Support for doctoral researchers and a major grant for diabetes research
The TYKS Foundation will allocate €230,000 to medical and health sciences research in 2026. In addition, the foundation awarded a major grant of €100,000 earlier in May from the Marita and Heikki Vaiste fund to support diabetes research among children and young people.
The TYKS Foundation broadly supports medical, nursing, and health sciences research conducted at Turku University Hospital and its area of influence. The research funded by the Foundation contributes to the development of diagnostics and patient care.
A total of 128 applicants applied for grants in this funding round, including 99 researchers in medicine and 29 in nursing and health sciences. Working grants were awarded to 34 applicants in medicine and eight applicants in nursing and health sciences. Travel grants for congresses and professional training were awarded to 19 researchers, totalling €20,700. Of the grants awarded, €152,200 was allocated to medical research and €39,500 to nursing and health sciences research. A second call for travel grants will be held in the autumn, with approximately €30,000 available for distribution.
Most grant recipients are doctoral researchers at the beginning of their research careers. Individual grants range from €3,000 to €5,000.
Earlier in May, the TYKS Foundation awarded the first major grant of €100,000 from the Marita and Heikki Vaiste Fund. The grant was awarded to MD, PhD Jaakko Koskenniemi. During the TYKS Foundation’s anniversary year in 2025, Marita and Heikki Vaiste donated €500,000 to support diabetes research among children and young people.
The Vaiste Fund provides substantial grants designed to accelerate advances in type 1 diabetes research. Supporting research into type 1 diabetes is particularly important to the Vaiste family, whose granddaughter was diagnosed with the disease at the age of two.
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Establishment of the Marita and Heikki Vaiste Fund
Awarding of the First Major Grant
– Donations and bequests are a vital part of our funding. Even the smallest contribution to the Foundation is an invaluable investment in research. It enables the development of better patient care in the future. All donations are used for their designated purposes, says Minna Lukkarinen, Executive Director of the TYKS Foundation.
Hidex Oy, a family-owned company originating from Turku and located in the Itäharju district, donated €20,000 to the TYKS Foundation. The high-technology company develops and manufactures analytical instruments for life science research, radiation measurement, and nuclear medicine. The donation is earmarked for research grants for hospital chemists and physicists. Two grants of €5,000 each were awarded from this donation to PET radiochemist Thomas Keller and physicist Aino Leppiniemi. The TYKS Foundation regularly reports on the progress of previously funded research projects through researcher stories published on its website. One example is the researcher story of MD, PhD Jaakko Koskenniemi.
Further Information
Minna Lukkarinen
Executive Director, TYKS Foundation
Email: minna.lukkarinen(at)utu.fi
Tel. +358 40 701 7876
Jaakko Koskenniemi, MD, PhD
Clinical Lecturer
Email: jajoko(at)utu.fi
Tel. +358 40 549 8178
Marita Vaiste
Email: marita(at)vaiste.fi
Tel. +358 40 537 3717
The TYKS Foundation is a public-benefit foundation that supports, promotes, and maintains clinical medical research and other university-level health sciences research at Turku University Hospital and its area of influence.
