The mission of the Academy of Finland (AKA) is to fund high-quality scientific research, provide expertise in science and science policy, and strengthen the position of science and research. We are an agency within the administrative branch of the Finnish Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. We work to contribute to the renewal, diversification and increasing internationalisation of Finnish research. Our activities cover the full spectrum of scientific disciplines. We support and facilitate researcher training and research careers, internationalisation and the utilisation of research results. We are also keen to emphasise the importance of research impact and breakthrough research. We therefore encourage researchers to submit boundary-crossing applications that involve risks but also offer promise and potential for scientifically significant breakthroughs. In 2019, our funding for research amounts to 458 million euros. Each year, our funding contributes to some 2,700 people’s work (FTEs) at universities and research institutes. Part of our funds come from proceeds of Finland’s national gaming company Veikkaus. In 2019, these proceeds account for 70.7 million euros of our total funding for scientific research.