LUT University and Clare Hall, an Institute of Advanced Study and graduate college in the University of Cambridge, have signed an agreement to establish a joint Global Prize and a Visiting Fellowship programme. The Global Prize for Solutions to Climate Change Threats will be a notable annual recognition for finding innovative science-based solutions to extreme threats posed by climate change, starting in 2026.
The new agreement reflects the spirit of a recent joint declaration made between the UK and Finland on their strategic partnership, which recognizes and enhances their bilateral commitment to global issues such as energy, environment and climate, education, science, research, innovation and technology, and people-to-people links. The new agreement captures the essence of this type of cooperation between Finland and the UK.
The new Visiting Fellowship programme includes two fully funded Visiting Fellows per year – one for a period of six months and the second for a period of three months. Former Visiting Fellows are eligible to be elected to Clare Hall Life Membership. The first Fellows will start in January 2026.
“We are truly honoured to embark on collaboration with such an esteemed and distinguished partner. The joint prize highlights the global importance of climate action in which both organizations want to contribute. The new programme is an excellent opportunity for LUT’s talented climate change scholars to network and collaborate with the accomplished scientists of Clare Hall and the University of Cambridge,” says Juha-Matti Saksa, Rector of LUT University.
LUT University is one of the world’s top universities for climate action, and it has systematically been listed among the top 15 small universities in global Times Higher Education rankings. LUT seeks new solutions for clean energy, water and air with its expertise in technology, business and social sciences, helping society and businesses in their sustainable renewal.
Clare Hall is renowned for its international diversity, interdisciplinarity, outstanding scientific quality and relatively informal approach to college life. Founded by Clare College as an Institute for Advanced Study modelled on Einstein’s Princeton Institute, Clare Hall became an independent Cambridge College by Royal Charter in 1985.
Clare Hall has the largest programme for visiting academics in either Oxford or Cambridge. Currently, some 20 Visiting Fellows join Clare Hall annually elected by the College’s Fellowship Committee. The programme is highly competitive, drawing on the world’s Ivy League institutions.
“I am particularly delighted to welcome the Rector of LUT University, Juha-Matti Saksa, Vice Rector Jari Hämäläinen and their colleagues to Clare Hall in this auspicious week in which our two countries have signed a very wide-ranging and comprehensive agreement of collaboration. We very much look forward to welcoming high flying academics from LUT over the years to come to our unique interdisciplinary research community,” says Alan Short, President of Clare Hall and award-winning professor in sustainable architecture.
The new joint agreement between LUT University and Clare Hall through the Visiting Fellowship programme and the annual Global Prize marks the beginning of a strong partnership between the two institutions and more collaboration to come in the future.
Clare Hall was founded in 1966 on the initiative of Clare College, University of Cambridge. It was envisaged as a college with three main classes of members: university teaching officers whose principal focus was research; visiting academics who would stay in Cambridge for between six months and a year; and graduate students. Clare Hall is modelled on the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton but is shaped by its being part of the University of Cambridge. Its Fellowship consists of academics who are leaders in their fields. Many former Clare Hall Visiting Fellows have been awarded Nobel Prizes. https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/
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