Three students hanging out in a common area where there are red circular holes in a white wall. One female student is sitting in one of the holes and talking with another student in front of her who is sitting on a low white bench. A male student is laying in one of the holes, reading a book.
Fulbright Finland News Magazine

New Fulbright-Aalto University Graduate Award

17 June 2021 • Text: Karoliina Kokko, Photos: Unto Rautio, Aalto University

Photo: Unto Rautio, Aalto University

Fulbright Finland Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of its second partnership award with Aalto University.

Signed in February 2021, the partnership agreement establishes a dedicated award for U.S. students for graduate studies at Aalto University. The Fulbright-Aalto University Graduate Award provides students an opportunity to enroll in any of the international master’s degree programs at Aalto University as a degree seeking student. Talented doctoral students and master’s level non-degree students can also be considered for the award. 

In addition to the wide range of personal support and networking services provided by the Foundation, the award includes grants for living, travel, and residence permit expenses as well as a full two-year tuition scholarship. The awardee also has an option to participate in a summer school in Finland on Finnish language and culture before beginning studies at Aalto University.

“The new form of collaboration between Aalto University and Fulbright Finland Foundation presents a unique opportunity to advance intercultural competence, global diversity, and cultural diplomacy that are key components to the success of future graduates from higher education,” says the Aalto University Vice President in Education Petri Suomala. 

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Aalto University, and look forward to welcoming U.S. Fulbright students to Finland and to Aalto’s innovative and forward-looking programs with this new award,” says Terhi Mölsä, CEO of the Fulbright Finland Foundation.

Interdisciplinary Approach Attracted Jade Roberts to Aalto University

Jade Roberts is a Cognitive Science graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the first recipient of the award. She will begin her master’s studies in the Computer, Communication and Information Sciences – Acoustics and Audio Technology at Aalto University in August 2021. 

Jade Roberts sitting on a ground, leaning slightly to a concrete sphere, wearing her blue graduate robes. She is smiling widely to the camera.
Jade Roberts, a Cognitive Science graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is the first recipient of the new Fulbright-Aalto University Graduate Award.

“Aalto University’s program successfully combines my love of speech and music with my love of science and math by taking an interdisciplinary approach to engineering, art, and business. When looking for universities to study acoustics and human computer interaction, Aalto was one of the only universities that had a whole department dedicated to Acoustics and has a very good Human Computer Interaction program,” Jade explains.

“Additionally, my high school interests in Nordic culture and the hard language to learn, Finnish, drew me toward Aalto,” she adds.

Jade’s final university selection decision was based on thorough and comprehensive research. “The social environment in which I’ll be studying fosters the kind of inclusive, forward-thinking, and creative student body I want to be a member of, the startup culture is one that I just recently started learning about and would like to participate in as I pursue my own business one day. I also wanted a place where arts were part of the program options because I want to learn about Finnish film, do more in the documentary sphere and be around students with similar interests,” Jade concludes.

Read the whole Fulbright Finland News magazine 1/2021!

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