Fulbright Finland Travel Grants for Institutional Partnership Building

The competition for visits in 2025-26 ended on January 28, 2025.

Purpose of the Grant Program

The Fulbright Finland Travel Grants for Institutional Partnership Building are short-term travel grants for higher education representatives from Finland (e.g. administrators and faculty) to travel to the U.S. to initiate or advance long-term institutional partnerships between the candidate’s Finnish home institution and U.S. host institution (e.g. student/staff/faculty mobility, joint/dual degree programs, course/curriculum collaboration).

The visit may include, for example, making contacts, launching/piloting collaboration projects, negotiating and working out the details of collaboration agreements, or expanding existing collaboration to new areas. The primary purpose of the grant cannot be teaching or research (for teaching purposes a visa would be required). For research visits, please see the Fulbright Finland Travel Grants for Research Collaboration.

Applicants should also be prepared to share information about the Fulbright Finland Foundation grant opportunities at their home and host institutions.

The applicant is requested to elaborate on both of the above goals in the grant application.

Travel grants are meant for short-term visits to the U.S. and the maximum stay in the U.S. is three months due to visa regulations. The goals of the visit must be realistic in view of the proposed length of the visit. Please note that the grant is not awarded solely for attending a conference.

Background of the program

The Fulbright Finland Travel Grants for Institutional Partnership Building program was founded in 2018 in response to feedback from the higher education field to support the development of collaboration and mobility between Finnish and U.S. higher education institutions (HEIs).

In their feedback, Finnish higher education institutions proposed the founding of a travel grant for university representatives, including staff, specifically for the purpose of meeting in person to negotiate and work out the details of partnerships. According to the HEIs, such opportunities have been very limited.

Finnish HEIs also noted that administrators, students, teachers and researchers on the departmental level at Finnish HEIs are not yet adequately familiar with Fulbright Finland Foundation grant opportunities. On the departmental level there is not enough familiarity with the programs available for U.S. academia to visit Finnish universities or opportunities provided for Finnish scholars and researchers to visit U.S. institutions, and for this reason Finnish institutions may miss out on important opportunities.

This travel grant has been designed specifically to respond to the above feedback from Finnish institutions.

Benefits

• Grant:
  • The grant is meant for travel expenses (travel costs between Finland and the host city and accommodation costs).
  • The exact grant amount is determined on the basis of the application and the total grant can range up to 4000 euros.
  • Applicant should be prepared to cover all other costs for the visit by other means.
• Support services and additional benefits:
  • Personal advising services throughout the process provided by the Fulbright Finland Foundation in Helsinki.
  • Orientation training to the U.S. culture, higher education system, and details for the upcoming visit. The training includes online materials and an orientation day in Helsinki.
  • Access to local alumni support networks in Finland and in the U.S.

Support for Grantees with Disabilities

Extra funding support is available for grantees with disabilities. If you have a disability that would cause additional costs for the grant term, contact the Foundation to discuss reasonable accommodations. Send your self-assessment with a description of the disability and the specific accommodations requested to the Foundation ([email protected]) by the grant application deadline.

Please note that disclosing the need for disability accommodation does not affect the review and selection process.

Eligibility

• Higher Education Representatives in Finland are eligible for this grant: This includes administrators and faculty members.
• Citizenship: Applicants do not need to be Finnish citizens.
• Grant period: The visit can start after the Fulbright Finland Pre-Departure Orientation in May 2025 and must end by May 2026. The minimum length of the visit is one week, and the maximum is three months. Grantees must return to Finland after the travel grant visit.
• Individual Grants: Travel grants are awarded to individual representatives of Finnish home institutions. Grants are not available for groups. Applications that are duplicate or substantially similar, originating from the same institution and focusing on the same project, will be deemed technically ineligible.
• Previous grants:
  • Former Fulbright Finland Foundation grantees and staff are ineligible to apply for this grant. (This includes all years of programs and operation since 1949.)
  • Recipients of the Fulbright Finland Travel Grant for Institutional Partnership Building are eligible to apply for another Fulbright Finland Foundation grant one year after the date of completion of the travel grant.

Visa Requirements:

• Grantees with Finnish citizenship or from countries eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) should be able to travel to the U.S. with ESTA to carry out the grant's purpose. However, depending on the specific purpose, the U.S. host institution may require applicants to apply for an Exchange Visitor (J-1) Visa.
• Citizens of countries that are not part of the visa waiver program need a Temporary Business Visitor (B1) Visa or, if required by the host institution, an Exchange Visitor (J-1) Visa.
• The Fulbright Finland Foundation does not provide visa sponsorship to the U.S.; if a visa is required, it must be sponsored by the U.S. host institution.

How to Apply?

Please submit the completed application form as well as all the required supplements here by the application deadline.

Documents which are required to be included in the application:

• Application form
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Invitation letter from the U.S. host institution: The invitation letter should include information about the:
  • Purpose of the visit
  • Estimated visiting dates
  • Information about visa requirements: If a J-1 visa is needed, the host institution must sponsor it by issuing a Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (DS-2019)
• Home university recommendation letter: The letter should be uploaded by the recommender via this link by the application deadline. It should:
  • Evaluate your professional work
  • Describe the potential for collaboration between the home and host institution
  • Assess the applicant’s suitability as an ambassador of Finland, their home institution, and the Fulbright Finland Foundation
  • The recommendation can be, for example, from the Dean of the Faculty, Head of Department, or other as appropriate
  • The recommendation letters are confidential and are not disclosed to the applicants

The applicant is responsible for saving all the required attachments in the application system by the deadline.

Evaluation criteria

The applications are evaluated according to the evaluation criteria set by the Fulbright Finland Foundation Board, and the interviews focus on the following attributes. The Foundation does not provide feedback on individual applications, their review process, or on any single grant decision.

The grantees are required to submit a final report to the Fulbright Finland Foundation within 14 days upon the completion of the visit. The Fulbright Finland Foundation will also send a follow-up inquiry one year after the visit on continuing home and host institution collaboration and Fulbright Finland information sharing at the Finnish home institution.

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 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.