TIAS Kone Foundation Scholars at Risk Fellowship Programme

The purpose of TIAS Postdoctoral Fellowship is to advance professional competence of researchers who have recently gained their doctorate and have participated in international activities and collaboration. Postdoctoral is defined as being within five (5) years of applicants having passed a PhD. Applicants are also expected to have attained other academic achievements.

Applicants must have completed their doctoral degree by the end of the application period. They must have gained their doctoral degree a maximum of five years before the end of application period, 11 May 2022. This date should be taken as being the date at which all work for the PhD is successfully concluded, rather than the date of formal graduation. In cases where the PHD has been successfully completed but the degree certificate has not yet been issued, applicants should provide confirmation from the University where the PhD was undertaken that the PhD has been successfully completed and that no additional work is required. If for any reason (such as displacement) it is not possible to provide this, please note this in your letter of motivation (see below). Please note that prior to the appointment the University will verify that a doctorate has been passed.

Only for special reasons, such as maternity, paternity or parental leave, military service or non-military service, or a long illness may more than five years have passed since the successful completion of the degree. Applicants who wish to plead special reasons should justify this in their curriculum vitae.

The salaries of TIAS Fellows are determined within the university salary system for teaching and research personnel. The salary for Postdoctoral Fellow (official title Postdoctoral Researcher) positions corresponds to a requirement level 5 and the pre-estimated personnel percentage of 17 % (current euro-denominated salary 3510 € per month). Progress in the researcher’s personal performance can be taken into account when determining the salary level during employment. In addition to salary, all TIAS Fellows receive an annual research allowance which can be used for activities related to their project. This is currently 3400€ per annum.

The purpose of TIAS Collegium Fellowships is to offer researchers an opportunity to gain competence for the most demanding research posts or other expert positions after the postdoctoral research stage. Successful publishing and other scientific work as well as significant activity and engagement in international academic networks after gaining the doctorate are requirements for appointment to a Collegium Fellow post. Applicants are expected to have ambitious research plans. They must have been awarded their PhD no more than twelve (12) years before the end of the application period, 11 May 2022. Only for special reasons, such as maternity, paternity or parental leave, military service or non-military service, or a long illness may more than twelve years have passed since the successful completion of the degree. Applicants who wish to plead special reasons should justify this in their curriculum vitae. Tenured Professors (i.e. those with the title of Professor) are not eligible to apply.

The salaries of TIAS Fellows are determined within the university salary system for teaching and research personnel. The salary for Collegium Fellow (official title Collegium Researcher) positions corresponds to a requirement level 7 and the pre-estimated personnel percentage of 17 % (current euro-denominated salary 4720 € per month). Progress in the researcher’s personal performance can be taken into account when determining the salary level during employment. In addition to salary, all TIAS Fellows receive an annual research allowance which can be used for activities related to their project. This is currently 3400€ per annum.

The main task of TIAS Kone Foundation Scholars at Risk Fellows is to carry out an internationally excellent research project over a two-year period, during which the results of the project should be disseminated in a number of ways including books, book chapters, peer reviewed articles, newspaper articles, conference papers, public dissemination events etc. Fellows are also required to contribute the intellectual life of the Institute via such things attending and presenting at TIAS meetings, organising TIAS events and other forms of cross disciplinary working with their co-Fellows.

In their motivation letter, applicants should state how their work supplements existing work at the University, identifying both the department within which they wish to be located and relevant members of staff whose work aligns with their own. Successful candidates are requested to demonstrate engagement in international academic networks and must provide evidence of their ability to work in a research environment of high international standard.

The positions are located at one the University of Turku’s campuses in Turku, Pori or Rauma and successful candidates are required to live in Finland. Applicants should be aware that they are applying to work in an interdisciplinary research institute and therefore must be committed to interdisciplinary working. Such working includes an obligation to attend regular TIAS meetings and events and to make contributions to the academic and social life of the Institute. In addition to TIAS meetings and events, Fellows are expected to attend the campus regularly.

TIAS Fellows have the opportunity to contribute to teaching activities at the University of Turku. Such contributions will make up a maximum of 5 % of a Fellow’s annual work load of 1612 hours. In addition, they may devote another 5 % of their total work time to other academic and administration duties.

Applications must be submitted via University of Turku’s electronic application form.

>> Postdoctoral Fellow applications
>> Collegium Fellow applications

The application deadline is 11 May at 23.59 (Finnish time, GMT +3). Late applications cannot be submitted and applications cannot be completed after the application deadline.

Please note that once the application is submitted, applicants may still make adjustments to the application up to the deadline. We strongly recommend completing the application as early as possible before the deadline.

In the application form applicants are asked to choose the department/unit within which they wish their research to be located. Please choose from the list further down on this page.

The application must contain all the following documents, which must be in the following order:

1. Research plan abstract (1 page)
2. Research plan (maximum 10 000 characters, plus spaces)
3. Curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
4. List of publications (maximum 2 pages, please indicate the five most important)
5. Letter of Motivation (maximum 2 pages)
6. Copy of doctoral certificate (if unavailable please supply a copy of official confirmation that the PhD has been passed)

Documents 1–5 must be compiled together into one PDF document. So in total there will be two attachments: documents 1–5 and the doctoral certificate document.

The attachments must be in PDF format. The maximum file size for the Documents 1–5 is 25 MB. Please download this to “Academic portfolio” (akateeminen portfolio). The maximum file size for the doctoral certificate (or other confirmation) is 2 MB.

All the documents must be written in English with Times New Roman, font size 12. This font size must be used throughout including in the Bibliography. Footnotes and tables must be font size 10. Any words within maps, pictures etc must be at least font size 9. These rules will be strictly enforced.

The documents must be named by using the last name of the applicant and the document title (e.g. Smith_Documents_1_5, Smith_DoctoralCertificate.)

Incomplete applications will not be processed and we reserve the right to automatically exclude applications which do not follow the limits listed above and the structure below. We further reserve the right to automatically exclude applications which have the incorrect font size in any part of the application.

NB: Please use all the subheadings listed and ensure that all parts are completed in order. Failure to do so will make the application ineligible.

1. Research Plan Abstract (maximum 2 500 characters; 1 page)

   The one-page abstract must contain, in order, the following:

   - Applicant’s name and academic degree
   - Title of the research
   - Department in which the applicant wishes to located (and which will make an initial assessment of the application). Please note that it is not necessary for applicants to contact departments
   - Summary of the research plan (aims, research material and methods)
   - Key words (maximum 5).

2. Research plan (maximum 10 000 characters, plus spaces, inclusive). Please note that this limit will be strictly enforced.
   
       The research plan must indicate the following in order:
   
   - Name of the researcher, title of the research plan and site of research
   - Background and significance of the research
   - Research objectives and methods, including specifying the multidisciplinary aspects of the research
   - Implementation and outputs: The current state and schedule of the applicant’s research, a timetable for the research and publications/outputs, dissemination strategy including considerations of open access. Please see open science policy of UTU. This should include names of target journals and, for books, names of targeted publishers.  
   - National and international collaboration, including linkage with research conducted at the University of Turku and to the University’s research themes. Please ensure that individual researchers and/or institutions with which you intend to collaborate are named.
   
   Research ethics
   
   The University of Turku is committed to complying with the guidelines on responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct, issued by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. Consequently, TIAS requires that applicants commit to complying with responsible conduct of research and adhere to the Advisory Board’s guidelines. Please see the responsible conduct of research guidelines.
    
3. Curriculum vitae (maximum two pages)
   
   The curriculum vitae must be no more than two pages in length and must include the following information:
   
   - personal data: name and year of birth
   - academic education: degrees, dates and places, major subject, topic of doctoral dissertation
   - posts and positions of primary importance
   - research allocations and grants during the last five years
   - most important expert assignments
   - most important scientific acknowledgements and awards
   - outreach/impact activities.
    
4. List of publications (maximum two pages)
   
   The maximum length of the list of publications is two pages. Applicants are required to clearly indicate the 5 most important publications in relation to the research plan. Any non-English titles must be translated into English.
    
5. Motivation letter (maximum two pages)
   
   In no more than two pages explain in the following order:
   
    - How the research supplements existing work at the University, identifying both the department within which the applicant wishes to be located and relevant members of staff whose work aligns with their own
   - Why the research should be conducted at TIAS and its constituent faculties
   - How the research, contacts, supervising and teaching experience will benefit TIAS and University of Turku
   - How the two-year research period will contribute to the applicant’s continuing professional development
   - How the applicant will contribute to the multidisciplinary TIAS community
   - How the research will contribute to the research profile of the University of Turku and its research themes
   - How the proposed project is interdisciplinary and what the implications of this are.
   - Any reason why you are unable to supply the necessary documents such as a PhD certificate

Applicants should upload a copy of their doctoral certificate. If the original degree certificate is not written in English, Finnish or Swedish an official translation in English must also be submitted. In cases where the PHD has been successfully completed but the degree certificate has not yet been issued, applicants should provide confirmation from the University where the PhD was undertaken that the PhD has been successfully completed and that no additional work is required.

If a copy the PhD certificate is not available, please upload details of your PhD (name of the degree, date, name of University which awarded the PhD).

Please note that prior to the appointment the University will verify that a doctorate has been passed.

Please note that this Call is only open to scholars who have been displaced by the crisis in Ukraine and who have applied to Scholars at Risk (SAR) for scholars at risk status. The organisers of the TIAS Kone Foundation Scholars at Risk Fellowship Programme will follow up with Scholars at Risk after the application period closes in order to confirm that each applicant has applied to SAR. Only those verfied by SAR will proceed in to the review process. Please see www.scholarsatrisk.org/secure-submission for details of how to apply.

Applicants who have any questions about this should contact TIAS as soon as possible.

Applications who have been verifired by SAR as having Scholars at Risk status and who meet ing all the formal requirements are then preliminarily assessed by the TIAS Director in consultation with departments. A shortlist of the applications will then be evaluated by reviewers with expertise in the relevant discipline(s). Reviewers will be asked to rank, from 1–6, the following: (i) applicants’ previous academic achievements, (ii) the quality of the research plan, (iii) the theoretical and methodological framework and (iv) the proposed outputs plan. They are then asked (v) to provide an overall assessment. Reviewers are also asked to comment on any ethical issues around the proposed research. Based on these evaluations, the TIAS Board of Management will make the final decision on the successful applicants.

The successful candidates will be informed directly and unsuccessful applicants will also be notified. Please note that on this occasion we are unable to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

It is anticipated that final decisions about successful applicants will be made at the end of June 2022.

For more information on applying, please contact the TIAS Director, Professor Martin Cloonan, martin.cloonan@utu.fi or the TIAS Coordinator, Jenni Kankaanpää, TIAS-haku@utu.fi.

Please choose one of the units marked with en-dash.
Faculties and units on the website.

Faculty of Education
– Department of Education
– Department of Teacher Education
Faculty of Humanities
School of History, Culture and Arts Studies:
– Archaeology
– Art History
– Comparative Literature
– Creative Writing
– Cultural and Experience Tourism
– Cultural Heritage Studies
– Cultural History
– Cultural Management
– Digital Culture
– European and World History
– European Ethnology
– Finnish History
– Finnish Literature
– Folkloristics
– Gender Studies
– Landscape Studies
– Media Studies
– Museology
– Musicology
– Study of Religion
School of Languages and Translation Studies
– Applied Language Studies
– Classics
– Digital Language Studies
– English
– Estonian Language and Culture
– Finnish and Finno-Ugric Languages
– French
– German
– Hungarian Language and Culture
– Italian
– North American Studies
– Romanian Language and Culture
– Russian Studies
– Scandinavian Languages
– Spanish
– Translation Studies
Faculty of Law
– Faculty of Law
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology
– Speech-Language Pathology (Logopedics)
– Psychology
Department of Philosophy, Contemporary History and Political Science
– Philosophy
– Contemporary History
– Political Science
– John Morton Center for North American Studies
Department of Social Research
– Social Policy
– Social Work
– Sociology
– Economic Sociology
Turku School of Economics
Department of Management and Entrepreneurship
– Management and Organisation
– Information Systems Science
– Entrepreneurship
Department of Accounting and Finance
– Accounting and Finance
– Quantitative Methods in Management
– Business Law
Department of Marketing and International Business
– Marketing
– International Business
– Operations and Supply Chain Management
– Economic Geography
Department of Economics
– Department of Economics
Finland Futures Research Centre
– Finland Futures Research Centre

Instructions for applicants as a printable PDF file.