Turku City Welcome Event Brought Together Over 60 MSCA COFUND Fellows, Staff and Partners
More than 60 MSCA COFUND fellows, programme staff and network partners gathered on 23 October 2025 for the Turku City Welcome Event for MSCA COFUND Fellows. The celebration took place at Restaurant Brunndeli at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova and highlighted the growing international research community in Turku.
Celebration of Talent and Collaboration
The evening began with a toast of sparkling wine, followed by a welcome address from Sinikka Valtonen, Director of Human Resources at the City of Turku.
She emphasised the City’s strong commitment to supporting international researchers and fostering a truly global research environment in Turku.
The University of Turku’s Vice Rector Piia Seppänen then introduced the University’s MSCA COFUND programmes and highlighted how many professionals across the University contribute to their administration and success.
Presentation of COFUND Programmes
Programme Directors from all six MSCA COFUND programmes introduced their initiatives and shared highlights from their activities:
- Turku Intersectoral Excellence Scheme (TIES): Martin Cloonan
- Systemic Approaches to Improve Cardiometabolic and Brain Health During Lifespan (SYS-LIFE): Georges Kazan, Vice Director
- Solutions for Green and Digital Transition (UTU-GreDiT): Eevi Savola, Coordinator
- Human-Centric Artificial Intelligence for a Sustainable Future (HAIF): Pasi Liljeberg
- Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral Research Fellowship Programme for Future Leaders in Immunology (IMMUFELLOW): Marko Salmi
Reflections from SYS-LIFE
In his remarks, Vice Director Georges Kazan summarised key achievements from the SYS-LIFE programme. He highlighted that SYS-LIFE had completed its second and final selection round, welcoming eleven new fellows and forming a vibrant international research community in medicine, biomedicine and behavioural sciences.
He noted that the University of Turku now hosts six active MSCA COFUND programmes, which together have recruited approximately 120 outstanding researchers worldwide through rigorous international peer review. These programmes advance the shared goal of the University and the City of Turku to attract and nurture top-level global talent.
Kazan also underlined the University’s Research Collegia model—based on the tradition of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study—as a foundation for excellence, interdisciplinary exchange and societal impact.
He thanked the University, the City of Turku, Business Turku and the Turku University Foundation for their support, and acknowledged the dedicated work of the project teams behind the COFUND programmes.
Networking and Community Building
The evening concluded with networking over drinks and light snacks, giving fellows the opportunity to connect across disciplines, share experiences and strengthen collaboration within the growing Turku research community.
This article was prepared with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot.
