The Fulbright Finland Foundation, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, awarded its partners at a ceremony on 13 May 2024. The University of Turku was one of the three Finnish universities honoured with the Top Producer of Fulbright Awards.
The mission of the Fulbright Finland Foundation is to support the internationalisation of Finnish higher education institutions and Finnish-American cooperation in education and research. The Foundation develops and administers grants and scholarship programmes for students, researchers and professionals in various fields and provides internationalisation services to support mobility and collaboration in reserach and education.
In celebration of its 75th anniversary, the Fulbright Finland Foundation is highlighting Finnish partner universities and thanking them for their work in educational and scientific exchange between Finland and the United States. The successful cooperation between the Fulbright Finland Foundation and the University of Turku was acknowledged at a scholarship ceremony held at Helsinki City Hall on 13 May 2024, where the Foundation awarded the University of Turku with the Top Producer of Fulbright award.
The University of Turku was one of three Finnish universities to receive the Top Producer of Fulbright Awards. Over the past ten years, the University of Turku has funded the third largest number of grants to American Fulbright researchers and students through collaboration agreements. A total of 21 American researchers and students have benefited from these grants.
The Top Producer of Fulbright Award was accepted by the Rector of the University of Turku, Jukka Kola.
"It is truly great that the University of Turku's long-standing cooperation with the Fulbright Finland Foundation has been recognised in this way. We accept the award with pleasure and gratitude. Our collaboration with the Foundation has always been diverse and well-functioning. It is a great contribution to the internationalisation objectives of our university," says Rector Kola.
University of Turku researchers awarded research grants to the United States
In addition to the Top Producer of Fulbright award, the Fulbright Finland Foundation presented research grants to Eini Haaja, PhD, and Pekka Kolehmainen, PhD, from the University of Turku.
Eini Haaja and Pekka Kolehmainen are both postdoctoral researchers at the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS). Haaja is doing her research at the Pan-Europa Institute of the Turku School of Economics. In her research, she analyses the progress of the green transition in the shipbuilding industry. The cruise industry's largest shipowners are based in the United States, and Haaja's research exchange will take him to Florida International University in Miami.
During the visit, Haaja aims to build a multidisciplinary research collaboration with sustainable tourism researchers and collect interview data on the future of the cruise industry.
"In Finland, we are watching the green transition in the European bubble. Taking the change further and developing the competitiveness of the Finnish maritime industry requires greater international cooperation and understanding from different actors' perspectives. The Fulbright Finland Travel Grant for Research Collaboration,a comprehensive induction training and a wide network of Fulbright alumni enables me to create such research collaboration. Monday's Fulbright Finland Foundation Awards Ceremony was a festive occasion and I am enormously grateful and excited for this opportunity," says Haaja.
Pekka Kolehmainen is based at the John Morton Centre for North American Studies. His postdoctoral research is focused on the conceptual history of antifeminism on the US right. With a Fulbright scholarship, Kolehmainen will undertake archival research at the University of California, Berkeley.
At the Center for Right Wing Studies, which is part of the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, Kolehmainen studies materials produced by conservative think tanks and political organisations since the 1970s. During the visit, which will start in September 2024, Kolehmainen will also get a close look at the atmosphere of the election year.
"For a researcher focused on the US, this is an exciting time to go to there for an extended period of time," says Kolehmainen.
