At the heart of this appeal is our desire to protect academic freedom and enable the continuation of research, teaching and learning for those affected by the invasion.
There is an urgent need for financial assistance as a result of the mass displacement and widespread destruction in Ukraine, which has significantly impacted higher education and research. Several research groups within the University are ready to offer positions for those affected; however, they require financial support to assist with travel and relocation costs.
By donating to the Crisis Fund, you can help us to provide grants to students and researchers who have fled Ukraine and wish to continue with studies and research at the University of Helsinki. The support we have already provided includes:
Grants to support students who are now undertaking studies at the University of Helsinki after leaving Ukraine;
A Ukrainian Scholar Programme to support the salary of affected researchers coming from Ukraine to the University of Helsinki.
We have been blown away by the support from the university community, including university staff, alumni, students and members of the public!
In March, the university community raised over 14,000e, which we subsequently used to award grants worth 670e each to 19 Ukrainian students. You can read about two of the Ukrainian students, Anastasiia and Oleksandra, their journey to the university and the impact the grants had on them here.
In June, the university community responded to our request for help and donated over 124,000e, including two 50,000e donations from the Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. The money raised is being used to award additional grants to 16 students, including 12 of the "original" 19 Ukrainian students who fled Ukraine in March. In addition, we have been able to provide funds to our faculties, which is allowing three researchers to move to the university from Ukraine to continue their research.
To date, thanks to your support, we had raised a total of over 168,000e. This has allowed us to provide 41 grants to Ukrainian students and 3 grants to Ukrainian researchers. We are also hoping to provide support to an additional two researchers in the future, through our Aleksanteri Institute's Visiting Fellowship programme.
Every euro that has been donated, has been allocated to support students and researchers in need.
As the war continues and conditions worsen in Ukraine, more students and researchers are seeking refuge at the University of Helsinki. In the autumn of 2022 alone, over 35 Ukrainian students were on exchange at the university, with many now requesting to stay until at least the end of the spring term due to the war. We are also hoping to bring more researchers to the university who are fleeing Ukraine, but we need additional support.
By donating to the appeal you can help students like Anastasiia to continue their studies at the University of Helsinki and help us bring other students and researchers fleeing Ukraine to the university.
100% of all donations received will be used in full and as soon as possible to support researchers and students.
You can also use bank transfer:
Nordea: IBAN = FI15 1660 3001 0767 70
Recipient: University of Helsinki Funds
Message: "Ukraine appeal", name of the donor and contact information
Donors from the United States can donate to the University of Helsinki's Crisis Fund via the King Baudouin Foundation United States. When donating, please write "Ukraine Appeal" in the "Additional information about your Gift" section.
The University of Helsinki has a money collection permit (RA/2020/737), permitted by the National Police Board on 18 June 2020. The permit covers all of Finland, with the exception of Åland. The funds will support the tasks given in §2 in the Universities Act (558/2009). University of Helsinki is responsible for the fundraising. University of Helsinki is responsible for the fundraising.
As a university, we have already taken several steps to support our students and staff in these difficult times. The fund and appeal aim to complement existing measures taken by the university as part of its global responsibility, including granting the right to free non-degree studies to those impacted by the invasion and free Open University studies for Ukrainian students.
We continue to engage our community on how the University can best support those affected and further such measures remain actively under consideration.