Niilo Helander Foundation - Scholarship

What you get

You receive a grant in an amount you set yourself to carry out a science or art project over one or two years. There is no fixed rate: you ask for what your project needs, whether to cover your working time, your costs, or both. For comparison, the foundation shared about 1.25 million EUR among 112 grants in 2025, so single awards have run from a few thousand euros up to roughly 15,000 EUR. The grant comes from the Niilo Helander Foundation (Niilo Helanderin Säätiö), based in Helsinki, which supports Finnish science, art, trade and industry once a year.

Who can apply

• Who you are: You can apply as an individual, a working group or an organisation.
• Link to Finland: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome. Your project simply needs to be related to Finnish culture or research.
• Your topic: Your project must relate to one of the three themes set for this year. For the 2026 round, these are: collaboration between the humanities and the natural sciences; growing up through art and artistic community; and languages and identities in Finland. Proposals on topics of your own choosing will not be accepted.
• Your field: Both academic and artistic projects on these topics are welcome.

How to apply

You should apply online via the Rimbert system between 1 and 28 February 2026. The application deadline is 28 February at 23:59. You should submit a brief work plan and a CV, as well as any optional additional documents such as photographs or a certificate. There will be no interview: the decision will be based solely on your application documents, and you will be notified of the outcome in writing by the end of May.

How realistic are your chances?

In 2025 the foundation received 1,157 applications and funded 112, so roughly 1 in 10 proposals won a grant.