The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Central Finland Regional Fund - Scholarship

What you get

You will receive 34,000 to 42,000 EUR per year for full-time academic or artistic employment for up to 4 years. The amount depends on your career stage:

• Early career: 34,000 euros per year, for example as a PhD student.
• Mid-career: 38,000 euros per year, for example as a postdoctoral researcher.
• Experienced researcher or artist: 42,000 euros per year, from the rank of lecturer upwards.

This funding is a work grant: it covers your living costs whilst you are working on your project. You can also apply for part-time employment (50%) for up to 1 year, with remuneration amounting to approximately half the usual rate.

An expense grant is intended to cover project costs or the purchase of equipment. You can apply for it on its own or in conjunction with a work grant. Bachelor’s and Master’s students can receive an expense grant of between 1,000 and 4,000 EUR for their final dissertation. Apart from these grants for final-year projects, the minimum grant amount is 3,000 EUR.

The funding comes from the Finnish Cultural Foundation (SKR), a private Finnish foundation. It allocates this funding through its central fund and its regional funds, such as the Regional Fund for Central Finland in Jyväskylä.

Who can apply

• Nationality or residence: You are a Finnish citizen or live or work in Finland. If this is not the case, you may still apply provided your project has a clear and strong connection to Finland or Finnish culture.
• Field: Any field of science or the arts.
• Career stage: You are a PhD student, postdoctoral researcher, experienced researcher or artist. As a Bachelor’s or Master’s student, you are only eligible for a grant to cover the costs of your dissertation.
• Doctoral applicants: You hold a degree certificate or proof that you are eligible to undertake postgraduate study.
• Postdoctoral applicants: You hold your doctoral degree or have been granted permission to defend your doctoral thesis.
• Solo or team: You can apply as an individual, as a working group or as a registered organisation.

How to apply

Apply online via the Foundation’s funding service between 15 and 30 October 2026. The application deadline is at 16:00 Finnish time. As a rule, each application is assessed by 2 experts in your field. You will be notified of the decision by email in the second week of February.

How realistic are your chances?

The foundation awards around 2,500 grants each year from all its funds.