Supporting the activities of the Joensuu Campus of the University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu University Foundation has opened a new type of call for applications for funding to support the transition of doctoral researchers to the postdoctoral phase. The funding is designed to promote the preconditions for further academic research by researchers who have defended, or will be defending, their doctoral dissertation on the Joensuu Campus of the University of Eastern Finland.
The funding can be applied for by researchers who have submitted their doctoral dissertation for pre-examination before the end of the application period. Eligibility for the funding requires permission to proceed to public examination. Researchers who have already defended their doctoral dissertation can apply for the funding within two years of the date of their degree certificate (at the end of the application period).
“The foundation decided to establish this funding to support the transition of doctoral researchers to the postdoctoral phase based on an identified need. There is not much funding available for the period when one’s doctoral dissertation goes through the pre-examination and review process, and the start of the postdoctoral phase can be financially challenging,” says Tapio Määttä, the university’s Academic Rector and Chair of the foundation’s board.
According to Määttä, the foundation also changed its grant policy so that the transition-phase funding is paid to the researcher as salary, instead of a grant.
The maximum amount that can be awarded is 24,000 euros per researcher, which corresponds to six months of full-time employment. The foundation allocates the funding to the school or department of the University of Eastern Finland where the applicant is or has been enrolled as a doctoral researcher. A contract of employment will be concluded with the researcher in accordance with the university’s normal practices and terms.
The call for applications closes on 31 May 2022. For further information and instructions on how to apply, please see: https://www.uef.fi/en/university-foundations#paragraph-16259.
The foundation will also continue to award grants for international conferences organised on the Joensuu Campus with an aim of strengthening scientific research and dialogue. In 2022, grants for organising international conferences can be applied for on 4–31 March, and on 1–8 August 2022. For further information and instructions on how to apply, please see: https://www.uef.fi/en/university-foundations#paragraph-16259.
Joensuu University Foundation has its roots in Pohjois-Karjalan Yliopistoseura ry, an association formed by regional influencers in North Karelia seeking to support the establishment of a university in the region. Once that goal was achieved and the University of Joensuu established, the association discontinued its activities and assumed a new name: Joensuu University Foundation.
When the University of Joensuu and the University of Kuopio merged to constitute the University of Eastern Finland in 2010, the foundation kept its original name. Today, the purpose of the foundation is to support and raise awareness of the activities of the Joensuu Campus of the University of Eastern Finland.
For further information, please contact:
Chair of the Board of Joensuu University Foundation, Academic Rector Tapio Määttä, tapio.maatta@uef.fi
Executive Manager of Joensuu University Foundation, Director of Planning and Development Soili Makkonen, soili.makkonen@uef.fi
