Fellowship Programs

Find out more about the HCAS Core Fellowship Program, The Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Arts Program and the HCAS-RJ Fellowship. For a more detailed instructions on the application process, see the applications page.

The Core Fellowship Program is the basis of all HCAS activities and the majority of our fellows are appointed through it. You may find the key information on the core fellowship below. In 2024, the application period begins on 22 August and closes on 12 September. 

Read more about the application process here.

Ba­sic char­ac­ter­is­tics of the program:

  • Annual open call usually from August to September
  • Open to researchers from the humanities, social sciences, behavioral sciences, theology and law, as well as to researchers in other fields who focus on topics related to the human sciences
  • Employment, not a grant programme
  • Fixed term appointments for 0,5–3 years
  • For all career levels beyond the doctorate (post-docs, mid-career researchers, and full professors)
  • Usual number of appointments 8–14 per year
  • Number of applications has been 250–450 per year, with well over 50 % from outside Finland
  • No fixed career stage or discipline quotas

What we offer:

  • Time and freedom for concentrated research free from administrative duties and from a large teaching obligation
  • Thriving and stimulating collegial work environment in the center of Helsinki, surrounded by libraries
  • Salaried positions with associated benefits (paid family and sick leave, pension benefits and occupational health care) in accordance with the General Collective Agreement for Universities
  • Office space
  • Language check services
  • Travel and research allowance
  • Taxable relocation allowance for those newly recruited fellows who must relocate to the Helsinki area from elsewhere in Finland and in the world
  • Relocation assistance for international fellows
  • Social programming and limited in-house wellness services
For a number of reasons, the Collegium is a place that incites discussion and chat. Maybe it’s the comfy sofas of the common room, maybe it’s the particular nature of its inhabitants – a confederacy of rogues who have chosen to leave the comforts of their departments and warmer climes for a while.

Expectation from recruited fellows:

  • Fellows should concentrate on their research to the best of their abilities, present their research at Collegium seminars and interact with their colleagues
  • Fellows must be physically present at the Collegium 80% of the fellowship period
  • The annual workload system of 1612 hours used at the University of Helsinki applies
  • Teaching requirement of 5% from the second fellowship-year onwards
  • Participation in the weekly fellows' seminars, 1 presentation per academic year

The postdoctoral fellowship in the arts aims to develop new forms of cooperation and dialogue between art and scholarship. The positions are primarily intended for persons holding a doctoral degree in the arts. However, also persons engaged in artistic work but having completed a doctoral degree in a different academic field are eligible to apply. Applicants must have completed their doctoral degree by the end of the application period. In addition to the doctoral degree, the requirements for the position include experience of artistic work or artistic research. Practitioners of all fields of art may apply for the position.

The postdoctoral researchers in the arts are appointed on the basis of a highly selective international competition. There is an annual call for applications for the position of the postdoctoral researcher in the arts at the Helsinki Collegium.

These fellowships are funded by the Kone Foundation.

HCAS-RJ Fellowship aims at facilitating and strengthening academic collaboration between Swedish and Finnish research communities. The residential one-year fellowship is intended for mid-career researchers who have an affiliation with a university in Sweden and work in the humanities and social sciences, including theology, law, and behavioral sciences. This Nordic Fellowship Programme is made possible by funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. 

HCAS-RJ Fellowships are salaried positions. In addition to salary, HCAS-RJ Fellows are entitled to housing, a personal research allowance of 4 000 €, as well as an office at HCAS premises in the centre of Helsinki, in the vicinity of University of Helsinki central campus facilities, libraries, and activities. 

The project Interdisciplinary Approaches to Intelligence (2025–2028), funded by the University of Helsinki and coordinated by HCAS, is a collaborative framework between HCAS, the Neuroscience Center at Helsinki Institute for Life Science (HiLIFE), and the Department of Computer Science at the Faculty of Science.

The project aims at establishing an interdisciplinary platform for the study of intelligence, a complex and timely topic where the research interests of neuroscience, computer science, and many fields in the social sciences and humanities converge. In the long run, the project seeks to create a collaborative scheme between the participating units to facilitate the continuing flow of ideas between SSH, neuroscience, and computer science.