The Visiting Scholars Programme offers experienced scholars in the field of rural studies an opportunity to spend one month with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and to contribute to the knowledge base of the Ruralia Institute. This collaboration is expected to lead to the preparation and execution of joint activities such as publications and research projects.
The Ruralia Institute has two units, one located at Seinäjoki in western Finland and the other at Mikkeli in eastern Finland. Applicants are free to choose either of these units in accordance with their research interests. The Ruralia Institute will support the stay with a scholarship of 2800 euros per month.
Visiting Scholars 2024-2025:
Karen Forster, Dalhousie University
Rogier Schulte, Wageningen University
María Jesús Rivera, Public University of Navarra
Paulina Rytkönen, Södertörn University
The call for academic year 2025–2026 scholarship applications will be open from 1 March until 30 April 2025.
Applications in English should be sent as a single PDF file to ruralia-instituutti@helsinki.fi and must comprise:
Applications will be evaluated by the executive board of the Ruralia Institute. Successful applicants will be informed personally of their selection. Key factors in the selection process will be the relevance of the proposed topic to the Institute’s research profile, and the potential for cooperation between the applicant and the Institute’s academic staff. Applications received after the deadline will not be evaluated. An applicant may receive the scholarship only once.
The names of the selected Scholars will be published on the Ruralia Institute’s website.
As the scholarship is a grant and not a salary, it is classified as tax-free income in Finland. Consequently, visiting scholars are not employees of the University of Helsinki and do not have any staff benefits such as insurance or occupational health care. Visiting Scholars are required to arrange their own health, medical and other insurance and will be required to prove that their insurances are valid throughout their stay in this capacity.
For useful links to sites giving information on living in Seinäjoki, Mikkeli and Finland in general, please consult
More about the Ruralia Institute
More about the University of Helsinki
Both units of the Ruralia Institute belong to the university consortium of their home town.
Mikkeli, Lönnrotinkatu 7
Seinäjoki, Kampusranta 9
Travel
Scholars are responsible for their own travel arrangements and expenses. There is a local train from Helsinki airport to Tikkurila for connections with long-distance trains to Mikkeli and Seinäjoki. For schedules and tickets, see VR.
For more about connections from the airport, see Finavia.
Housing
We recommend that you check the available apartments to be rented from Airbnb in Mikkeli and Seinäjoki.
In Mikkeli, we also recommend to check the student accommodation service MOAS that provides short-term housing.
eeva.uusitalo(a)helsinki.fi
Ruralia institute has hosted 38 researchers over the past decade
from all around the globe: Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, and
Europe.
How was their experience in Ruralia institute, and what did they do during their visit here? Watch the videos below!
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland
Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Geran-Marko Miletić
Insitute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Croatia
PhD Raili Nugin
Tallinn University, Estonia
Katarzyna Andrejuk
Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Latvia
Dr. Petr Jehlicka
The Open University, UK
Dr. Hannah Chiswell
CCRI University of Gloucestershire, UK
Dr. Sara Walton
University of Otago, New Zealand
Dr. Elize Van Eeden
Norh-West University, South Africa
Dr. Samantha Hillyard
Durham University, UK
Professor Richard Yarwood
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Plymouth University, UK
Dementia, Welfare and Citizenship in Rural Places
Dr. Adam Czarnecki
Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Successful second-home tourism: Efficient and inclusive community governance models
Dr. Francisco Navarro
University of Granada, Spain
Transnational cooperation projects in neoendogenous rural development actions
Dr. Gun Lidestav
SLU, Umeå, Sweden
Dr. Murray Knuttila
Brock University, Canada
Is the Family Farm and Endangered Species? Implications for Rural Men.
Dr. Ruta Spiewak
Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Poland
Food cooperatives: between local initiatives and global social movement.
Dr. Ifigeneia Douvitsa
Law school, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Analysis of the Sources of Public International Cooperative Law, with an emphasis on Case Law.
Örjan Furtenback
Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Umeå, Sweden
Where should we allocate new forest reserves? Regional welfare impacts of different allocation rules.
Marie Mahon
Department of Geography, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
The role of the arts, culture and creativity in a rural context.
Agatha Herman
University of Reading, United Kingdom
Food politics and ethics
Read her story
Lif Rødtness Vesterby Knudsen
Technical University of Denmark, National Veterinary Institute, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Postpartum uterine diseases in dairy cows
Read her story
Esther Muniz
University of Vallodolid, Spain
Renewal of agrifood law
Artur Steiner
Scotland's Rural College, United Kingdom
Social and economic aspects of rural life including evaluations of community-related interventions and grass-root initiatives.
Read his story
Kadri Ukrainski
University of Tartu, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (Estonia)
The role of users (customers) as a source of innovation
Read her story
X. Lourdes Xavier Wilson
Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science (India)
Leveraging the Food Security through Cooperatives in Finland
Read his story
Francisco Diaz Bretones
University of Granada (Spain)
Emerging Cooperatives and Corporate Social Responsibility
Read his story
Maria Letícia Galluzzi-Bizzo
Universidade do Brasil (Brazil)
The international rural agenda of the 1930 - 1940s: The role of international organizations
Read her story
Agatha Herman
University of Reading, United Kingdom
Climate Change and Food Justice
Read her story
Colin R. Johnson
Indiana University, Department of Gender Studies, United States
Sexual minorities in rural regions of Finland and the United States
Read his story
Egil Petter Straete
Centre for Rural Research, University Centre Dragvoll, Trondheim, Norway
Food qualities as a basis for differentiation through innovation in food supply chains
Adrian Morley
Cardiff University, The ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability & Society (BRASS) (United Kingdom)
Sustainable food chains
Alexander Nikulin
Center for agrarian studies, Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under President of Russian Federation, Moscow (Russia)
Sustainable rural communities in Russia
Julie Smith
Centre for Food Policy, City University London (United Kingdom)
Traditional food markets in Europe
Alexandra Franklin
Places Research Institute (PLACE), Cardiff University (United Kingdom)
Sustainable Place-Making: Building Rural Community Resilience
Katalin Kovács
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Regional Studies (Hungary)
Rural Governance and development in Finland and Hungary
David Watts
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom)
Hunting tourism in Northern Europe