Tiedekeskussäätiö

Their core work

Tiedekeskussäätiö operates Heureka, Finland's national science centre in Vantaa, which brings science and technology to general audiences through hands-on exhibitions, science cafés, and public events. Their core work is science communication — translating research into experiences that engage citizens, schoolchildren, and the broader public. In EU projects they serve as a dissemination and public engagement partner, offering access to science centre infrastructure and an established audience that most research consortia cannot reach on their own. They also work at the intersection of science and arts, as demonstrated by their involvement in Finland's centenary science communication programme.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 engagement (2015, SPARKS), Heureka operated as part of a pan-European network of science centres, contributing to continent-wide exhibitions and science café programmes on topics like frugal innovation and open science. By 2016 (CHANGE), the focus had narrowed to nationally-targeted science communication tied to Finland's centenary, blending science with arts and multidisciplinary storytelling for a domestic audience. The shift signals a move from broad European network participation toward deeper, identity-rooted national science communication — more curated, more culturally specific.

Heureka appears to be consolidating around high-quality national science communication with an arts dimension, rather than scaling up as a generic EU dissemination partner — making them most valuable for projects with a Finnish or Nordic public engagement component.

How they like to work

Heureka never leads projects — both H2020 involvements were as participant or third party, which fits their institutional role as an engagement venue and dissemination channel rather than a research coordinator. Despite contributing to only 2 projects, they appear in consortia with 41 partners across 29 countries, indicating they were part of large coordination actions where their value was access to audiences, not budget or leadership. Partners should expect a well-connected public-facing contributor, not a project manager.

Heureka has touched 41 unique consortium partners across 29 countries from just 2 projects — a sign they participated in large, geographically broad CSA-type actions rather than focused bilateral research projects. No obvious geographic cluster beyond a Finnish/Nordic home base.

What sets them apart

As Finland's national science centre, Heureka offers something most research organisations cannot: a trusted, publicly recognised venue and communication channel for reaching non-specialist audiences at national scale. They sit at a rare intersection of science, arts, and public culture — useful for projects that need citizen engagement, not just academic dissemination. Their SME classification means they are also eligible for roles that require non-academic partners in consortium balance.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SPARKS
  A pan-European public engagement initiative linking Science Centres and Museums across multiple countries to address societal responses to frugal innovation and open science — Heureka's most internationally networked role.
• CHANGE
  A MSCA-funded science communication project tied to Finland's national centenary, blending science, arts, and multidisciplinary storytelling — the only project where Heureka received direct EC funding.