Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation donates EUR 250 000

The Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation has donated EUR 250 000 to Aalto University and EUR 250 000 to the University of Helsinki.

‘Especially the doctoral education in economics is of high quality in both universities. Doctoral education in economics is undergoing a structural change as the universities are developing their doctoral schools. The Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation hopes that there would be strong cooperation between the universities and their units, and that they would use the resources well. Doctoral education in economics has traditionally been an area that our foundation has supported,’ says Antti Suvanto, the Vice Chairman of the foundation’s Board.

‘Hilma Jahnsson, who established the foundation, was born 135 years ago today. Announcing the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation’s donation today is also a way to honour Hilma Jahnsson. Hilma, who was born into a poor family, achieved a better life through education. When she graduated with a degree in law in 1917, she was the third woman to do so in Finland,’ says Elli Dahl, the foundation’s Managing Director.

The donations that have now been made by the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation are part of the government capitalisation campaign in which the central government donates a specific sum to the university for each donated euro. The donation to Aalto University is designated to the educational field of business and economics, and the donation to the University of Helsinki to the educational field of social sciences.

The Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation was established in 1954. The purpose of the foundation is to promote Finnish research in economics and medicine, and to maintain and support Finnish-speaking educational and research institutions. In the past ten years, the foundation has awarded a total of EUR 17 million to research and education.