GRANTS
For 106 years, Liikesivistysrahasto (Foundation for Economic Education) has influenced the development of Finnish society by grants for research and education, particularly in the field of business administration. Promoting the economic growth and competitiveness of Finland are overarching goals of projects supported by the Fund. The majority of the grants are targeted towards researchers in their doctoral and post-doctoral stages. The grant recipient’s background may be from disciplines other than business economics, embracing fresh interdisciplinary approaches. Within the framework of the special funds’ regulations, support is also granted to particular applicant groups designated by donors.
The Foundation for Economic Education provides stability for long-term research by awarding multi-year grants to Research groups. Under the leadership of the Principal Investigator (PI), these pioneering 1–3-year projects involve doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. By 2024, a total of 78 projects have received support amounting to €6.9 million.
The Foundation for Economic Education’s thematic special initiative Innovations, Commercialization, and Growth is a key area of development for Finland’s competitiveness during 2024–2026. Through the grants awarded under this special initiative, the Foundation aims to encourage high-quality research in the field of business economics on the selected theme.
The grants from the Foundation for Economic Education include support for conferences, and research visits which also encompass long-term research abroad in the Foundations’ post doc pool, the Researchers Abroad (Tutkijat maailmalle) program, and the SCANCOR program. The Foundation for Economic Education is a member in the PoDoCo pool (Post Docs in Companies program) supporting researchers’ employment and collaboration with companies.
In 2024, a total of 5.45 million euros were awarded in grants and awards. The portion allocated to research groups was 1.0 million euros. The amount awarded within the thematic special project Innovations, Commercialization and Growth was 636,000 euros.
Grant Focus Areas 2025
The grant focus areas, confirmed by the Foundation for Economic Education’s delegation, are part of supporting the long-term growth, entrepreneurship, and business environment of Finland. The focus areas are interconnected and reflect the current changes in the operating environment. A cross-cutting theme is the future orientation of research and education, emphasizing responsibility and the promotion of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Thematic Special Project:
INNOVATIONS, COMMERCIALIZATION AND GROWTH
The Foundation for Economic Education’s thematic special project for 2024–2026 focuses on areas essential to enhancing Finland’s competitiveness. In the context of improving the competitiveness of Finnish companies, commercialization is often linked to:
- successful scaling of business operations, innovation management, manufacturing, services, and business concepts in international markets
- effective utilization of digital channels and concepts
- successful pricing strategies
With the special project we aim to encourage high-quality research in the field of business economics on the selected theme.
Research Groups
The Foundation for Economic Education’s three-year research group grant is open to applications by groups led by a Principal Investigator (PI). The multi-year grant offers a unique opportunity to focus on collaborative research aimed at addressing timely and societally significant issues. The members of the research groups are doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. We require the application to include a plan for building an international research network.
➡️ RESEARCH GROUP APPLICATION GUIDELINES
GRANT ROUND 2025
The Foundation for Economic Education’s grant application round is from June 1 to August 15. The application round is announced annually on the foundation’s website and in major daily newspapers at the end of May.
The awarded grants are published on the Foundation’s website in late November or early December. The grant recipients will be informed via e-mail.