Ministry of Education and Culture - Award

State Award for Public Information

You will receive a one-off cash prize for outstanding achievements in disseminating knowledge to the general public. The amount of the prize is determined each year by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. In the year 2025, eight people each received 20,000 EUR. In other years, the total amount was distributed differently, so the exact sum depends on the year in question and the number of recipients. This is a national award and not a monthly scholarship. It recognises work already carried out, not future studies. The Ministry awards it on the recommendation of the Committee for Public Information (TJNK), and it has been in existence since 1968.

Who can be awarded

• Who it goes to: Individual authors or the working group responsible for the work.
• What counts: Significant works that communicate scientific, artistic or technological findings to the public and stimulate wider debate. Examples include non-fiction books, television or radio programmes, newspaper articles and digital information products. Long-term public engagement efforts may also be recognised.
• Field of study: Open to all subjects.
• Nationality: The award may be presented to individuals of any nationality, but the work and the recognition are linked to Finland.
• What does not count: Academic publications or teaching materials aimed exclusively at a specialist audience.

How to apply

You do not apply yourself. Instead, the work is nominated by someone else. Any individual or organisation may submit a nomination by 1 December each year, either via the online form (in Finnish or Swedish) or by email in English to the committee. The committee then draws up its proposal for the Ministry by 31 May, and the awards are usually presented in June.

How realistic are your chances?

This is Finland's top national honour for public information work, so the field is strong and only a handful of awards go out each year. You cannot put yourself forward, so a well-placed nomination and a body of work that clearly reached and moved a broad audience matter most. If your work has genuinely shaped public debate, a nomination is worth making.