The Nordic Centre has eight office spaces for visiting scholars, i.e. academics from our member universities who come to Shanghai to conduct research, collaborate with partners in their field, or other purposes. Durations can vary from a few days to several months.

We offer the visiting scholars help with such things as getting in contact with relevant Chinese researchers, practicalities of locating to China temporarily, library and IT facilities, business cards, and more. Please read our HANDBOOK FOR VISITING SCHOLARS to learn more about this opportunity (last updated in 2023). 

Please write to veli-matti.palomaki(at)nordiccentre.net to book a space or hear more -- but please do read the handbook first as it probably answers many of your questions. 

Click here for an interview with one of our visiting scholars, Ole Johannes Kaland from the University of Bergen, from February, 2024.

You can also read a blog article by another visiting scholar, Eero Suoranta from the University of Helsinki, from October, 2024.

Nordic Centre can financially support your research visit abroad through our "research platform", whether you are a researcher at a Nordic member university who wants to do work in China, or a researcher from Fudan or a Chinese affiliate institution traveling to the Nordic countries to do work at a member university there. All levels (PhD fellows, Post Docs, etc.) are eligible to apply.  

The Nordic Centre Research Platform is a flexible and easily accessible support instrument for research collaboration between the Nordic Centre´s member universities and Fudan University or our Chinese affiliate members. Its main purpose is to promote research of mutual interest to Chinese and Nordic researchers.

Who can apply?

Researchers (PhDs, Post Docs, and Professors) from Nordic Centre (NC) member universities (including affiliate members) can apply for the grant. The grant can be used for short term mobility to member institutions in the other region, i.e. from China to the Nordic region or from the Nordic region to China.

What is funded?

The costs of the research visits will be divided between the home university, the host university, and the NC. Expenses covered are basic living costs up to the amount of EUR 600 per week for visitors to Nordic universities, and up to EUR 400 per week for visits to Chinese ones. Such basic living costs may include meals, various work-related expenses, or representation costs for work-related meetings, but not expenses like entertainment, clothing, or unnecessary consumption. All costs are initially paid by your institution/department at your home university. The institution/department accountant at your home university can claim the reimbursement from Nordic Centre within 30 days after the visit:

The home university is responsible for the visiting researcher’s salary during the visit as well as travel costs. The Nordic Centre can provide up to EUR 500 for travel expenses. The host university provides office space and research facilities for the visiting researcher and assists in finding accommodation during the visit. The researcher should establish contact with the host university independently and is responsible for the arrangements of their stay themselves, including taking out a travel insurance if this is not covered by his/her home university.

Before applying, please read about the financial routine for Nordic Centre funding for visits.

The duration of the visit is 2-4 weeks.

Application details

There is no deadline for the application which means you can submit your application throughout the year.. You will be reimbursed according to your actual expenses up to the amount of EUR 400 (China) and EUR 600 (the Nordic countries) per week.

Applications will be evaluated based on the purpose of the visit and its expected results. Among the criteria to be used in evaluating the applications will be:

● potential for long-term cooperation

● benefits for Sino-Nordic cooperation and for the Nordic Centre.

The application should include:

● a list of research background/experience and publications/research projects

● the approval of the home university for the visit

● an invitation from the host university

Upon completion of the visit, the visiting researchers will be required to submit:

● a short written report to the Nordic Centre describing the content and results of their visit

● an overview of travel expenses

● scans of the original receipts

The form should be filled in English and sent (together with relevant attachments) to veli-matti.palomaki(at)nordiccentre.net

Click here for the application form and here for the cost breakdown form.

Nordic Centre is host to many kinds of events, including conferences, seminars, short courses, and cultural and social gatherings.

Read our handbook for organizing academic events here.

If you are connected to one of our member universities as a staff member or student, you can contact us to discuss the possibilities for organizing an event here. 

For certain types of activities, you can apply for funding from the Council of the Nordic Centre.

See a list of our facilities and book a room w/services here. 

APPLICATION FORM

Handbook on academic events at Nordic Centre

Staff members and researchers affiliated with Nordic Centre member universities can apply for funding to organize Sino-Nordic academic events such as research seminars, workshops, courses, or conferences at the Nordic Centre in Shanghai or in hybrid format.

Grant amount: Between 2,000 and 7,000 euros.

Application deadline: 20th of March and 20th of September

Priority will be given to applications:

- that include the participation of at least two Nordic member universities, preferably from different Nordic countries, and one or more Chinese partners.

- where Fudan University or Chinese affiliates are among the Chinese partners. Other Chinese universities are more than welcome to be involved as partners, and this priority should not be understood as a mandatory condition.

- that relate to one or several of the prioritized thematic areas for Sino-Nordic collaboration at the Nordic Centre.

The Nordic Centre especially encourages activities:

• that can serve as a networking platform for early career researchers and that facilitates new connections between Nordic and Chinese scholars.

• aiming to result in joint applications for larger external grants

• that are open for participation/contributions from all the Nordic Centre member institutions.

All activities must comply with the fundamental reciprocal principles for cooperation established by the Nordic Centre.

Application and selection:

To apply for funding please fill in the application form and send it to funding(at)nordiccentre.net prior to one of the two annual application deadlines, March 20 and September 20.

The decision to approve funding is taken by the Nordic Centre Council. Applicants will be notified immediately after the first coming Council meeting, which generally take place in April and October.

You can help us spread the call to your colleagues either by sharing the URL to this page, or by sharing this flyer for social media. Thank you!

About reimbursements for grant recipients:

Upon conclusion of the event, the institution/department accountant at your home university can claim reimbursement from the Nordic Centre within 30 days. This can be done by first filling in this document and sending it to our Programme Manager (veli-matti.palomaki(at)nordiccentre.net) along with copies of the receipts as documentation of the actual costs for each budget item.

Please note that the reimbursement can only be done via your home university, and we can not pay reimbursements directly to a personal account.

While hybrid events are possible, and we are equipped for arranging on-site gatherings while connecting remotely to your event, we encourage our members to organize events at the Nordic Centre in Shanghai.

You can book one of our rooms for your academic event by emailing us. 

Room rentals are free for member universities. If the duration and intensity of the activity is exceptional, we may charge a fee, upon agreement.

Please specify your requests in the email, and feel free to ask any questions about the rooms or the types of services we can provide. Keep in mind that we are generally closed on weekends, in the week of the Chinese Spring Festival, and in the month of August (plus a few other holidays), but can upon request make our facilities and available during such occasions.

Besides our library and informal "multi-function room" on the second floor, which are both open 9 AM - 5 PM on weekdays to everyone, we have the following facilities in the Nordic Centre building:

Seminar room 101, seating 80 (comfortably). With projector. Suitable for presentations, movie screenings, panels; however the chairs cannot be moved. 

Classroom 109, seating about 40 people. With projector. Suitable for teaching or group work.

Meeting room 201, seating about 15 people in horse-shoe formation. With projector. Suitable for smaller meetings. 

Seminar room 302, seating about 40 people around a horse-shoe formation (tables and chairs can be moved around however), with additional seats against the walls. With projector. Suitable for seminars, workshops, meetings, and teaching.

The Nordic Centre has given the title Nordic Centre Research Fellow to about 30 professors at Fudan University. In addition to being experts in their own fields of study they all have a special link to one of the Nordic Countries or universities, or they have shown prolonged dedication and active engagement to the Nordic Centre activities. The Nordic Centre Research Fellows regularly attend activities at the Nordic Centre and also act as adviser or think tank.

See a list of research fellows here. 

This page contains funding guides for Nordic-Chinese research and research collaborations.

EURAXESS China has concise information on both Horizon 2020 and other funding options.

See also their latest Funding Guide (2015) which, while outdated, can still serve as a useful overview. For more up to date information, see the general EURAXESS Funding Database.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).

The Participant Portal contains the current calls for proposals.

A practical guide for collaborations between researchers from China and the EU member states.

Asian Dynamics Initiative, a cross-faculty Asia focus at the University of Copenhagen, has an extensive funding guide.

To support the development of strong and strategic research and innovation partnerships between Nordic and Chinese universities, the Nordic Centre is launching planning grants. The purpose is to give researchers from the Nordic Centre member institutions better opportunities to prepare for larger joint research projects and write proposals for major external research grants.

Seed funding call 2022

The application period for 2022 started on March 15 and concluded on October 1. We received several high quality applications, out of which the following five projects were selected to be funded:

1. A Sino-Nordic Research Collaboration on Digital Innovation for Sustainable Health Care (digitalization and technology), University of Oslo, Fudan University

2. Perovskite Hot Carrier Solar Cell as a Break-Through Renewable Energy Source (sustainable development), Lund University, Fudan University

3. Consuming Luxury Today - a comparative study between China and Sweden (sustainable development, Sino-Nordic perspectives), University of Gothenburg, Fudan University

4. Microwave remote sensing monitoring of summertime sea ice change and the impact from high-latitude synoptic weather systems (sustainable development), Uppsala University, Fudan University

5. Playfulness pedagogy and self-efficacy among Chinese and Finnish early childhood teachers (Sino-Nordic perspectives), University of Turku, Beijing Normal University

The next seed funding call will be announced at a later time.

Projects should be within one of the Nordic Centre’s four interdisciplinary thematic focus areas: 


- Sino-Nordic perspectives
- Sustainable development
- Digitalization and technology
- Health and welfare

The grant is a lump-sum of 10 000 EUR per project. The funds may be used for costs related to the project application development such as salary costs creating focused time to prepare the application, pilot study costs, travel, meetings, or other costs for preparing the project and build the partnership structure.

More information can be found in the terms of reference (ToR) and application form below:

ToR-Seed funding for Sino-Nordic research collaborations

Application form

NC Seed funding flyer

The 2022 Nordic Centre Biennial Meeting on Global Ageing and Related Healthcare Challenges will take place 24-25 October on-site in Oslo, and via Zoom.

You can find the the registration link and full program with speaker bios on the flyer here.

The registration deadline is 20th October.