Information about the Mid-Term Meeting 2025

On this page

• Upcoming deadlines
• Signing Up
• Family participation
• Program
  • Wednesday
  • Thursday
  • Itinerary for the event (available later)
• Travel plans
• Accommodation
• Travel reimbursements

Upcoming deadlines:

• February 17 - sign up
• April 3 - travel reimbursements 

Signing up

Check through the program and the instructions for accommodation and travel carefully and sign up - the deadline for doing so is February 17!

Sign up here

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact Maija at [email protected]

Family participation

Please note that the program on Thursday is planned mainly for the grantees. If there are family members interested in participating and room available, family members can join in the order of registration. 

Please note that some of the program can be tiring for small children and unfortunately we can't organize separate program for family members.

See more in the "Program for Mid-Term Meeting" below.

As the program is still being finalized, there is a chance that some parts of the program will be for grantees only due to space limitations.

Program for the Mid-term Meeting

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Dress code: Business casual
Family participation: The network reception is only for grantees

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Dress code: Business casual
Family participation: The program is mainly available for the grantees. If there are family members interested in participating and room available, family members can join in the order of registration. Please note that some of the program can be tiring for small children and unfortunately we can't organize separate program for family members.

Mid-Term Briefing for all U.S. Grantees

The Fulbright Finland team will inform grantees about news, upcoming events, and practicalities that are imperative for you to know. 

In addition to the briefing session and debriefing discussions on Friday afternoon, your program coordinators as well as CEO Terhi Mölsä will be available throughout the two days in case you have questions or concerns that you would like to discuss privately.

Mid-Semester Debrief Discussions for Fulbright Students, Teachers, and Scholars

Sit down with fellow scholars, teachers, or students and your program coordinator to discuss your experiences in Finland thus far. 

Please prepare beforehand and make sure you send in your desired discussion topics to your program coordinator before the meeting. Instructions will be sent in the itinerary.

Workshop: Leadership for Meaningful Change - Concrete Ways to Engage Audiences

In this solution-oriented workshop, participants will co-create actionable strategies and practices to engage audiences and drive change in challenging environments.

Through discussions and facilitated small-group sessions, participants will, for instance, design strategies for communicating complex topics and ways to empower youth to act for positive change.

The program will feature, among others, the Foundation's Senior Advisor Jamie Hyneman.

We will also invite our alumni to the workshop, so you will have an opportunity to expand your networks within the Fulbright Finland community.

Travel plans

If you are traveling to the mid-term meeting from outside the capital area, please read the following:

• Arrival: plan to arrive in Helsinki on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. 
  • The networking reception hosted by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture is an optional event for you, but we recommend you attending it if your schedule allows. At the reception you will have an opportunity to meet and create connections with representatives from multiple higher education institutions around Finland.
  • Even if you can't join the reception, we recommend arriving on Wednesday evening. The program begins in the morning of March 20 at Aalto University, and we will travel there together by metro at 9:30.
• Grantees traveling to the mid-term meeting from outside the capital area will have their travel expenses reimbursed by the Foundation. Travel arrangements should be made by the least expensive means available (train or bus). Please save your travel tickets and receipts, since those will be needed for reimbursement. More info on reimbursements below.
• Remember to bring your passport for checking in at the hotel.
• Departure: please leave enough time between the end of the workshop and the departure of your bus/train, especially if you need to stop by the hotel to pick up any luggage. We would suggest that you will buy tickets for a connection departing at 17:00 at the earliest.

Students, please use your student ID cards for your travel discounts.

Please note the following regarding travel tickets:

• local taxi/bus/tram/metro rides within your departure city or the city of the event are not reimbursed.
• your travel costs are reimbursed only if you attend the entire mid-term meeting program 
• the Foundation does not reimburse grantees' family members travel expenses.
• the Foundation does not reimburse any costs which may occur from changing your tickets, purchasing cancellation insurance, or buying extra services e.g. the seat next to you or a cabin.
• Purchase your tickets only from official sites (such as VR for trains, Onnibus or Matkahuolto for buses). Do not use third party services, because they will charge you more and also add a service fee. The Foundation does not cover the additional service fees if you purchase your ticket from a third-party website. 

Accommodation (Scandic Hotel Park)

Please note that this is different hotel from the one you've stayed previously during Fulbright Finland events!

If you are located outside the capital region, the Fulbright Finland Foundation will book and cover one hotel night for you (March 19-20).

Fulbright Scholar and Teacher Program grantees: you will be accommodated in one person rooms. If you have family members accompanying you, please note that only one room per family will be covered (the rooms accommodate max. 4 people). If additional rooms are needed, they will be at your own expense.

Fulbright Student Program grantees: you will be accommodated in two person rooms, shared with another student Fulbrighter. If you want to have a single room, or if additional rooms are needed (for family members), the extra costs will be at your own expense. If you have already agreed with another student to share a room, please let us know your roommate's name in the registration form. 

If you wish to stay additional nights at your own expense, feel free to contact the hotel directly at [email protected]. 

We recommend doing this after February 25, after the name list has been sent to the hotel. You can mention that you're in the Fulbright Finland Foundation group reservation, and would like to be accommodated in the same room as on March 19-20.

Travel Reimbursements

If you wish to be reimbursed for your journeys to and from Helsinki for the events, please submit your original and/or electronic tickets to us by using this SurveyMonkey by Tuesday, April 2. 

If you don't want to submit you banking details in the Survey, you can write "sent separately" in the Survey and contact Heidi ([email protected]) regarding the banking details. 

Travel reimbursements for grantees WITH a Finnish bank account

Grantees with Finnish bank account will be reimbursed after the event.

Travel reimbursements for grantees WITHOUT a Finnish bank account

The reimbursements for all Fulbright Finland Foundation events will be paid to your U.S. account at the same time in one lump sum after your grant term. 

The reimbursement amounts in euros will be converted to U.S. dollars based on the bank’s exchange rate on the date of payment. While the Foundation will cover its own bank’s fees for the international transfer, your own bank’s fees will be covered by you (these fees will vary between banks). However, an extra USD 30 will be added to the total to help to mitigate the international transfer fees.

Please note that regardless of the date of the final payment you are required to send your travel tickets and receipts by the deadline after each event. This is because Fulbright Finland Foundation needs the receipts in order to close the accounting for each of the events.

If you have any questions or concerns about the payment schedule, please contact Maija or Heidi in advance as soon as possible.

Please know that we unfortunately cannot reimburse any costs which may occur from changing your tickets.