Orientation and Tutoring

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 more information from your degree programme.

Autumn 2022

All times are EEST (Eastern European Standard Time)  = GMT+2h

Monday 15 August at 14:15 - 16:00 Pre-arrival Information Session for incoming exchange students in Zoom

Orientation Week: 30 August  - 2 September 2022

Tuesday 30 August:
Faculty-specific programme. To access your own time table during the orientation week, remember to select your degree programme in the menu above. 

Wednesday 31 August:
10 - 16 Check In Event at the Language Centre, Fabianinkatu 26 (attendance on faculty-specific timeslots)

Thursday 1 September:
10 - 16 Check In Event at the Language Centre, Fabianinkatu 26 (attendance on faculty-specific timeslots)
13 - 16 link to event: Guidance and well-being online event

Friday 2 September:
10 - 11 link to event: Housing info online

Please note! Student tutors for international students may organize other meetings for international degree and exchange students (remotely and/or face-to-face) before, during and after the orientation week.

Spring 2023

• Orientation Week: 11 January – 13 January 2023 (details to be added later)
• Exchange students: If you wish to join the Student Union, please pay the Student Union fee before your arrival. For payment information please see the instructions for annual registration. Remember to bring the receipt with you!
• Please also see the instructions for registering with the Finnish authorities.

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)

The campuses also have various learning facilities for independent studying and group work.

Hungry?

All Bachelor’s or Master’s students, including exchange students, who have registered as attending are entitled to an affordable student-priced lunch at the UniCafe cafeterias on all campuses and Sodexo restaurants in the University of Helsinki Main Building and in Viikki. For lunch prices and the contact details of the restaurants, please visit the Student Lunch webpage. For the student-priced lunch you need to present a certificate of student status, which you can print from Sisu. Degree students can also show their student card or Frank app.

Tutoring is a support arrangement for the new students at the University of Helsinki. It introduces you to the Finnish university life and makes it easier for you to settle into the new environment. You will be assigned a tutor (or a peer counsellor) and a tutoring group. Students are divided into groups on the basis of the faculty or the degree programme in which they begin their studies at the University of Helsinki. The groups are led by student tutors of the same faculty.

The student tutors assist you with the most important things you need to do during the first couple of days. Your tutor can point out where to register as a resident, where to get your travel card, where your faculty is, and who to contact there and where the most important services on the campuses and around the city are. Tutoring is successful when the members of the tutoring group cooperate. When the group and the tutor work together, each student will get the most out of the tutoring sessions.

You can already get to know some of our tutors for autumn 2022 

Watch the Welcome to the University video on Unitube.

• Autumn 2022: guidance, supervision and well-being-themed orientation event was in English on Thu 1 September from 1 pm to 4 pm. The recording is available now. You can turn subtitles on and off under CC (closed captions).
• The Q&A for the event
• The programme of the event
  • Rector Sari Lindblom’s speech
  • Guidance and supervision
  • The Centre for University Teaching and Learning – HYPE
  • Study psychologists
  • Nyyti ry
  • UniSport + Unisport’s break exercise
  • FSHS
  • University chaplains
  • HYY – The Student Union
  • Language Centre
  • Adapting to Finnish Culture

• Some of the presentations are available as PDF files:
  • Guidance and support
  • HYPE
  • Study psychologists
  • Nyyti ry
  • Unisport
  • FSHS
  • Language Centre
  • Adapting to Finnish Culture

Also remember the autumn events and campaigns!

• Opening ceremony and carnival on 5 September from 12 pm to 6 pm. You can read more on University of Helsinki's external website and HYY's website 
• Ask Me campaign from 5 to 9 September. This year, the campaign will also be visible on Instagram until the beginning of October, where different actors will answer students' questions every Wednesday.
• Fresher adventure on 29 September from 4 to 8 pm

You should also follow the Studies Service's bulletins!

The services offered at Kaisa House Student Information include registration for the academic year, year tags, changes in name or address information, official transcripts of records, and other general advice regarding enrolment and student benefits. Guidance Corner provides low threshold advice and guidance services on, for example, wellbeing, digital skills and job seeking. Read more on Student services' page and Guidance Corner's page.

Please note that due to the coronavirus epidemic, the majority of the Guidance Corner events are currently organised online.

Watch the Get to know Kaisa-house Student information and Guidance Corner video on Unitube.

The University of Helsinki Library serves you on all four campuses and online. Check the locations and opening hours on the library website. At the library, you can borrow textbooks, use reading and group work facilities, scan and print.

You can start reading e-books immediately when your university username is activated. Activate your customer information in the Helka database by signing in with your Helsinki University user credentials.

You need a Helka card only to borrow printed books. Rather than queuing for a card during the first few weeks at the beginning of term, start using a digital library card. Students at the University of Helsinki can acquire a digital Helka library card via the Studies Service. If you acquire a Helka card via the Studies Service, you do not need a plastic Helka card.

Further information about the library services for students.

Watch the Library Tips by Tutors video on YouTube (subtitles available in English).

The purpose of the FSHS is to provide student health services, as stipulated in the Health Care Act, for those studying for a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree at a university or other institution of higher education.Student healthcare services include checks on health and safety aspects of the study environment, mental health and substance abuse services, oral health care, among other services. Get to know all the health services on FSHS's page.

Studies as part of your career

Congratulations! Gaining a place to study is a wonderful achievement. It is also of vital importance for your career prospects.

You are about to embark on a new and exciting phase of your life that may, at first, also appear quite hectic. Now is a good time to stop and reflect on your path: where you have come from, where you are now and where you hope to go.

Consider and write down the following for yourself:

• What made you choose this degree programme? What are you interested in within the field?
• What factors played a role in your decision to apply? What do they say about your way of making decisions?
• How would you describe your field to your grandmother?
• Please return to these questions after the first teaching period, term or academic year. Have your answers changed?
• Challenge your perceptions: Search for concrete information on what graduates from your field do after graduation. You can start by exploring the töissä.fi website, the alumni search feature on the University of Helsinki’s LinkedIn page, and the career tracking data on the Instructions for Students website.
• The next time you find yourself pondering the question “What will I do when I grow up?”, try changing the question to “What next?”. Does it change anything?

Your career is a journey through education, employment and life, and you cannot plan your professional life separately from the other areas of your life. Our thoughts, hopes and plans are also continuously changing and evolving, as is the world around us, including the world of work.

The University’s Career Services is here for you throughout your studies and up to one year after your graduation. When considering your future, your skills or your expertise, or searching for support or advice for a traineeship or job-seeking, please explore the sections Work and career and Traineeships on the Instructions for Students website.

You can start planning your traineeship by checking out the FAQ on traineeships for new students.

Watch the Studies, career and expertise video on Unitube.

If you don’t want to watch the video, you can read the narration as text (pdf).

Welcome and warm congratulations on your acceptance to the University of Helsinki, new student! On this video, the study psychologists share a few words with you about studying at university and study skills. The study psychologists offer guidance and counselling to bachelor's and master's degree students regarding issues such as academic skills, motivation, time management, well-being and thesis writing. You can check out the tips compiled by study psychologists on the Support for studies -website. More information about the services can be found on the Study psychologists services for students –website.

Watch the Orientation video by the study psychologists on Unitube.

International Exchange Services and Education Cooperation (formerly known as International Exchange Services) help with questions concerning exchange studies, international traineeships and flexible study rights (JOO-studies). Read more on the instructions page of the International Exchange Services and Education Cooperation.

As a student of the University of Helsinki you will be actively using our digital learning environments. You will become familiar with services such as the Studies service, Sisu and Moodle. With Sisu you can plan and schedule your studies, compose a study plan and register for courses. Moodle is used as a course platform and in Studies you can find both the latest bulletins and Unicafe's menus, among other things.

Watch the Student's digital learning environment video on Unitube.

UniHow is a digital reflection tool and feedback system used in University of Helsinki. The University uses the HowULearn questionnaire on learning and teaching to support students with information and feedback. The questionnaire also collects student responses to help plan and develop the University’s teaching.

Watch the HowULearn supports students video on Unitube.

The two official languages in Finland are Finnish and Swedish.

The University of Helsinki is the only bilingual multidisciplinary university in Finland. Together the University students and staff members create a multilingual community where Swedish plays its own unique part.

• Over a 100 Swedish-speaking researchers and teachers work at the University of Helsinki to offer you courses and student services in Swedish.
• There are around 2 000 Swedish-speaking students within the university.
• The university offers many courses in Swedish across all campuses. If you have knowledge in a Nordic language, you can complete your degree with Swedish-speaking courses in addition to the English ones.
• The various kinds of student services are provided in Finnish, Swedish an English. IT Helpdesk, Student Services such as student counselling, International Exchange Services and Admissions Services are available in these three languages.

The Office for Bilingual Affairs (Svenska ärenden) at the University Services coordinates and develops bilingualism at the University. Each campus has its own coordinator developing bilingualism at the University's four campuses.

In our newsletter Uni på svenska we inform about Swedish speaking courses and events. You can subscribe to our newsletter (only in Swedish)!

On Instagram @unipasvenska you can follow what's happening around the university's four campuses in Swedish.

Read more on the University's website.

Welcome to UniSport! Make sure life isn't all about studies and remember to exercise as well. At UniSport you can exercise in nice environment with very student friendly prices and at six locations near campus areas: Kluuvi, Porthania, Kumpula, Meilahti, Otaniemi, Töölö and Viikki. With Training Card you will have access to 5 well-equipped gyms, over 200 weekly group training classes as well weekly ball sport groups. First visit is always free!

Read more on Unisport's web page.

Do you need a break in the bustle of everyday life? Do you want to have a chat or share your sighs with someone? The university chaplains are at your service!

The university chaplains are available to everyone from the university community and are ready to listen to whatever you need to talk about; studies and work, relationships and loneliness, stress, anxiety or spiritual matters. The university chaplains offer a safe space for everyone, regardless of your religious conviction, gender or sexual orientation. They also have professional confidentiality. Additionally, the university chaplains can assist you with religious ceremonies such as baptisms, weddings, funerals and home blessings.

Read more from the University chaplains' page.

Watch a video about the University chaplains on YouTube.

Nyyti ry promotes the mental health and learning ability of students. Student Nyyti ry offers you information, tips, and tools, as well as workshops, chats, and online groups to strengthen your mental health and study ability. You can also volunteer and provide peer support to other students. Learn more about services and activities offered by Nyyti ry on Nyyti's website and on social media: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.

Get to know Nyyti – Watch What s Nyyti ry -video on YouTube.