

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.
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.
Higher education representatives (e.g. administrators and faculty) in Finland are eligible to apply.
Travel grants are awarded for individual applicants who have been identified as suitable representatives to work on the partnership by their home institutions. Travel grants cannot be awarded for groups.
Grantees with Finnish citizenship should be able to travel to the U.S. under the visa waiver program if the purpose and content of the visit are as described above. Citizens of countries that are not part of the visa waiver program need a Business (B1) visa.
Documents which are required to be included in the application:
Applicants who pass an initial screening will be invited for a personal interview. The interviews are compulsory and will take place via Zoom on March 9, 2023. Please save the date at this point as this is the only interview date available.
Read more about the selection process and preparing for the interview.
Application deadline | February 9, 2023 (extended) |
Interviews (via Zoom) | March 9, 2023 |
Selection results published | Mid-March 2023 |
Compulsory Pre-Departure Orientation Day in Helsinki | May 16, 2023 (full day) |
Earliest possible starting date of the grant period | After the Orientation Day |
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, regarding continuing home and host institution collaboration and Fulbright Finland information sharing at the Finnish home institution.
The Fulbright Finland Foundation is a private, independent, not-for-profit organization based in Helsinki, Finland. The Foundation’s aim is