The Foundation is multidisciplinary

The Foundation is multidisciplinary. It supports social, behavioural, biological and medical research by funding scientific research and travel, and by organising seminars.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies (FFAS) was established in 1950, at which point alcohol consumption was still a significant social issue in Finland. The purpose of the foundation was to ensure that medical and social research on alcohol-related matters had access to grant-based funding. The foundation was set up in the context of the state alcohol monopoly (Alko), which ensured a good financial basis for both the provision of grants and the research programmes carried out. A wide range of representatives from various disciplines, including a number from the political arena, participated in the preparations for establishing the foundation.

In the first few years, during the 1950s, the emphasis was on studies that supported the need to reform alcohol policy. Research into the role of alcohol in human interaction came next, followed in the 1960s by the examination of alcohol policy as control policy. One of the key milestones for the foundation was the publication in 1975 of the book Alcohol Control Policies in Public Health Perspective, which was produced by an international research team led by the foundation’s secretary, Kettil Bruun. The “total consumption model” examined in this book has for decades been the subject of research and critical debate. In subsequent years, the foundation has supported numerous comparative and aggregative international joint projects involving research on topics such as Alcoholics Anonymous, developing countries and gambling.

To support the foundation’s activities, the alcohol monopoly initially set up two research units that were part of the monopoly organisation: the Social Research Institute of Alcohol Studies and the Biomedical Department of Alko. These units gradually acquired a significant independent role but continued to operate in cooperation with the foundation. The Biomedical Department of Alko was particularly well known for its studies using animal testing.

In Finland, the research supported by the foundation had an impact on the entire research field, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, when other research funding was scarce. The foundation supported the methodological development of different disciplines, provided forums for publication, and operated diversely both in the Nordic area and through wider international networks. Following the reorganisation of the alcohol monopoly, the foundation has been functioning since the mid-1990s as a normal research funding provider. The foundation impartially provides funding for alcohol research of both a medical and social nature as well as funding narcotics research and offering expert evaluation of the research proposals for gambling research.