The InFLAMES and INVEST Flagships of the University of Turku offer grants for Ukrainian researchers who are unable to continue their work in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion.
InFLAMES Flagship will offer grants for Ukrainian researchers in the fields of immunology, immunology-based drug development, and diagnostics. Moreover, INVEST Flagship offers grants for researchers in sociology, social policy, social work, psychology, child psychiatry, statistics, economics, and epidemiology. INVEST will also open 1–2 researcher positions for applications in the near future.
Both Flagships are prepared to fund researchers for a period ranging from three months to a year. The Flagships accept grant applications from researchers at different stages of their researcher career.
Director of InFLAMES, Academician Sirpa Jalkanen expresses deep regret and concern for her colleagues suffering due to the crisis in Ukraine.
– I can’t help thinking that we could be in the same situation. We want to do everything we can to help them by offering them an opportunity to participate in the research projects of InFLAMES. At the same time, we of course wish that these projects will continue as fruitful cooperation even after the crisis ends and the people who fled from Ukraine return to their homes. Our support will most probably be needed even after that, as it is probable that the prerequisites of research in our field have suffered significant damage in Ukraine, states Jalkanen.
Director of INVEST Flagship, Professor Jani Erola states that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a crisis that concerns the whole Europe. Although the damage caused by the invasion is concentrated in Ukraine, it is not limited there.
– The invasion will have social, emotional, and demographic effects for decades ahead. There are various different ways to help, and the scientific community should also make its own contributions. The expertise of our Ukrainian colleagues is valuable for our field of research, and losing it would be a major setback also for the objectives of INVEST. The crisis will come to an end at some point, and particularly then, this expertise will be invaluable. Supporting the members of the academic community suffering from the Russian invasion of Ukraine also means supporting science and the future in general, says Erola.
InFLAMES Flagship is a joint initiative of University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Finland. The goal of the Flagship is to integrate the immunological and immunology-related research activities to develop and exploit new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for personalised medicine. InFLAMES is funded by Academy of Finland.
The Inequalities, Interventions, and New Welfare State (INVEST) is an Academy of Finland Flagship and a Joint Research Centre of the University of Turku and Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare. It aims at increasing wellbeing of Finnish society during childhood, youth and early adulthood and preventing psychosocial risks compromising such development through innovative interventions. INVEST aims at providing a new model for the welfare states that is more equal, better targeted to problem groups, more anticipatory as well as economically and socially sustainable.
