Program background

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is a globally esteemed nonpartisan research center and think tank, where influential thinkers and doers and researchers work together in fruitful interaction. There are several thematic and regional research programs run at the Wilson Center, among others the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies which is one of the world’s leading centers of research on Russia.

Networking and dialogue between politics, economics and different sectors of society are at the forefront of the wide range of activities at the Wilson Center – in addition to producing research and seminars, each year the Wilson Center receives some 150 scholarship students from different countries and different sectors of society.

Established at the Wilson Center in 2010, the Ahtisaari Symposium series provides a forum for discussion of historical and policy perspectives on vital European security issues. To extend the cooperation and promote Finnish-American dialogue, a special scholarship program for Finnish professionals was launched in 2013 as part of the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program. In 2013, the University of Helsinki, a number of Finnish foundations, and the Wilson Center worked jointly to select the first seven candidates representing Finnish scholarly, media, business and public policy communities. In 2017, eight more Finnish fellows were selected. The third round took place in 2020 and four Finnish fellows were selected.

The Finnish scholarship program is coordinated by professor Henrik Meinander from the University of Helsinki. The program is funded in 2025-2027 by the Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation, Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, Saara and Björn Wahlroos Foundation and Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, which have their representatives on the program’s board.

Wilson Center Finnish Scholarship Program
www.wilsoncenter-haku.fi
coordinator Mikko-Olavi Seppälä
tel. +358 400 868 006
info@wilsoncenter-haku.fi