Kone Foundation funding can be granted for academic research and professional artistic work at different stages of a career. In addition, under the Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative, funding is also available for journalism and activism.

In 2025, Kone Foundation paid out personal grants for a total of 12,441 months, equivalent to 1,037 person-years.

The total number of months of personal grants paid by the Foundation continued to increase. In 2024, the figure was 977 person-years, and in 2023 it was 802 person-years.

In total, 1,821 people received monthly personal grants from Kone Foundation during the year. Depending on the project, some received funding for the entire year, while others received it only for specific months.

The amount of the monthly personal grant depends on the grantee’s level of experience. In 2025, the grant amounts were:

• Grant 1: €2,700/month (researchers working on a doctoral thesis; early-career artists)
• Grant 2: €3,200/month (mid-career: postdoctoral researchers or artists with a minimum of 10 years of professional artistic work)
• Grant 3: €3,800/month (senior-level: docents or equivalent in research, or artists with a minimum of 20 years of professional artistic work)

Grantees from seven decades

In order to pay personal grants, we collect the grantees’ date of birth and address information. Based on this data, we can examine and compare the ages and places of residence of our grantees. We do not collect information on grantees’ gender, native language, or nationality.

Those born in the 1980s were again the largest age group, accounting for 43.8% of the Foundation’s grantees. The next largest groups were those born in the 1990s (27.1%) and the 1970s (20.3%).

The oldest grantees this year were born in the 1940s and were 76–85 years old. The youngest grantees were born in the 2000s and were aged 16–25.

Where did our grantees live?

Projects funded by Kone Foundation must have a connection to Finland, but grantees do not have to be Finnish or live in Finland. Based on address data, we can see that our grantees live all over the world. Naturally, a person’s nationality or native language cannot be inferred from their place of residence.

In 2025, grant payments were made to 44 different countries. 9% of grantees lived outside Finland.

Of the 1,656 grantees living in Finland, just over half (51,7%) lived in Helsinki.

From our office in Helsinki, the closest grantee lived right next door in Lauttasaari, while the farthest lived on the other side of the globe, some 14,700 kilometres away in the Australian state of Victoria.