A new grant scheme supports the recruitment of professors for the Joensuu Campus.
The Board of Joensuu University Foundation has decided to launch a new grant scheme to provide initial funding for professorships at the University of Eastern Finland.
The grant is allocated to cover salary costs for new permanent professorships on the Joensuu Campus that aim to renew education or research. Funding is provided for three years, with each professorship receiving between 150,000 and 300,000 euros. Grants will be awarded to each faculty operating on the Joensuu Campus.
The first initial funding for a professorship has been awarded to communication sciences at the Philosophical Faculty, with Outi Hakola, PhD, appointed as Associate Professor of Communication Sciences at the School of Humanities.
The new communication sciences programme in Joensuu focuses on digital communication and new media. The programme trains professionals for the changing and increasingly digital communication landscape, and for labour market needs. The communication studies programme will invite its first applications for admission via the spring 2026 joint application procedure, and the programme will start in autumn 2026.
“The foundation has long sought to identify ways to best support initiatives that have both a lasting and visible impact on the development of the campus. The newly launched funding scheme for professorships is a concrete step in this direction,” says Tapio Määttä, Chair of the Joensuu University Foundation Board.
Support for international conferences continues
Joensuu University Foundation will continue to support international conferences held on the Joensuu Campus. The grants encourage the organisation of international conferences on the campus. In 2025, funding was awarded to 16 conferences, amounting to a total of 59,000 euros.
“I’m pleased to note an increasing demand for conference grants. With these grants, we can support and facilitate international collaboration and networking broadly across various fields. Conferences organised on our campus also have significant regional impact,” notes Soili Makkonen, Joensuu University Foundation’s Executive Manager.
In addition, the foundation has awarded two PhD-postdoctoral transition grants for 2026. Funding was granted to Evelyn Karkkulainen at the School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, and to Marina Peri Llopis at the School of Forest Sciences. The grants facilitate the continuation of research after the PhD. They can be awarded to researchers who have completed or are completing their doctoral dissertation at the University of Eastern Finland.
- 25th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, School of Computing, 5,000 euros
- European Bioeconomy Scientific Forum, School of Forest Sciences, 5,000 euros
- Art and Culture as Resistance in Authoritarian Regimes, Karelian Institute, 3,000 euros
- Networks, GIS and HTR as tools for digital historical research workshop, Department of Geographical and Historical Studies, 3,000 euros
- Rajat symposium, School of Theology, 2,000 euros
- KäTu Symposium on Translation and Interpreting Studies, School of Humanities, 2,000 euros
- IFHE European Thematic Conference 2026, School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, 5,000 euros
- CupPsyNet meeting, School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, 1,000 euros
- Oikein – nurin: oikeudet, vääryydet ja vastarinta, School of Humanities, 5,000 euros
- Nordan & Kaus 2026, Department of Physics and Mathematics, 4,500 euros
- UEF Law School’s 10th Annual Energy Transitions Conference, Law School, 5,000 euros
- National Security Law and Policy in the Frontline States, Karelian Institute, 5,000 euros
- Utopian Studies Europe annual conference, Department of Social Sciences, 5,000 euros
- Children and Families on the Fringes of Europe: Rights of the Child in Hybrid War, Law School, 5,000 euros
- Changing Nordic rural realities - the 7th Nordic Conference for Rural Research, Karelian Institute, 3,500 euros
Learn more about Joensuu University Foundation.
For further information, please contact:
Tapio Määttä, Chair of the Joensuu University Foundation Board, [email protected], tel. +358 50 575 1589
Soili Makkonen, Executive Manager of Joensuu University Foundation, [email protected], tel. 050 374 8294
