Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award

The application round for the academic year 2023-24 is closed.

Purpose of the Grant Program

This award is designed to enable Finnish professionals and postdoctoral researchers to conduct research or professional projects in any discipline on topics of current and global importance at any appropriate U.S. institution or organization. Please note that non-academic affiliations require special review and separate approval is needed.

The Fulbright Finland Foundation operates under the brand promise “Together Shaping the Future” and its vision is to “empower the minds that will find global solutions to tomorrow’s challenges by fostering academic and professional expertise and excellence in leadership”. The new award was created to support the Foundation’s vision and its strategic objectives.

The award can be applied by professionals and postdoctoral researchers (postdoctoral researchers should have completed their PhD less than 4 years ago at the time of the application deadline) who want to impact the future and make a difference, finding solutions to current and global challenges through their research or professional projects. The proposed project should focus on a timely topic with global importance and produce benefits of significance to a wider community. Projects that are focused at a local level that have the ability to address international and global challenges are considered. Projects aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are encouraged.

Proposals for medical research involving clinical training, patient care or patient contact are not eligible. Please contact the Fulbright Finland Foundation if you have any questions about the eligibility of your project.

Project focus areas could include (but are not limited to) the following:

Governance, Peace, and Wellbeing

• Global Health
• Equitable Societies
• Human Rights and Inclusive Societies
• Women in Society
• Preventing Radicalization
• Peace Mediation
• Multilateralism
• Education and Innovation

Shared Environments

• Sustainability
• Climate Change
• Arctic Cooperation
• Circular Economy
• Energy and Resources

Emerging Technologies & Hybrid Threats

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Media Literacy, Disinformation, and Societal Resilience

Managing Migration & Humanitarian Crises

• Displaced Persons, Refugees, & Asylum Seekers
• Irregular Migration
• Economic Migrants

Benefits

• Grant: The grant is max. USD 5 000 per month up to 10 months (maximum total grant amount USD 50 000) for all applicants regardless of the category through which they are applying. If the grantee wishes to stay longer than 10 months, it is possible up to 12 months allowed by the Fulbright visa. If the stay requires additional funding, the grantee is responsible for securing appropriate funding for the entire stay.
• Support services and additional benefits:
  • Free visa for the grantee and their accompanying family members
  • Personal advising services throughout the process
  • Extensive orientation training to the U.S. culture, higher education system, and details for the upcoming Fulbright period. The training includes online materials, virtual meetings, and an orientation day in Helsinki.
  • Networking opportunities and enrichment activities in the U.S. organized by the U.S. program partner (seminars, events, workshops)
  • Access to local alumni support networks in Finland and in the U.S.

You can find the full list of additional benefits and program services here.

How to Apply?

The Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award is a special award and it can be granted under either of the Fulbright Finland Foundation grant programs listed below. In other words, there are no separate application instructions for the Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award but the award name can be selected in the visiting scholar online application. Please note that other relevant applications to the two grant programs listed below are automatically considered for the award as well. There is no set number of available awards. The Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award may not be given in all the eligible grant categories every year.

The award is fully funded by the Fulbright Finland Foundation. Applicants applying for the Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award do not need a cost-share commitment from their home university or organization.

To apply for the Seeking Solutions for Global Challenges Award, please read the grant details and follow the application instructions in the links below.

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 education and research in Finland, and help U.S. and Finnish institutions create linkages.

What Makes the Fulbright Finland Foundation Program 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.