City of Helsinki Research Grants

The research grants are intended for post-graduate students with a Master’s or equivalent degree, working on doctoral or licentiate theses.  Junior post doc researchers are also encouraged to apply.

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Photo: Julia Kivelä

City of Helsinki Research Grants 

The criteria for awarding the grant are the scientific quality of the research plan, its feasibility and the significance of the research topic for the City of Helsinki.

The City of Helsinki awards grants for research on:

  • issues related to urbanisation and its effects,
  • issues related to Helsinki’s economy, vitality and/or business conditions,
  • organisation and evaluation of services produced or ordered by the City of Helsinki,
  • Helsinki’s living environment, wellbeing, history, everyday life, and urban culture,
  • issues related to Helsinki’s internationalisation, and/or
  • Helsinki’s crisis resilience and preparedness for significant exterior changes.

For further information, contact Research Director Eero Aalto at tel. 09 310 35821. 

Research grants 2026

On Helsinki Day, the City of Helsinki awarded research grants to 11 research projects. The total grant amount is EUR 73,000.

The City of Helsinki research grants 2026 were awarded to the following applicants and research topics:

Wenfei Liao : CLIMAPOND: Climate-smart urban ponds linking macrophyte functional traits and water quality to greenhouse gas exchange

Morris Viitanen: Socioeconomic position, age and first language as determinants of digital occupational health service use among public sector employees

Satu Mattila: Yhdenvertaisuuden lupaus ja sen rajat - vähän koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien koulutukselliset mahdollisuudet aikuisten perusopetuksessa Helsingissä

Haikku Arosuo: Kasvava kaupunki: nuorten arkiset lähipaikat ja muuttuvat maailmasuhteet luovan kanssatutkimuksen kohteena

Minerva Nordberg: Lasten ylipaino ja lihavuus Helsingissä, alueellinen jakautuminen, sosioekonomisen aseman vaikutus sekä psyykkinen sairastuvuus lapsuusiällä

Sari Front: Uimarannan humaaniperäisen jätevesisaastumisen jäljitysmenetelmät

Xu Zong: Mapping Disability Support Needs among Children in Helsinki Using Machine Learning

Frans Saraste: Helsingin lämmitysinfrastruktuurin kehitys ja kriisit 1870–1940-luvuilla

Petteri Niskanen: Asiantuntijatyöpaikkojen yhteys lähiöiden elinvoimaan

In addition, grants were awarded to two researchers who did not want their names to be published.