Listen to a Commissioner, jump around in a bouncy castle and check out the pop-up shows at the opening festivities for academic year 2015-2016!
The 2015–2016 academic year is launching in style on Monday 31st August. The opening ceremony in the Great Hall of the University’s Main Building at 12.15 will feature Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. After the event, the guests will form a procession and move to an ecumenical service at Helsinki Cathedral. At the same time, a nondenominational event will be held in the Language Centre festival hall.
Following the official ceremonies, at 14.00 the streets and alleyways of the City Centre Campus will become the setting for the opening carnival. The programme will feature a bouncy castle, a science sauna on wheels, pop-up shows put on by students and cheap ice cream in seasonal flavours.
Helsinki Observatory, built in 1834, nowadays serves as a Centre for Astronomy, a visitor centre of the Helsinki University Museum. The Observatory would also like to welcome all international students to get to know the Universe around us. Have you ever dreamed about touching a real meteorite (which is almost five billion years old), or wondered what the scales would say on planet Mars? After that you could take a peek into the cloud chamber and see the invisible world: tracks of alpha particles, protons, muons etc.
However, if astronomical digits are too much, it’s not just about hard science: on your visit to the Observatory you can also learn about the history of the building.
The University of Helsinki Welcome Fair for new international students is once again over for this autumn term.
A big thank you from all of us at the Student Services and International Exchange Services to you who visited and worked at the fair! Once again, an awesome fair!
All in all over 900 new international exchange, visiting and degree students paid the Welcome Fair a visit. Some photos from the fair can be found on the New Students Facebook page.
The Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY) organises Freshman Adventure on 30 Sept 2015. Gather a team with your fellow freshmen, complete tasks at the checkpoints of HYY, student organisations and the university and win great prizes.
Have you ever thought what all kind of organisations there is within the Student Union? The Freshman Adventure is definitely the best way to experience the best pieces of the various field of 250 organisations.
The event will start at 1pm at Kaivopiha, from where the teams spread out to the checkpoints across Helsinki. Race ends at the afterparty at The Circus with distribution of prizes and the most incredible party of the freshman autumn.
So what are you waiting for? On you mark, get set and sing up your team here. Enrollment starts at 12noon on 31 Aug. You find the event also on Facebook. The Freshman Adventure is free for members of the Student Union.
If you’re not a freshman, we are also looking for enthusiastic volunteers to execute the most epic event of the autumn! Read more and volunteer here.
The Academic Year of the University of Helsinki begins officially on the 31st of August, when the Opening Carnival takes over the Main Building of the University (Fabianinkatu 33/Unioninkatu 34) and its surroundings.
Carnival starts twelve o’clock by the opening ceremonies at the Great Festival Hall of the Main Building, where there are speeches from the University and Student Union and other program. After the ceremonies on the Great Hall, the academic parade walks from the University to the Cathedral of Helsinki (Tuomiokirkko), where the opening service takes place. Same time there is secular occasion at the Festival Hall of University’s Language Center (Fabianinkatu 26). Continue reading “The Opening Carnival of the Academic Year at the University of Helsinki”
Welcome to the University of Helsinki! It’s not only an excellent university, but also a university with a long (375 years and counting) and fascinating history. An integral part of that history have always been students from near and far.
University of Helsinki and its’ students are remarkably visible in the cityscape. The university has always been a great builder and you can see university buildings on all four campuses. Also, the Student Union and many student nations have built beautiful buildings. When the university moved to Helsinki from Turku in 1828, the new Main Building was given a prime site in the then city centre directly opposite the new Senate building. A few decades later the students wanted to build a Student House (nowadays called the Old Student House) for their meetings and parties. The house was built at the edge of the city centre, where it was thought the rowdy students would not disturb other townspeople. Ironically, over time the city centre moved and nowadays the Student House is smack in the middle of downtown Helsinki! Continue reading “Find out more about your University!”
Last year, when I was preparing and packing for my studies in Helsinki, I received an email from the University saying that I could join the Intensive Finnish language course at the Helsinki Summer School in August. The international Master’s students are a priority for the University since they are going to stay in Helsinki much longer, and it is always helpful to learn some basic communication in a foreign language, so I accepted. What a considerate arrangement!
It was later proved just how fun, productive and useful it was. The Finnish course at the Summer School was really intensive. The teaching methods and learning experience were great, although Finnish is not that easy. But there was a sense of satisfaction when I was later able to read the street signs and make simple conversations with locals while exploring the city.
More importantly, the time spent at the Summer School was a lot of fun and I was also able to make many good friends, with whom I have kept in touch afterwards. August is one of the best seasons in Finland and the activities and organized tours suggested by the Summer School covered so many aspects of the Finnish culture. In addition to traditional Finnish customs, there was also the Baltic Sea trip to Tallinn, sauna and swimming at a summer cottage, a city tour and so on. They were all great.
I have worked, studied and travelled in several different countries, and the Finnish people are one of the friendliest people in the world. The quality of the courses the Summer School offers is very high, just like their high reputation in education in general.
In short, courses at the Summer School in Helsinki will reward you in many ways. It gives you a great warm-up and acts as a safeguard when you are adapting to new environments. You will get to know the Finnish teaching style, become familiar with the city and the university campus, and settle down in a nice apartment. Then when the new term begins, you can focus solely on your studies.
Tong Xin
Master’s student in Public International Law
Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Helsinki r.y. (CSSA-UH) has been registered as a sub-organization of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY) since 1995. CSSA-UH is active in helping Chinese students, promoting the communication between Chinese students and local people, and making contribution to Sino-Finnish cooperation. We are open-minded, trustworthy and cooperative.
In 2014, CSSA-UH achieved a lot. Since February 5th, 2014, we started adding a suffix ending, “r.y.”, after CSSA, which means to be officially recognized as a “rekisteröity yhdistys” (registered association) in Finnish Registry Office. We believe this title will encourage us to serve our members more enthusiastically.
January
Chinese New Year Party was held by CSSA-UH in the evening of January 29th 2014. Nearly 100 Chinese students, scholars and international friends welcome the Chinese “Horse” Year together. CSSA-UH also participated in the Caisa Chinese New Year celebration, organized by Caisa (International Cultural Centre) in Lasipalatsi Square. CSSA-UH brought brilliant performance, exhibition of delicate hand-made souvenirs designed by students. Continue reading “CSSA-UH will embrace more opportunities in 2015”
University of Helsinki
