Grants for postgraduate students

How to apply for a grant

Fill in and submit the application with attachments through our online service.

In your application, please specify whether you are applying for a grant only, or a grant to be combined with a salary.

A full-year or part-year grant can be awarded in two ways:

• Full grant. In this case, the foundation awards a maximum full-year grant of €24,500 for full-time work.
• Grant to be combined with a salary. In this case, the doctoral candidate combines the grant with a paid employment position, up to 50%, at a university or other research institution, so that the grant and salary together enable full-time postgraduate studies.

Please provide the following attachments in your application:

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1. A research plan, maximum 4 pages long (font size at least 12, line spacing at least 1) including a list of publications.

Address the following issues in the plan:

• Overview of the research topic and an outline of the general problematics of the topic
• Definition of the research problem: What question does your research aim to answer?
• Literature review: What is known about the research topic? What existing research and information are you relying on? What new information will you produce to augment existing knowledge?
• Presentation of the chosen research methodology, conceptual starting points, research structure
• Empirical material: presentation of the research material, research approach, research methods and reporting method of the research material’s results
• Evaluation of the significance of the research from the point of view of business and innovation

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2. If you are applying for a full or part-year grant, attach a plan of expenses and a funding plan that show how you will fund the research in its entirety.

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3. For researcher exchange visits and foreign visits related to research work, a report of the travel programme, a breakdown of travel expenses and a funding plan must be attached to the application.

The report should show

• why you are going to the university or research institution concerned,
• for how long and
• how the visit supports your research work.

The report must also describe the host institution or laboratory’s consent and participation in expenses.

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4. Curriculum vitae and list of publications, latest degree certificates and an up-to-date transcript. These should show the nature and current status of your research and academic work.

It is recommended that you use the template drafted by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity as a template for your CV.

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5. A recommendation of the applicant and the research plan. Ask for a recommendation from the professor responsible for your postgraduate studies.

The applicant is not supposed to attach the recommendation to their application; instead the recommender him/herself has to make the recommendation directly. The grant application system will automatically send a request to the recommender. Recommendations sent by email will not be accepted.

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6. Degree certificate and transcript of studies

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7. Other possible attachments