Home Mets?n puolella (¡°For the Woods¡°) Mets?n puolella grant call Mets?n puolella: Guidelines for making a grant application Guidelines for making a grant application Apply for funding by submitting your application and attachments using the Online Grant Service. Mets?n puolella (¡°For the Woods¡°)Researchers¡¯ petition for the protection of old-growth forests Mets?n puolella grant call Mets?n puolella: Guidelines for making a grant application The Great Forest Dialogue Day The Great Forest Dialogue Stories of Forest Futures 2050 In 2026, there will be two application periods: 1¨C15 February 2026. Applications submitted by 15 February, 4:00 P.M. EEST will be considered. The decisions will be announced on 28 April, and the payments can begin at the earliest in June. 1¨C15 September 2026. Applications submitted by 15 September, 4:00 P.M. EEST will be considered. The decisions will be announced in November¨CDecember. 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. Who can apply for funding? How long and how much funding can be applied for? Submitting an application Attachments Evaluation, processing times and decisions Who can apply for funding? An individual, a working group or an organisation with a Finnish business ID can apply for a grant from Kone Foundation.? To receive funding, projects must have a connection to Finland. Finnish citizens may apply for work carried out either in Finland or abroad. Individual non-Finnish citizens are eligible if they are affiliated with a Finnish institution, based in Finland, or if the the work is carried out in Finland. Research and artistic groups may include participants from any country, as long as someone in the group is a Finnish citizen or based in Finland. Organizations must have a Finnish business ID. If the applicant is a working group or an organisation, the group members must choose a person responsible for the project from among themselves to be responsible for submitting the application. We welcome applicants of different ages, from different genders and from linguistic, cultural and other minorities. How long and how much funding can be applied for? Grants are to be used for work that starts no later than the following year. Grants are not awarded retroactively. Funding may be awarded for a maximum of four consecutive years for the same project or for the same applicant¡¯s artistic work. If funding has already been awarded for four years, there must be a break of at least one year after the funding period. 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. We do not fund working periods of less than six months for individual applicants. In working groups the minimum duration of a personal grant for research or artistic work is one month. There is no specific upper limit defined for research applications, but research projects by working groups typically range from 200,000 to 500,000 euros. Artistic working groups and organisations can apply for funding of up to 250,000 euros. We do not require additional funding from applicants, but we recommend seeking as sustainable a funding base as possible ¡ª particularly for larger projects and applications from art organisations ¡ª as the Foundation¡¯s funding is always fixed-term. Submitting an application Apply for funding by submitting your application and attachments using . Only applications submitted using the Online grant service will be considered. Log in using your account information, or if you are a new applicant, register as a new user. Create a new application -> For the woods Fill in the required information. Submit the application to Kone Foundation. Applications cannot be sent via email or post. 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. We recommend familiarising yourself with . 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 Application type Individual applicants Fill in the application under their own names Working groups?Choose 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?, as well as with the ethical codes of conduct in your field. Organisation?with a with a Finnish business ID??A person responsible for the project must be selected. Read more about the role of the person responsible of the project?(opens in a new tab) Application form tabs 1. Applicant Fill in the basic information required on the application form. 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. 2. Type of project The applicant must choose a category for the project: Research Art Research and art Societal activity 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 or study¡¯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 ¨C the summary is usually the first section the evaluator reads from the application. The Foundation may use applicants¡¯ titles and summaries in the Foundation¡¯s communications (such as on its website), and the text from these sections will be published if the grant is awarded. 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 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. The Foundation is willing to support an unbroken span of work. If you are planning a multiyear project such as a doctoral thesis, we recommend that you apply for funding for the same project at once. Fill in the information for the monthly grantee(s). Individuals doing scholarly or artistic work are awarded personal working grants instead of salaries. Grants awarded by private foundations such as Kone Foundation are exempt from taxes below the limit of the Finnish state grant for artists. Kone Foundation funding is specified as personal monthly grants and other expenses on the application form. The amount of the personal monthly grant varies, depending on the stage of your career. Grant classifications for the grant call are: Grant 1: early career applicants and those working on their doctoral thesis €2,700/month (€32,400/year) Grant 2: mid-career applicants (min. 10 years of artistic work) and those working at the post-doctoral level €3,200/month (€38,400/year) Grant 3: late-career applicants (min. 20 years of artistic work) and experienced researchers (e.g., adjunct professor level, ¡®dosentti¡¯ in the Finnish academic system) €3,800/month (€45,600/year). If you are applying for monthly grant 2 or 3, please describe your career phase. 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. 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¡¯ but not as a monthly grant. When applying for funding to cover fees and salaries, the applicant can include taxes and additional costs in the total amount of the other expenses being applied for, if necessary. If funding is requested for other expenses (e.g., travel, salaries, materials), a budget must be included as an attached PDF. If you apply for funding for travel expenses, we encourage you to avoid flying if possible and to favour low-emission travelling. Flights within Finland, which should be avoided for sustainability reasons, can be funded only when they are well justified. 5. Other funding Please list all grants received during the preceding three years for the project. Applicants are requested to inform Kone Foundation immediately if other funding is received from any other source. Kone Foundation grants are usually not awarded to applicants who have already secured financing for the project in question (grant or salary) for the entire upcoming year. 6. Evaluators The applicant will 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 one¡¯s first choice of expert. If you are applying for a grant for doctoral thesis work, even in artistic research, please choose the first evaluator profile from the profiles listed under Research. 7. Attachments and links See the section Attachments 8. Proximity According to the Foundations Act (a Finnish Law), all foundations are required to provide information on their transactions with related parties. The Act has a broad definition of a related party of a foundation. Please note that related parties may apply for funding from Kone Foundation. 9. Submission Only applications submitted via will be considered. If, after submitting your application, you wish to edit the text before the deadline, please choose ¡°cancel application¡±. This does not clear your application data. After editing the application, please submit the application again. 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 necessary attachments should be uploaded to the Online Application Service and attached to the application as a PDF. The maximum size for one file is 10 MB. Please select the file type from the drop-down list on the online application form. Please note that we cannot accept attachments by mail or email. Required attachments Individual applicant: research or work proposal curriculum vitae budget (Only when applying for funding for expenses. When applying for a personal monthly grant only, a budget is not required.) 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) Work 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 when applying for funding for expenses. When applying for a personal monthly grant only, a budget is not required. portfolio (applications for artistic work or artistic research) copy of degree certificate (individual research applicants with monthly grant) Organisation 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 when applying for funding for expenses. When applying for a personal monthly grant only, a budget is not required. portfolio (applications for artistic work or artistic research) copy of degree certificate (individual research applicants with monthly grant) copies of the annual report, financial statement and auditor¡¯s report from the previous year current year¡¯s action plan Description of attachments Research and work proposal The maximum length of the research or work proposal for individual applicants is 4 pages, including bibliography. The maximum length of a research or work proposal 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 and the goals of the Mets?n puolella initiative 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 is to 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 method chosen for analysing or handling these materials. 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 of 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, 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: Names of participating researchers Indication of applicants¡¯ familiarity with the subject An explanation of any possible multidisciplinarity or interdisciplinarity factored into the project. Projects that are not research projects must include an attached work plan. A sufficient work plan answers the questions: Why? How? When? Who? and Whom with? 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, 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. Curriculum vitae (CV) CVs of all persons of the work group working with a grant must be attached to the application. Please also attach the CVs of other members of the core team if their contribution to the project is relevant. 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, presentations given and teaching experience. It is especially important to include information of particular relevance to the project for which Kone Foundation funding is being sought. 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. The CV can also be a link to an online CV. 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).? Portfolio Grant 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. The contents of the portfolio are to be chosen by the applicant. 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. 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 recommendation. If the same recommendatio source submits recommendations for more than one doctoral researcher, the applicants¡¯ order made by the recommendation source plays an important role in the evaluation process. 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 recommendation source should know the applicant and the project for which funding is sought well enough to add value to the application. For example, it may confirm the relevance of the project in the field of arts (projects that are innovative in the field) or open up 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 15 September 16:00 (Finnish time). 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) Certificates If the grant application includes individual researchers working as a monthly grant recipients, please include a certificate of their most recent academic degree and/or the most relevant certificates for the research project. A degree certificate can also be included in other applications, if desired, but it is most important for the CV to include education and qualifications. EVALUATION, PROCESSING TIMES AND DECISIONS The applicant will select which field they want the expert assessing their application to represent. The evaluators change every year. The names of the evaluators are not disclosed. Peer reviewers 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. The Kone Foundation Board of Trustees makes the final funding decisions. In ). In 2026, there will be two application periods: 1¨C15 February 2026. Applications submitted by 15 February, 4:00 P.M. EEST will be considered. The decisions will be announced on 28 April. 1¨C15 September 2026. Applications submitted by 15 September, 4:00 P.M. EEST will be considered. The decisions will be announced in November¨CDecember. We will send an email about the decisions to all applicants soon after the meeting at which their application was considered. The list of grantees will be published on our website and their names will be included in the Foundation¡¯s annual report.