during Kone Foundation’s application processing period. If an applicant is granted funding without having informed the Foundation of funding from other sources, Kone Foundation may repeal its decision. Kone Foundation grants are usually not awarded to applicants who have already secured funding for the project in question (grant or salary) for the entire upcoming calendar year. 6. Evaluators The applicant must select which field they want the expert assessing their application to represent. A maximum of two selections can be made, but please note that the applications will be assessed by the first choice of expert. If you are applying for a grant for doctoral thesis work in artistic research, please choose the first evaluator from among the evaluators of Artistic Research, listed among the research disciplines. Please check the separate guidelines for Selecting the evaluator of the application. 7. Attachments and links See the section Attachments. 8. Recommendations See the section Appending a recommendation to the application (link opens in a new tab). 9. Proximity The Foundations Act mandates that all foundations must disclose information about transactions involving related parties. Therefore, all grant applicants are required to disclose any close connections they have with key individuals at the Foundation. Related parties can still apply for funding from Kone Foundation. This requirement also applies to new grantees who join an ongoing project, to ensure they don’t have a conflict of interest with the Foundation’s key individuals. The question is based on the Foundations Act of 1 December 2015. 10. Feedback We want to continuously improve our grant application process, so we invite you to give us your views. The feedback section is optional and will not be visible to the evaluator. Kone Foundation aims to promote accessibility in its grant applications. In the feedback section, you can raise any comments, suggestions or concerns you may have, for example, regarding disabilities when using the application guidelines or the application form. Responses will be treated anonymously and confidentially by the Foundation. 11. Submission The application with attachments must be submitted by 15 September, 16:00 (Finnish time). Recommender may submit their recommendations via the online service until 22 September, if the recommendation request has been sent during the application period. If the applicant wishes to add the recommendation themselves, they must submit it as an attachment by the application deadline. You can submit your dissertation permit or degree certificate as an attachment to the application in the “Attachments and links” tab by 15 November. If you want to edit an application you have already submitted before the deadline, please choose “cancel application”. This does not clear your application data. After editing the application, please submit the application again After the submission period, you cannot change or submit your application anymore. Only applications submitted via the online service will be considered. Research applicants may also give permission to share information about the grants they’ve received to the National Research Information Hub, which gathers and shares data about research conducted in Finland. Once the application has been sent, its status in the online service will be “Application received”, and within a week of the deadline it will update to “Application under evaluation”. Selecting the evaluator The applicant must select which field they want the expert assessing their application to represent. You can choose up to two fields but choose the field closest to your work as the first profile. The applications will be assessed by one’s first choice of expert. If more than one field is selected, the primary evaluator may choose to discuss the application anonymously with the evaluator of the other selected field. If you are applying for a grant for doctoral thesis work in artistic research, please choose the first evaluator from the artistic research fields, listed among research disciplines. In artistic research, artistic and academic work interact with one another, and it is typically carried out at higher education institutions that offer arts education. Artistic research is often connected to the researcher’s own artistic or art-pedagogical practice. The evaluators (peer reviewers) change every year. The names of the evaluators are not disclosed. Evaluators can be proposed to the Kone Foundation using the proposal form. The evaluators do not see your previous applications or possible reports on your awarded grants. Fields of research are: Archaeology Artistic research: music Artistic research: performing arts and film studies Artistic research: visual arts Arts studies Cultural sciences Educational science Environmental education Environmental science; biological, chemical and physical Environmental technology Gender Studies History Linguistics Literary Studies Media and communications studies Philosophy Political and administrative sciences Political economy Social psychology Social work and social policy Sociology Societal-environmental research Fields of art are: Art curating Arts criticism, art journalism Film Literature and verbal art Media and sound art Music Performing arts Site-specific and time-based art Visual arts Attachments The applicant’s ability to successfully complete the project is evaluated based on the work plan, curriculum vitae and other supporting documents attached to the application. All attachments must be uploaded by the deadline of the grant call. For the general grant call, referees may submit their recommendations via the online service until 22 September, if the recommendation request has been sent during the application period. If the applicant wishes to add the recommendation themselves, they must submit it as an attachment by the application deadline. For the general grant call. degree diplomas and permission for the public defence of academic dissertations awarded after the deadline can be sent using the Online Application Service by 15 November. Applicants can also inform the Foundation of funding received from other sources using the online application service. All necessary attachments should be uploaded to the Online Application Service and attached to the application as a PDF. The maximum file size is 10 MB per file. Please select the appropriate file type from the drop-down menu in the online application form. Attachments can also be provided as links to websites, or the PDF can be replaced with a link to an online portfolio or a viewable online CV. Please avoid using links that require registration, such as Google Drive, Spotify, or similar services. Please note that we cannot accept attachments by mail or email. The application cannot be edited after the submission period. Attachments and applications received afterwards are not considered. Required attachments Individual applicant: research or work proposal curriculum vitae budget (only if applying for funding for expenses) portfolio (applications for artistic work or artistic research.) recommendation (compulsory for doctoral researchers, recommendable for post-doc researchers in their early career) copy of degree certificate (research applicants). Working group: research or work proposal curriculum vitae of the members of the working group who are working on a grant, or summaries (as well as the CVs of other persons belonging to the working group, if their contribution to the project is essential) budget (only if applying for funding for expenses) portfolio (applications for artistic work or artistic research.) copy of degree certificate (Individual research applicants with a personal monthly grant). Legal entity with a Finnish business ID: research or work proposal curriculum vitae of the members of the working group who are working on a grant, or summaries (as well as the CVs of other persons belonging to the working group, if their contribution to the project is essential) budget (only if applying for funding for expenses.) portfolio (applications for artistic work or artistic research.) copy of degree certificate (Individual research applicants with a personal monthly grant) copies of the annual report, financial statement and auditor’s report from the previous year (If these are not available, include an explanation of their absence). current year’s action plan Please note: if you have received a prior grant from Kone Foundation for the same purpose, include a short description of your progress in your work/research plan. Description of attachments Research and work proposal Those applying for a grant for academic research attach a research plan to their application. For all other applications, a work plan is required as an attachment. The maximum length of the research or work plan for individual applicants is 4 pages, including bibliography. The maximum length of a research or work plan for work groups or institutions is 8 pages. In the evaluation of proposals, attention is paid to: merit (academic merit in research projects) feasibility implementation of the Foundation’s values In general, the research proposal should include the following sections: Introduction: the background of the research and its subject matter, as well as the significance of the proposed research in light of this background. Aims and objectives: what will be studied and why. The objectives must be indicated as clearly as possible, for example through proposed research questions. Research materials and methods: the research data or literature and the methods chosen for analys. Work outline: a short estimate of the expected duration of each phase of the project. References and sources: a concise list of the most important sources for the research. It is important to clarify the theoretical framework behind your research. In doing so, follow the practices of your own field. We fund research in a broad range of disciplines and do not aim to teach academics how to perform their research. If you have received funding for the same purpose from Kone Foundation previously, the plan should provide a brief account of what has been accomplished during the previous Kone Foundation funding period and the project’s current status. In addition to the above-mentioned, the research proposals for work groups or institutions should include: The names of participating researchers Indication of the applicants’ familiarity with the subject An explanation of any multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary characteristics of the project. Applications for projects that are not research projects must include a work plan. A sufficient work plan answers the questions: Why? How? When? Who? and Whom with? The work plan may still evolve during the grant period as the plans become more detailed. The work plan for artistic work may include several projects or parallel productions to be worked on during the grant period. For artistic work applications, the objectives and content of the work plan may be a description of the artistic practice and/or a future exhibition, performance, etc., if known at the time of application. The work plan should include: project aims and objectives a description of intended working methods names of the participants and possible partners schedule If you have received funding for the same purpose from Kone Foundation previpusly, the plan should provide a brief account of what has been accomplished during the previous Kone Foundation funding period and the project’s current status. The work plan for work group must highlight the role of each person involved in the project. We encourage working groups to draw up a collaboration agreement: who does what, and for how long? The agreement should also address potential disagreements and outline procedures for handling situations if disputes arise during the project. See the template for collaboration agreements for projects funded by Kone Foundation. Curriculum vitae (CV) The applicant must attach or link a CV from all individuals that would be receiving a working grant or individuals doing salaried work in the project if their contribution to the project is essential. The purpose of the CV is to provide a concise overview of the applicant’s education and experience. It should include work experience, previous research, previously received grants, key publications, and/or other outputs and teaching experience. It is especially important to include information of particular relevance to the project for which Kone Foundation funding is being sought. If the applicant is applying for a higher grant level (level 2 or 3), their experience must be evident in the CV. A researcher’s CV can be based on the template provided by the Finnish Advisory Board of Research Integrity. The CV should not exceed four pages. Please do not attach a separate publications list. Online CVs can be used. Budget If only a personal monthly grant is required to implement the project, there is no need to attach a budget to the application form. If the applied funding is a part of a larger project with several funders, please attach the project’s total budget to the application. It is important to try to estimate the costs plausibly and precisely in the budget. A detailed and itemised budget will make it easier for the Foundation to make a funding decision. Other possible sources of funding must also be mentioned. Even if only a portion of the funding of a project is being applied for, the cost estimate for the entire project must be presented. Please indicate clearly the contributions that will be requested from Kone Foundation. In projects that span several years, it is better to devise the budget according to the years of activity rather than calendar years. In addition to a separate, detailed project budget, the budget must be outlined in the online application form. The project’s annual personal monthly grants and any expenses of the project (such as travel, material and equipment expenses; additional labour force or salaries; and outsourced services and other costs) must be specified. Expense funding can be applied for: Costs arising from research and artistic work, but not exclusively for these (for example, not solely for travel expenses). Salary funding, if the work does not involve rsearch or artistic or work, or if it concerns compensation for research or artistic work lasting less than one month. Workspaces, if the space is a prerequisite for the work (for example, studio or office rent). Disability-related costs, such as wages for an assistant or interpreter (when their work is related to the project’s content), their travel expenses, and any assistive equipment or software needed for the work. Travel expenses. We encourage you to favour low-emission travelling. Flights within Finland can be funded only when they are well justified. Expense funding cannot be applied for kilometre allowances or per diems (unless it concerns salary funding), nor for the compensation of travel emissions Overheads. We grant funding for overhead costs up to 15% of total expenses (excluding personal monthly grants). See a sample budget Portfolio Applications for arts and artistic research funding must include a portfolio. A portfolio showcases the artist’s ability in the relevant field and conveys an impression of them as an artist. A portfolio thus showcases the applicant’s level of artistic expression, quality of artistic thinking and any other particular proficiency that the applicant finds relevant to mention. A portfolio can contain images, texts, links or a list of literary output. The portfolio can be submitted as a PDF, or you can compile it on your own website and include the link in your application. If you apply for a grant as a working group, you can attach a shared portfolio to the application. Recommendations Read more about recommendations here. Certificates If the application includes individual researchers as personal grant recipients, please include a certificate of their most recent academic degree and/or the most relevant certificates for the research project. The copy of the certificate does not need to be officially authenticated. A degree certificate can also be included in other applications, if desired, but it is most important for the CV to include the qualifications. Degree diplomas and permits for the public defence of academic dissertations awarded after the application deadline can be sent by 15 November using the online application service. Applicants can also inform the foundation of funding received from other sources through the online service. Attaching a recommendation Recommendations play an important role in grant applications for both doctoral studies (mandatory) and post-doctoral applications. Either a supervisor or other person familiar with the applicant’s work or the proposed project may submit a recommendations. Recommendations can be submitted for other types of applications as well. In the case of art applications, a recommendation can help the evaluator in the evaluation process. The person writing the recommendation should know the applicant and the project well enough to add value to the application. For example, one can confirm the relevance of the project in the field of arts (projects that are innovative in the field) or clarify the planned cooperation to the evaluator of the application. For an individual artist’s application, the recommendation does not carry much weight in the evaluation of the application. Two ways to submit a recommendation 1) The referee submits the recommendation via an email link Requests for written recommendations are sent to potential referees by email on page 8 of the application form. The email address of the referee is thus required in order to issue a request. We also advise that applicants contact a potential referee well before the application deadline to provide enough time to compose and submit the recommendation. The referee then submits their recommendation using the link emailed to them via the Kone Foundation online grant service. In this way, the recommendations is automatically connected to a certain application The request is automatically sent in Finnish and in English and can be replied to in both languages. NB! If the referee doe not receive the recommendation request, we recommend checking the spam folder first. In the online service, the referee can view your work or research plan included as attachments to the application, but cannot view any other parts of your application. Please note that if you update or remove your work or research plan, the version will also be updated for the referee. Submitted recommendations are not visible to applicants in the online service. Referees may submit recommendations via the online service until 22 September, if the recommendation request has been sent during the application period. 2) Attach the recommendation to your application yourself If you have received a recommendation personally and wish to submit it yourself, you may attach it to the application as a PDF. In this case, you must submit it as an attachment by the application deadline, 15 September 16:00 (Finnish time) Instructions for the referee The recommendation form asks: Why should this applicant receive a grant? The text (maximum 4,000 characters) is to be filled directly into the form. The recommendation is not visible to the applicant, but they can see whether it has been submitted. The recommendation form must be submitted by 22 Septemberat 4:00 PM (Finnish time). If you send the recommendation directly to the applicant, they must submit it along with their application by 15 September at 4:00 PM (Finnish time) Important dates General grant call is open 1.-15.9. Send your application with the attachments via the online service by 15 September, 4:00 P.M. EEST (Finnish time). Referees may submit recommendations via the online service until 22 September, if the recommendation request has been sent during the application period. Degree diplomas and permits for the public defence of academic dissertations can be sent by 15 November using the online application service. Funding decisions are announced in early December. Return to the For grant applicants main page.