University of Helsinki
Some of you exchange students are soon heading home and there are a few things we would like you to remember you leave Helsinki. Continue reading “Heading home, exchange student?”
Home sweet home!
“Student housing situation in Helsinki is difficult!” I have heard, but, luckily for me, my journey to the place I now call home went very smoothly.
It was very early April a year ago, when I received an email conveying the good news of me being accepted to the International Master Degree studies at the University of Helsinki. Even though this notice was nothing I could yet touch, the whole Helsinki-experience ahead of me suddenly became tangible; I realized that in a few months my everyday life would be so different from the one I was living. For it to be a good one, I still had to find a place to live. Continue reading “Home sweet home!”
The Flower Day
The Flower Day (or Flora Day) is the second official celebration of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki. It is the joyful spring festival of all university students, celebrated every year on 13 May. University students have celebrated a spring festival at least from the beginning of the 19th century.
The celebration in 1848 was as a special day in the origins of Finnish national identity. That year, the Maamme song, which later has received the status of Finland’s national anthem, was sang for the first time by the students gathered in Kumtähti Field. Also an early version of the Finnish flag was used for the first time on that occasion – afterwards, this flag became the flag of the Student Union. So, in addition to being the university students’ spring festival, the Flower Day is now also celebrated as the “birthday” of the Finnish national anthem. This year will be the 165 anniversary of the Maamme song. Continue reading “The Flower Day”
Coming to UH as an exchange student? application time ends May 15th, 2013!
If your home university has selected you for an exchange at the University of Helsinki, you still have some days left to apply. The deadline for applications for the autumn semester 2013 and the full academic year 2013-14 is May 15th, 2013!
Detailed application information for exchange students can be found on our website. Also take a look at our previous post here, it will give you some useful information about the application process.
Once you have applied, your application first goes to UH’s International Exchange Services, where the staff checks that you have included everything. After this your application will be sent to the appropriate Faculty for their consideration. You’ll hear the results via e-mail by the end of June.
We hope to meet you in Helsinki!
International Exchange Services
Vappu – celebrating spring and student life!
Spring has now finally arrived in Finland and with it, of course, the big carnevalistic spring celebration: Vappu. For many students it is the highlight of the year. On the 30th of April and 1st of May you can see people wearing the Finnish student cap, ylioppilaslakki, and students wearing overalls and doing silly things all over Helsinki. The celebration begins on Tuesday afternoon and continues all Wednesday. Here follows some practical info and tips to help you to experience the best of it: Continue reading “Vappu – celebrating spring and student life!”
Meet our students: Champagne, Coconuts and Explorers – How did a Scandinavian Language student from Belgium end up in Finland?
Once upon a time in a land far, far away… Well, truth is, far away is Belgium and long ago is also pretty relative. But anyways, many years have passed since I moved to Finland. My name is Pieter and this is my story.
Applying to the University of Helsinki as an exchange student for 2013-14: questions you may be thinking about
University of Helsinki welcomes exchange students from partner universities all around the world. Last month, we had the pleasure of meeting two exchange student applicants for 2013-14 at their home university, the University of Hong Kong.
We asked the applicants what they wanted to know more about, and the answer was very clear, “the Learning Agreement”. “How should one select courses for the Learning Agreement?” “What does a course number mean?”
We have gathered the answers to these questions here for all exchange student applicants, in case you are thinking about the same questions. Continue reading “Applying to the University of Helsinki as an exchange student for 2013-14: questions you may be thinking about”
An Academic Forum for the Chinese Scholars in Finland will be held in the University of Helsinki
Text: Zhongqing Jiang
Pictures: Chen Yongchen, Wang Fang
Annually, there are about 3000 Chinese students and scholars doing their studies or research work in many cities of Finland. CSSA-UH in full name is the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Helsinki. It is an association opens for all the Chinese students and scholars in Helsinki, enriches their lives in culture, science, sports etc., and promotes communication. CSSA-UH has been registered under HYY since 1995.
CSSA-UH in the past 3 years, has kept the activity in improving the atmosphere of studying, researching and communication for the Chinese students and scholars in Finland. This year, CSSA-UH is going to arrange the Academic Forum for the Chinese Scholars in Finland (AFCSF2013) on April 20th 2013. Moreover, for this event, CSSA-UH has received the support from the University of Helsinki in a form of the Grant for Student Organizations. CSSA-UH is grateful and willing to make this annual event better and better!
“To be innovative is to see and do things different way”
Maybe you have already heard about Academic Action -network from your friends or from our blog, but I will write again a short post about the network. It’s important to show also the university’s perspective; when a research university embraces an entrepreneurial mindset – what happens? Erto Örnberg from University of Helsinki shares his insights and experiences on Academic action -network. Continue reading ““To be innovative is to see and do things different way””
Meet our students: Belarusian and Georgian students happy in Helsinki
The first three exchange students from Belarus and Georgia have arrived in Finland in January 2013 via the Baltic Sea Region – Caucasus Network (BASERCAN*) coordinated by the Aleksanteri Institute.
Two of the students, Katsiaryna Ivanova (Belarusian State University, Minsk) and Elene Sonya Chumburidze (Ilia State University, Tbilisi), shared their first impressions of the University of Helsinki and Finnish university culture with Aleksanteri News.
“The studying process is quite different from what I have experienced at my home university. I really like it that students here have so much freedom in their studies and this keeps them motivated all the time. The university library pleased me a lot. I found many good books on the topic of my course paper. I think the best thing here is that the students can actually get access to almost anything they need for their studies,” said Ivanova. Continue reading “Meet our students: Belarusian and Georgian students happy in Helsinki”