Turku Intersectoral Excellence Scheme (TIES and TIES2)

Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS) is an interdisciplinary research institute located within the University of Turku, in South West Finland. Established in 2008, TIAS works across the faculties of Economics, Education, Humanities, Law and Social Sciences. It hosts excellent scholars who are recruited following an international competition and are awarded three years funding for to undertake a self-designed research project.

For more information see the TIAS website.

TIES2 Launch and applicant information session will be held online on Tuesday 9 December 2025 between 14.00 and 16.00 EET (GMT +2). The TIAS Director will introduce the Call, explain the applications and reviews process and answer questions. A recording/Powerpoint slides of this will be placed online. 

Please sign up to the information session in order to get the online meeting link.

The launch event of the TIES(1) was held on 15 November 2022.
>> Slides of the launch event 15 November 2022

TIES has been developed with the support of a number of key partners including:

• Business Turku
• The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
• The Finnish Museums Association
• Liedon Säästöpankkisäätiö
• Turku Chamber of Commerce

These partners support the TIES programme in a number of ways including:

1. Supporting TIAS in connecting TIES Fellows with non-academic partners for the purposes of research, including fixed-term secondments;
2. Whenever possible providing unpaid secondments for TIES Fellows seeking to research aspects of our work;
3. Hosting joint-meetings with TIAS, developing joint activities and assisting with training.

The following organisation have hosted/will host the secondments of TIES Fellows (2023-2026).

• Filosofiska School
• Finnish Association for Russian and East European Studies
• Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC)
• Historians Without Borders
• Migration Institute of Finland
• National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI)
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine RLHIM
• Sexpo Foundation
• Vapriikki Museum Centre

The Selection Committee for TIES2 will be chaired by Professor Simon Frith, emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh. The co-chair is Professor Stacey Ristinmaa Sörensen, Director of the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Lund. Kalle Korhonen, Director of Funding at the Kone Foundation will serve as a non-academic member of the Committee. The rest of the Selection Committee will be constituted by the TIAS Board of Management.

You may also contact the TIAS Director, Professor Martin Cloonan, via martin.cloonan@utu.fi and follow TIAS on twitter via @TIAS_UTU.