Application Guideline for Mobility Grants - March

This page was last updated on June 19, 2024.

Grant Application Schedule

Applications should be submitted using the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Online Application Service during the March round of applications. Applications close at 4 pm Finnish time on the last day of the application period. The application period reopens annually in August and March.

Eligible Applicants

Artists and art critics from any field of art, as well as working groups or registered organisations, such as associations, are eligible to apply for a mobility grant. All associations and organisations except those receiving regular public funding may apply.

Grant Purpose

A mobility grant can be applied for travel and accommodation costs arising from international activities carried out outside Finland. In the March application round, the grant can be applied for travel that takes place at the earliest at the beginning of June following the application.

With mobility grants, the Cultural Foundation supports periods of stay outside Finland that enhance the skills, understanding, abilities, networks, and career opportunities of artists and art critics. The grant can be applied for costs related to international cooperation projects, residencies, exhibition projects, or festival participation.

Expenses covered by the grant are:
•    travel
•    accommodation
•    residency fees
•    shipping fees, insurance fees.

The Cultural Foundation is favourably disposed towards higher travel costs due to the journey taking place in a way that pollutes the climate and the environment as little as possible. In addition to direct travel costs, the grant may also be used to offset emissions that your form of travel produces.

The grant can be applied for if the stay in the target country lasts continuously for a minimum of two weeks. The same journey can extend to multiple countries, but even in such a case, a minimum of two weeks’ stay in at least one of the countries is required.

The application can combine the costs of several trips occurring within one year if they are directed to the same target country and if at least one of the trips lasts for two weeks. Separate periods of mobility directed to multiple different target countries cannot be combined in the same application.

The mobility grant cannot be applied for travel occurring from a foreign location to Finland. The country of departure does not need to be Finland, however.

The grant cannot be applied for general living expenses or daily allowances while traveling or in Finland. A working grant may not be included in a mobility grant application; the funding for the work must come from other sources. A positive mobility grant decision does not prevent an applicant from receiving a working grant in the Cultural Foundation’s October and January application rounds.

Mobility grants cannot be used for trips included in undergraduate studies or for costs related to undergraduate studies taken abroad.

Types of Grants Awarded

Grants may be sought for expenses ranging from EUR 3,000 to EUR 10,000.

Application process and timetable

Applications should be submitted using the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Online Application Service during the March Round of Applications. Applications close at 4 pm Finnish time on the last day of the application period.

Grant Guidelines apply in all application rounds (January, March, August, October). Therefore, it is advisable to read through them carefully before submitting the application. 

The form will guide you in filling out an application. The work plan summary must include the destination, duration and dates of travel, as well as a concise description of the project’s content. A more comprehensive work plan may be included with the application. Applicants must list their relevant accomplishments and their motivation for the trip(s) in the designated fields. Finnish-speaking applicants should submit their applications in Finnish.

Compulsory appendices consist of:
•   Curriculum Vitae
•   Samples of work, such as pictures of artistic production
•   Budget.

In addition to the above, a letter of acceptance or invitation related to the project may be appended.

Applications and appendices submitted through channels other than the application system will not be processed.

Large images (over 3 MB) and videos cannot be uploaded. We suggest that you provide a link to these files, for example to your website.

The Cultural Foundation’s Online Reference System is open during the application round. Append only informal references  to your application. A reference submitted in the online service will suffice – there is no need to append it to the application.

After submitting your application, please check that the application’s status in the system is marked as “sent”. Submitted applications may be cancelled using the application management function. Inform the Foundation through the Online Application Service of any corresponding funding received from elsewhere during the application processing period.

The Finnish Cultural Foundation requires you to comply with the application guidelines for governing the application process, to inform the Foundation through the Online Application Service of any corresponding funding received from elsewhere during the application processing period, and to act in accordance with the plan you have presented. The Foundation also requires you to comply with Grantee Guidelines, should a grant be awarded.

Awarded Grants

Mobility grant decisions will be sent to the applicants by email and announced on the homepage of the Finnish Cultural Foundation by the end of May.

The destination specified in the mobility grant application may not be retrospectively changed and the trip must last at least two weeks. The Finnish Cultural Foundation will not permit a change of purpose for these reasons; instead, the grant will be considered to be cancelled. The dates of travel and the content of the artistic work plan may change, and no change of purpose application need be submitted to the Foundation for this; the changes are reported when the grant is cleared using the Online Service for Grantees.

Reporting the Use of the Grant

Grantees are required to provide an online report of how the grant was used within one year of the final payment. Grant reports must be submitted using the Online Service for Grantees. Failure to provide a report may adversely affect the chances of receiving a grant in the future.