Events for exchange students

Guidance Corner provides low threshold advice and guidance services on, for example, wellbeing, digital skills and job seeking. Some of the Guidance Corner activities are regular weekly guidance and counselling sessions. A new this for international students during this exceptional time of online life is Student life 2.0, which is a series of events organised for international and exchange students. Read more on the guidance corner page!

There will be an Online Farewell event for exchange students returning to their homes in the beginning of May, where you can ask about how and where to order your transcript from, how to get signatures for your departure certificates, Learning Agreements and so on.

Date:  Monday, May 2nd, 2022
Time: Starting at 14:15 hrs, local Helsinki Time
Place: The Zoom link will be published here a few days before the event. You will receive the information and the link also in our next News Letter.

Zoom link

Meeting ID: 616 9793 1925

Passcode: 808653

Concerns mainly Erasmus students!

A departure certificate is a document given to you by your home university (mainly for Erasmus exchange students). If your home university does not require it, you do not need to get a signature.

We will sign the departure certificates (i.e. "end of stay" or "confirmation of stay" documents) within three days before your study right ends.

If you leave earlier than three days before your study right ends, you can ask for a signature by visiting us on different campuses during our office hours (Drop-In services). We will be closed on Thursday, May 26th due to a national holiday, thus we are organizing a

Pop-up signature event on

Date: Wednesday, May 25th
Time: 10:00 - 12:00 hrs
Place: Main Library Kaisa, 3rd-floor lobby, Fabianinkatu 30 (City Center campus).

You can also ask for signatures on

Date: Monday, May 30th
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 hrs
Place: Main Library Kaisa, 3rd-floor lobby, Fabianinkatu 30 (City Center campus).

These signature sessions are especially for those of you if your home institution insists on having a hand-signed document.

If it is not possible for you to attend the signature sessions, please send us the departure certificate (remember to fill in your own name) and a copy of your travel tickets by e-mail to studentexchange@helsinki.fi

It is very important that you send us a copy of your departure ticket as we can not sign the form without the ticket. You can send the documents as soon as you have your travel tickets, but please mention the departure date also in your email or the subject field of your email. We will send the signed pdf version to you earliest on the departure date or after your departure. The latest possible departure day on the document is the last day of your study right (May 31st for Erasmus students).

If you leave later, we will sign the document accordingly, but the end date of your study right will remain as it is in your SISU student certificate.

Each autumn and spring, before the classes begin, there is an orientation week which is a week full of activities for all new international students. It is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to get to know the campuses and the university and to get all the official matters out of the way.

Please note that if you miss the orientation week, the start of your studies will be more time-consuming and challenging as you have to take care of everything independently.

Degree students might receive some credits for the orientation. Please ask for more information from your degree programme.

Spring 2022

• Orientation Week: 12. - 14. January 2022

Due to Covid-19, most administrative matters will be taken care of online, to ensure everyone's safety and equal participation. However, we will try to organize some events face to face.

We will be sending you newsletters, so please pay attention to the guidelines and instructions in them. Every faculty organizes its own orientation, please follow your own faculty's orientation programme by first selecting your degree programme on the Orientation and Tutoring web page. 

All Important orientation events for international students will be announced on the Orientation and Tutoring web page.

Autumn 2022

• Orientation Week: 30. August - 2. September 2022

Spring 2023

• Orientation Week: 11. - 13. January 2023

Get to Know Your Campus

The University of Helsinki comprises four campuses. Get to know yours in advance!

• City Centre Campus (Faculties of Arts, Educational Sciences, Law, Theology and Social Sciences, Swedish School of Social Science)
• Kumpula Campus (Faculty of Science)
• Viikki Campus (Faculties of Biological And Environmental Sciences, Agriculture and Forestry, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine)
• Meilahti Campus (Faculty of Medicine)

Hungry?

All Bachelor’s or Master’s students who have registered as attending are entitled to an affordable student-priced lunch at the UniCafe cafeterias on all campuses. For lunch prices and the contact details of the cafeterias, please visit the UniCafe website. You can use your Certificate of student status during the Orientation Week to get a student discount at Unicafe. Students without a certificate can get a staff member discount from UniCafe.

The Pre-arrival information event was held on December 15th, 2021, 14:15 - 16:00 (Helsinki time) via Zoom.

The event was not recorded. Please find here The PowerPoint Presentation of the event.

Throughout the year, the University of Helsinki and its Student Union organise a wide variety of events and parties open to all students. Other student organisations and external parties, such as museums, also organise events for students. Exchange students are more than welcome to join these events, which we have listed in the Instructions for students under student events.

Spring 2022

Ask Me! Welcome to Wintery Finland!

This laid-back event is part of the Ask Me! campaign and is great for any new foreign students who have just arrived to Finland. What to wear when it's -10 °C? What are good outdoor activities in Helsinki? What is winter SAD? Join us and find out, you will also have the chance to meet fellow students and ask various questions from our staff! The event will be held on January 18th, at 14 - 15.30 (Helsinki UTC +2) on Zoom.

• PowerPoint slides of the Ask Me! Welcome to Wintery Finland event (pdf file).