Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation awards €15.4 million of grants – JYU’s largest sum is for psychotherapy research

The Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation awarded in total €15.4 million in grants, awards and other subsidies to support science (66%), arts (18%) and social activities (16%). This year’s grants were awarded to 340 private persons or working groups and 108 communities. The University of Jyväskylä had 21 grant recipients with the total sum of €620,500.

Doctor of Psychology Tuija Aro and her research team from the Faculty of Education and Psychology received €100,000. Aro’s project “Kylmästä mielen hyvinvointia (From cold to mental well-being)” provides new information on the effects of winter swimming as part of psychotherapy treatment. The project is a collaboration between psychotherapists and the Department of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä.

“With the help of the funding, we will be able to conduct a group again this year, where half of the people will participate in short-term psychotherapy and half in short-term psychotherapy and winter swimming,” says Aro. “This way we can get more specific information on the effects of exposure to cold in the treatment of anxiety and depression.”

The grants can be used to carry out research and artistic work in various fields, as well as to launch projects or organise events. Grants are also awarded for dissertation research, postdoctoral research and artistic work. At the University of Jyväskylä, full-time grants were awarded to 18 researchers for dissertation research and other research, and to three communities for organising events and covering other expenses.

Congratulations to all the grantees!

See the full list of grant recipients at JYU: