ASLA-Fulbright Research Grants for Junior Scholars

The application period for 2020-2021 ended on December 8, 2019!

Purpose of the Grant Program

The purpose of the grant is to enable Junior Scholars to carry out research projects at U.S. universities or research institutions and at the same time act as ambassadors for the Fulbright program, Finland, and their home institution, sharing their culture and contributing to the relations between Finland and the U.S. The grants are available for periods of 4–12 months. 

In addition to research-only grants, it is also possible to award grants that include a limited amount of teaching, up to 2 hrs/week. The research project carried out in the United States must begin with the ASLA-Fulbright grant. The grant will not be awarded to a project the scholar has already started in the U.S. The earliest possible starting date of the grant period is August 1, 2020.

Some of the ASLA-Fulbright Research Grants for a Junior Scholar are co-funded by the Fulbright Finland Foundation and the applicant’s home university (Cost-share program). You can apply for the grant even if your university does not participate in the Cost-share program.

• List of the universities participating in the Cost-share program

The Fulbright Finland Foundation partners also with the KAUTE Foundation. Applications in the fields of Business, Economics and Technology submitted to the ASLA-Fulbright Research Grants for Junior Scholars program are automatically considered also for the Fulbright-KAUTE Foundation Award.

If you are from the field of technology, see also the Fulbright- Technology Industries of Finland Grants for postdoctoral research in the U.S.

Benefits

The grant is max. 5 000 USD per month up to 6 months (maximum total grant amount 30 000 USD). If the grantee wishes to stay longer than 6 months (up to 12 months allowed by the Fulbright visa), there may be need for additional funding (e.g. salary from the home institution or other grants).

In addition to financial support, the Fulbright program includes significant additional benefits and program services, such as a free visa, personal advice services, and an orientation to the American culture, education system, and the upcoming Fulbright period.

Eligibility

The applicant must hold a doctoral degree at the time of application deadline and the doctorate must have been earned within four years of application. If the doctorate was received more than four years ago at the time of the application deadline, the applicant should consider the ASLA-Fulbright Research Grants for Senior Scholars.

If the candidate does not yet have a PhD, the Selection Committee may take the application under evaluation on the following two conditions: the applicant submits with their application 1) a reference letter or statement regarding the progress of the dissertation work from their dissertation supervisor and 2) a copy of the comments from the advance reader of the applicant’s dissertation. In all cases the grantee must have completed their doctoral degree before the grant period in the U.S. begins.

Applicants must be Finnish citizens and enter the U.S. on a non-immigrant Fulbright sponsored J-1 visa. The J-1 visa sponsorship of the Fulbright program is available for a maximum period of 12 months. Candidates planning longer research projects in the U.S. should contact the Fulbright Finland Foundation before submitting their applications.

The J-1 scholar visa and J-2 dependent visa includes regulations which may limit the possibility to re-enter the U.S. Scholars and their dependents who have held previous J-visas may not be eligible to re-enter as J-1 researchers or J-2 dependents for 12 or 24 months following departure from the U.S. If you’ve held a J-visa during the past 24 months or have questions about the J-visa regulations, please contact the Fulbright Finland Foundation. Additionally, grantees and/or their dependents can apply for a work visa or a permanent residence permit to the U.S. only after spending 2 years in the home country after the Fulbright grant period. Applicants residing in the U.S. are not eligible.

Applications in all fields are accepted. However, proposals for medical research involving clinical training, patient care or patient contact are not eligible. This restriction is applied quite widely and applicants are advised to contact Fulbright Finland if they have any questions about the eligibility of their project.

How to Apply?

The selection is based on the information provided in the application. The applicant has to attach his or her research plan and an invitation from the U.S. host university or research center in the application. The detailed application instructions and more information on the application process can be found in the links below. Please read them carefully.

• Information on the application procedure and grant interviews
• Instructions on how to fill in the online application form

These instructions, targeted at Finnish applicants, provide you with further information on the questions of the application form and guide you through the application step by step. Please follow the instructions while you are filling in the form. If there is any contradictory information in the form or in the instructions, always follow the instructions for Finnish applicants specifically.

Application and attachments

The application is submitted through the IIE electronic application form. The applicants should carefully read the instructions and other material related to the application process before starting to work on the application.

Documents which are required to be included in the application:

• Invitation letter from the host institution
• Project statement
• Curriculum vitae
• Copy of a Finnish passport
• Bibliography
• Recommendations (3). Read instructions for submitting a letter of recommendation.
• Preliminary project budget
• Signed checklist
• Cost-share commitment form (only applicants from the University of Helsinki)

Use the checklist to make sure you have attached all the required documents in the application. The applicant is responsible for saving all the required attachments in the application system by the deadline, and for sending them to the Fulbright Finland Foundation by email (applications(at)fulbright.fi).

Only complete applications sent by the application deadline will be reviewed.

Evaluation criteria

The applications are evaluated according to the evaluation criteria set by the Fulbright Finland Foundation Board.

If you face any technical difficulties when filling in the application form, you should immediately contact the Fulbright Finland Foundation.

Read more about alumni experiences, their thoughts about the application process, and why a research visit through the Fulbright program is beneficial.

Application process

The application process for the Junior Scholar grants is as follows:

1. Once the Fulbright Finland Foundation has received all applications, they go through a technical screening. This is for making sure that an application is valid in all possible ways.
2. If the application comes from a university participating in cost-share funding, the application that has passed the technical screening is sent to the applicant’s home university for their evaluation. After this, the application is sent back to the Fulbright Finland Foundation for an evaluation, even if it has not received the cost-share commitment from the home university.
3. All applications that pass the technical screening are sent to the grant selection committee of the Fulbright Finland Foundation. The committee evaluates the applications and, based on this, selects some of the applicants for an interview. All applicants are notified of the results of the evaluation.
4. The interview committee evaluates the applicants based on the individual interviews. These evaluations are sent to the grant selection committee.
5. The grant selection committee evaluates the applicants based on the applications and the interviews. After this, the committee gives a final proposal to the Fulbright Finland Foundation Board. An applicant is either selected, placed on the waiting list, or rejected.
6. The Fulbright Finland Foundation Board gives its final decision on the proposal given by the grant selection committee. After the final decision has been made, the program coordinator will notify all applicants of their results.
7. By replying to the selection letter, an applicant is accepted to be a grantee on behalf of the Fulbright Finland Foundation. After the Foreign Scholarship Board in the United States gives its formal acceptance, the applicant officially becomes a Fulbright grantee.

What is the Fulbright Finland Foundation?

The Fulbright Finland Foundation is a private, independent, not-for-profit organization based in Helsinki, Finland. The Foundation’s aim is

• to promote a wider exchange of knowledge and professional talents through educational contacts between Finland and the United States, and
• to support the internationalization of Finnish higher education institutions.

What Makes the Fulbright Finland Foundation programs unique?

• In addition to the grant, the Fulbright Finland Foundation offers the grantees several additional benefits and free support services, as well as an access to a global, multi-professional network.
• We are looking for applicants who want to impact the future and to make a difference – applicants who want to facilitate positive change, develop and advance their own profession or discipline, and find solutions to national and international challenges in their field.
• The grantees also act as ambassadors for the Fulbright Finland Foundation, their home country, and their home organization and, in this way, do their part in sharing their home country and culture and contributing to the relations between Finland and the U.S.

ASLA-Fulbright Research Grants for Junior Scholars program is part of the global Fulbright program operating in over 160 countries worldwide.