Kyllikki ja Uolevi Lehikoinen Foundation - Scholarship

Kyllikki ja Uolevi Lehikoinen Foundation diabetes research grant

You get a personal work grant to do diabetes research in Finland, paid for 1 to 6 months. The monthly rate depends on your degree: 1,800 EUR as a student, 2,200 EUR with a licentiate or master's degree, 2,600 EUR with a doctorate, and 3,000 EUR as a docent (a senior academic title above doctorate). If the grant runs for at least four months without a break, each rate rises by 200 EUR per month, so up to 3,200 EUR for docents. The money is paid in one transfer. For 2026 the foundation hands out 55,000 EUR in total, meant for young researchers. The Kyllikki ja Uolevi Lehikoinen Foundation is a Finnish private foundation. In even years it funds diabetes research, run together with the Diabetes Research Foundation.

Who can apply

• Field: Your research focuses on diabetes. (In odd-numbered years, the foundation instead funds research into meat and muscle technology.)
• Career stage: You are a researcher, mainly early in your career. Anyone from medical student up to docent can apply, and your degree sets your monthly rate.
• Where you work: You are carrying out research in Finland. You are not required to be affiliated with a specific university or institution.
• Insurance: If your scholarship covers at least four months’ work, you must take out Mela insurance for scholarship holders.

How to apply

You must apply online via the Diabetes Research Foundation’s grant system between 2 and 31 January. You must attach a single PDF file containing your research proposal, your CV, your list of publications and, where applicable, approval from the ethics committee. The Foundation’s Scientific Committee makes a recommendation, and the Board of the Lehikoinen Foundation makes the final decision.

Our guide Scholarships in Finland collects further funding options in Finland for researchers looking beyond this grant.