GRANTS
introduction
Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation awards grants to artists and researchers as well as for activities of general interest. The annual application period for the Foundation grants is in May. The call for grant applications is published on the Foundation's website (www.linnamonsaatio.fi) towards the end of April each year.
Awarding grants for arts in even years and for science in odd years, the Foundation follows an alternate-year funding cycle. In addition, the calls for grant applications are built around a specific annually changing theme addressing a particular set of actors within the larger frameworks of arts and science. The grant decisions are made by the board of trustees of Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation based on proposals by an advisory panel of experts. Grants for collectives as well as for purposes of general interest are decided upon independently by the board of the Foundation without a coordinated round of applications.
The May round of applications: 5.–31.5.2025
The theme of 2025: law and politics
Today’s public debate and political landscape are framed by an emphasis on states of emergency, preparedness, and security. As a result, questions concerning the relationship between law and politics are increasingly prevalent. Lively discussion has been fueled by concerns, on the one hand, about the politicization of law and, on the other, about the judicialization of politics. Similarly, issues regarding the status and implementation of fundamental rights in both legislative work and judicial practices are attracting growing interest. Developments in recent years, both in Finland and in many other countries, have created fertile ground for increasingly interdisciplinary research communities.
Through the “Law and Politics” themed call, the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation seeks to support research that delves into the fundamental power structures of societies. The goal of the themed call is to support social science and humanities research in Finland, approached from multidisciplinary perspectives, by awarding grants for research projects (postdoctoral research, doctoral dissertations) as well as for the translation of scholarly books and other scientific texts (articles, essays) into Finnish. The fields of science supported by the Foundation in 2025 are social sciences, law, gender studies, philosophy, and history.
The call is aimed at researchers who are either Finnish or living and working in Finland. Research groups may also apply.
Grants awarded by the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation may be personal working grants, project grants, or travel grants related to project implementation. The Foundation generally does not award individual grants exceeding €13,000. However, in this spring's themed call, the Foundation will award up to three one-year working grants. Each one-year grant amounts to €26,000 (€2,166.66 per month). Information about application requirements and detailed instructions can be found on the Foundation’s website under "Grants / For Applicants."
The application period for the 2025 themed grants is from May 5 to May 31, 2025.
The application and its required attachments must be submitted through the Foundation’s online grant service, at the latest by Saturday 31 May 2025, at 23:59 p.m. (UTC +3).
Applications submitted after this time or in a form not corresponding with the Foundation's guidelines will not be reviewed.
Further information: [email protected]
Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation
Board of Trustees
For grant applicants
Who can apply?
Finnish citizens and citizens of other countries living and working in Finland as well as working groups consisting of such individuals are eligible to apply.
To what ends, how much, and for what period?
The Foundation awards grants for work conducted predominantly in Finland (working grant), for expenses related to projects realised primarily in Finland (expenditure grant), and for travel expenses directly related to the realisation of aforementioned projects (travel grant). Working grants are awarded for the purpose of full-time work. Expenditure and travel grants are intended for expenses incurred after grant decisions.
Art grants are awarded for work, for project expenses (e.g. materials, services), for acquisition costs (e.g. equipment), and for travel costs directly related to the production of a particular project.
Science grants are awarded for research work (doctoral dissertations and post-doctoral research), research project expenses (e.g. printing costs, translation fees), and for travel costs directly related to research work.
The applied amount should be based on a clearly defined budget and can be freely chosen by the applicant. However, please note that, as a rule, the Foundation does not award individual grants exceeding the sum of thirteen thousand (13 000) euros.
The grants are intended to be used primarily within two years following the date when they were awarded.
Limitations and restrictions
The Foundation does not award grants to:
- undergraduate and postgraduate ( bachelor's and master's) studies
- internships
- travel costs related to arts residencies
- travel costs related to participation in various events
- travel costs related to conferences or meetings
The application and its required attachments
1. An application can be formulated freely in either Finnish or English language. It must meet the following substantive requirements:
a) Basic information on the applicant and the application
Personal details of the applicant (full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth), degrees or diplomas obtained, applied sum, and a short description of the intended use of the grant. If the application is for a working group, it should contain the above information on all working group members.
b) Abstract
An abstract sums up the contents, objectives and importance a project and outlines the processes enabled by the applied grant. The maximum length of an abstract is four thousand (4 000) characters.
c) Grants
An application should indicate the grants already awarded to the grant project as well as all pending applications addressed to other funders concerning the project.
d) Consent
A written consent of the applicant to both the Foundation's processing and use of personal data and to the rules on grant usage and reporting is a required component of the application. Before submitting an application, therefore, applicants should examine the Foundation's data protection policy and the guidelines for grant recipients.
2. Required attachments:
a) Work plan (art grants)
A work plan describes the project's artistic objectives and main contents and includes a production schedule and a comprehensive budget. The maximum length of a work plan is five (5) pages.
b) Research plan (science grants)
A research plan describes the project's background, main contents, importance, objectives, and methods and includes a research schedule and a list of essential sources. The maximum length is five (5) pages.
c) CV
A comprehensive CV is required of all applicants / members of a working group.
d) Portfolio / work samples (art grants)
A collection of work samples that provide a sufficiently comprehensive view of the applicant's artistic practice. Please include the amount of good quality images you consider necessary or alternatively a direct link to the materials (dropbox, vimeo, www-portfolio).
e) Statement (doctoral dissertations)
Applications for doctoral dissertations must include a statement by the supervisor of the project or by another person closely acquainted with it.
The application and its required attachments must be submitted through the Foundation’s online grant service, available on the Foundation’s website, at the latest by 31 May, at 23:59 p.m. (UTC +3).
In accordance with the principles of good foundation practices, the Foundation does not comment on individual grant decisions. The list of awarded grants will be published on the Foundation's website in September. The applicants will receive a notification of the decision by email a week before the list of grantees is published.
For grant recipients
The grant recipient will receive a notification of the awarded grant via e-mail. The grant can be withdrawn by filling out a payment form that can be accessed via a link contained in the notification e-mail. Grants are primarily paid in one installment. A grant awarded by Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation must be withdrawn and used primarily within two years following the date when it was awarded. In case a grant has not been withdrawn and used within the determined time frame, it will be cancelled without further notice.
A grant must be used for the purpose for which it has been awarded. If the content of the project or the circumstances of its implementation change significantly, the grantee must inform the Foundation immediately to discuss possible changes in the grant's usage.
MELA, the pension fund for agricultural entrepreneurs, provides pension, accident and group life insurance coverage for grant recipients in Finland. Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation will inform MELA of all working grants awarded to individuals for periods of four (4) months or more and exceeding the minimum level for pension payments (€ 3 900 / year in 2019). It is the grantees' responsibility to contact MELA in order to arrange a pension coverage.
The grant recipient must declare the grant received from Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation in the tax declaration. The Foundation notifies the Finnish tax authorities annually of the grants paid to natural persons.
The grant recipient must submit a report on the use of the grant to the Foundation within one year after the grant's use. The report should be sent by email to [email protected]. A new grant can be applied only after a report has been submitted on the use of a previous grant.
In accordance with good practice, the grant recipient should thank Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation in connection with the publication of supported projects. You can download the Foundation logo here.
Awarded grants
Due to changes in both data protection legislation and the operation of Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, the names of grant recipients will not be published on the Foundation's website until 2020. The list of grant recipients will be published annually in September.
The data protection policy of Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation
In its operations, Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation complies with the EU Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), Data Protection Act of Finland, and other applicable data protection regulations concerning the privacy of registered persons. The Foundation processes personal data in accordance with the principles of good information management and the practices of good personal data processing.
In the activities of the Foundation, the processing of grant applications forms two registers: a register of grant applicants and a register of grant recipients. The registers are not kept in paper form.
When applying for a grant from Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, the applicant consents to the use of her or his personal data to the extent required by the Foundation's basic functions as a grant awarding entity. In the Foundation's activities, the processing of personal data relates to the evaluation of applications, the payment of grants, and providing public information on the realisation of the Foundation's purpose. The data is received from the grant applicants, the grant recipients, as well as the writers of statements.
Personal information is processed by the board of trustees and the secretary general of the Foundation, the expert members of the advisory panel evaluating the applications, designated accountants and auditors. Personal information is shown only to the extent necessary for the recipient group. The Foundation provides information on grants paid to natural persons to both MELA and the Finnish tax authorities.
As the registrar, the Foundation will retain the application data of the grant recipients for three (3) years from the end of the grant year. Information regarding other applications will be retained by the Foundation for one (1) year from the end of the application year. After the end of the retention period, the Foundation will destroy the registered data.
In accordance with the guidelines for good governance issued by the Association of Finnish Foundations, Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation publishes the names of grant recipients on its website.