Kone Foundation awarded a record €52 million for research and the arts in the annual general call: 389 projects funded 

Kone Foundation’s autumn funding decisions have been announced. A total of over €52 million was awarded for work in academic research and the arts. In addition, a separate Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) call awarded a total of €2.9 million for forest-themed projects.

Kone Foundation’s Board of Trustees awarded funding to 389 projects in the general grant call: 167 academic research projects, 167 art projects, and 55 projects combining research and art. In addition, 19 new projects in the Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative received funding.

The general call, held annually in September, grants funding for academic research and professional artistic work. Kone Foundation supports artistic work in all fields of art and research in the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences, as well as artistic research. 

The Metsän puolella initiative funds forest-related research, art, journalism, and activism. Metsän puolella funding can be applied for twice a year.

This year, a record 7,642 applications were submitted to the general call and 643 applications to the Metsän puolella call. Applications were assessed by experts in different fields of research and art invited by Kone Foundation to serve as peer reviewers. 

“For decades, I have had the opportunity to observe the range of ideas reflected in the Foundation’s grant applications, and I am still impressed by how rich and diverse the fields of research and the arts are in Finland. Right now, it is remarkable to see researchers and artists continuing their important work, undeterred by attempts to silence them,” says Hanna Nurminen, Chair of the Kone Foundation Board of Trustees.

“The world we live in is a gallery of threats and worrying scenarios. Against this backdrop, the wealth of ideas presented in the project proposals restore my faith in the future; there is still so much good left in the world, after all. It has once again been a great joy to explore the newly funded projects,” says the foundation’s CEO Ulla Tuomarla.

Funding granted by the Kone Foundation for science and the arts has increased in recent years. In 2024, the general call awarded funding to 366 projects, totalling 48.9 million euros. Both the number of funded projects and the amount of funding granted have therefore risen this year.

“Through the Foundation’s general calls alone, approximately 265 million euros has been awarded for independent research and artistic work in the 2020s, which is a significant contribution to Finnish culture as a whole,” says Kalle Korhonen, Director of Funding at the Kone Foundation.

Read more about the statistics on applications and awards for 2025

Highlights from funded projects 
 

Docent Soila Lemmetty leads a project examining how ethical questions are understood and addressed in everyday police work and in police training. Ethics is central to police work, as officers have the legal authority to restrict citizens’ freedom and make autonomous decisions on the job. At the same time, the police aim to build trust with different population groups and to prevent crime and broader social problems. In Finland, however, research on the ethics of police work has so far been limited.

Combining adult education research and the sociology of work, the project gathers perspectives on ethics from police officers, police students, and other stakeholders. Data are collected, among other methods, through interviews and field diaries.

The Jumppatytöt (“Gymnastics Girls”) project continues the public conversation on how competitive group gymnastics affects children and young people, with the aim of safeguarding young athletes’ right to grow up without undue pressure.

The interdisciplinary team combining research and art includes PhD Sinikka Selin and theatre-makers Katariina Havukainen, Inkeri Hyvönen, and Ella Lahdenmäki. The project builds on the theatre production of the same name, which sparked debate about problems in children’s sports and the power dynamics between adults and young athletes. The production received the Finnish State Prize for Public Information in June 2025.

As outcomes, the project will produce an exhibition at the TAHTO Center for Finnish Sports Culture highlighting ordinary girls’ experiences of group gymnastics. A scholarly–artistic zine will explore, among other themes, gymnasts’ relationships with their bodies and the dynamics within the coach–gymnast community. The research will also result in two academic articles.

The project aims to deepen understanding of the impacts of children’s sports, promote equality, and also highlight the positive aspects of the culture surrounding group gymnastics. It is carried out in collaboration with the TAHTO Center for Finnish Sports Culture, The Finnish National Theatre, The Finnish Gymnastics Federation, and The Centre of Excellence in History of Experiences (HEX) at Tampere University.

Doctor of Fine Arts, visual artist, and researcher Johanna Lecklin develops practices and models for preserving, cataloguing, researching, conserving, and making accessible the work of ageing visual artists.

When an artist dies, their works are often destroyed or lost. The Death Cleaning of Art (Taiteen kuolinsiivous) project aims to document and bring to light the work and know-how of visual artists who have remained outside institutional mapping, before it is lost to us. Decisions on which works to preserve, along with cataloguing and documentation, are developed collaboratively with the participating artists.

The project sheds light on and archives the work of artists who have largely remained in the shadows.

Explore all funded projects