By selecting a degree programme you are able to see the general content as well as the possible degree programme-specific content. You do not have to select a degree programme to see the Open University's instructions.
Search for degree programme
When you search for a degree programme by name or by part of the name the options in the list of degree programmes below the search field is narrowed down. After this you have to choose the degree programme from the list.
Is a traditional student exchange of several months too long time for you to be away but you would still like to study abroad? Would you like to proceed with your studies during the summer and gain some international experience at the same time? Short courses give you the opportunity to internationalize in a shorter time.
Erasmus+-programme allows you to participate in a blended short mobility. Blended mobility means that a mobility includes both a physical short mobility (5-30 days) and a virtual component before and/or after the physical mobility. Erasmus+ blended short mobilities are often completed at a Blended Intensive Programme, BIP, organised by our partner university together with University of Helsinki and at least one other European Higher Education Institute, Then typically several students from UH and other organising universities participate in the same course, often joined also a by a teacher from UH.
If the short mobility cannot be funded by Nordplus funds, you can apply for a 500 euro grant for attending a course at another university abroad. The grant will be paid towards the acceptance letter of the receiving institution. You can apply for the grant if you don't get any other grant or scholarship for the course. The application period is ongoing (15.8.–15.6.) and the application for the grant is made in Mobility Online.
In addition, the International Exchange Service organizes an application round to some Summer Schools with which we have made an agreement. A certain amount of students will be chosen for these universities based on the agreements and general selection criteria of International Exchange Services will be used.
Erasmus+ blended short mobility and applying for a grant
Erasmus+ blended short mobility means that a mobility contains both a short (5-30 days) physical mobility together with a virtual component before and/or after the physical mobility. Erasmus+ blended short mobilities are often completed as a part of a Blended Intensive Programme, BIP, organised by our partner university together with University of Helsinki and at least one other European Higher Education Institute. Typically several students from UH and other organising universities participate in the same course, often joined also a by a teacher from UH. Information on Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes are for the moment provided primarily by teachers of your own study programme, that are participating in organising BIPs.
Erasmus+ blended short mobilities include a daily grant. More information on the grant can be found in the Funding for the student exchange in the Erasmus+ mobility grants section.
Terms for Erasmus+ blended short mobilities
Erasmus+ blended short mobility grant can only be applied for taking part in an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP). Also, the University of Helsinki must be participating as one of the partner universities of the BIP.
The course contains a virtual component and a 5-30 days physical mobility. This means that the course must have online meetings before and/or after the physical mobility.
The course is minimum 3 ECTS.
No tuition can be charged for the course. It is, however, possible to have a fee for leisure activities related to the course, such as trips and activities.
Bachelor’s and Master’s level students can apply for maximum one Erasmus+ blended short mobility per study cycle. PhD students, who are not employed by the UH, can apply for maximum one Blended short mobility per academic year.
The application period for the Erasmus+ blended short mobility grant is ongoing (15.8.–15.6.) and the application for the grant is made in Mobility Online. Below you can find the application instructions and the link to the application form.
How to apply for the Erasmus+ blended short mobility grant
Log in with your university username and password.
Check once again that it says “Blended short mobility for students” as programme.
Check that it shows the correct Academic year.
“Type of mobility” must be marked as “Blended”.
“Subject code at the sending institution” can be found on the email sent to you with instructions on how and when to apply for the grant.
Fill in the application form. Press “Send application".
You’ll receive an email with a link to the application system where you can finish your application. Log in to your application through the link.
Upload your Transcript of records of University of Helsinki on your application (Upload application documents). You can download the transcript from Sisu.
Remember also to fill in the Learning Agreement (LA) on Mobility-Online. The LA is a compulsory part of your Erasmus mobility and you can start your LA by clicking “Complete Learning Agreement”.
Click “Enter further courses” and fill in the information of the course at the host institution, such as course code (write “TBC”, if the course does not have a code), course name, ECTS credits. Remember to also write a short description of the virtual component. Click “automatic recognition”.
After filling in the course information, click “create” and sign the LA by first clicking “Final check before signing” and then “Sign and transfer”.
After the supplement has been uploaded and Learning agreement has been filled in, go to "Submit application with attachments".
Your application is now submitted and handed in for International Exchange Services and Education Cooperation for processing.
After the application has been processed, you will be asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding means of transport and travel days. If you travel to the exchange destination prior to the first day of the course or return after the last day of the course, you can add max one travel day per direction to your application. If you are traveling green, you can add up to additional two travel days per direction. Read more on means of transport and travel days on Funding for the student exchange -website. Later, you will receive instructions on reading and accepting grant terms and conditions.
Freemover short course
What is meant by a short course?
With a short course we mean any courses taught at another university abroad. The course must be of high quality and support your studies at the University of Helsinki. The duration of the course may vary from 1 week to 3 months.
The student applies independently to the course at the host university's home page. The student must pay any course fees and travelling and housing costs himself.
University of Helsinki gives a grant for attending the course. The grant can be applied by all Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral levels. The application period is ongoing (15.8.–15.6.) and the application is made at an online application portal Mobility Online. If you are entitled to a general student grant from Kela, you may apply for that also for attending the short course if you meet their criteria.
Please note that there is a certain amount of grants available and if they run out, we must end the application period in advance. In that case, we would inform about it on this page and directly to prospective students who have already started their application by email.
International Exchange Services will open an application round in February for grants for courses held in Summer. The summer school places to apply for in February are listed below.
How can I find a suitable short course?
The simplest way to find courses abroad is to see partner universities' home pages and course catalogues.
Many universities organize for example courses during summertime (Summer School, Summer Academy) but it might be possible to attend courses during the semester as well. All universities have different guidelines for accepting students for a shorter time than a semester.
You may apply to any university of high quality (preferably a partner of the University of Helsinki), teaching is at university level (Bachelor, Master, Doctoral) and you get the course credits transferred as a whole to your program/degree at the University of Helsinki. The course must last at least one week (5 days) and at most 3 months.
Some short courses can be found on these pages (also other times than summer):
How to apply for a grant for a self-discovered short course
These application instructions are on applying for a grant for attending a short course that you've found independently and that doesn’t qualify as Erasmus or Nordplus. Instructions for applying for Erasmus+ grants you can find on this page under Erasmus+ blended short term mobility. Information on the application round for summer schools in February can be found under summer school application round.
The application period for attending a short course whereto you have applied independently is ongoing (15.8.–15.6.). You may apply for the grant once you’ve received confirmation for your attendance on the course. You may of course already start your application before receiving the acceptance letter from the course. Please note, that the grant cannot be awarded after the course has taken place.
These are instructions for independent attendance on a short course (freemover short course):
Log in with your university username and password
Check once again that it says “Freemover short courses” as programme
Check that it says 2025/2026 as "Academic year"
Fill in the lacking information, including the name of the course and information on the credit transfer to your degree. Press “Send application".
If you are about to convert the credits of the course to a certain obligatory course in your program, seek for approval from your faculty. You’ll find the instructions on “Returning home” and “Credit transfer”. If you are planning on including the course in your selective studies, it is sufficient to write, for example, "To my selective studies in Master's degree." on the registration form. No signatures are needed.
2. You’ll receive an email with a link to the application system where you can finish your application. Log in to your application through the link.
3. Prepare the following supplements to your application and upload them on your application on “Upload application documents”:
Unofficial transcript of records of the University of Helsinki
You can order this via Sisu, save it on your computer and add it to your application.
A copy of the acceptance letter from the host university
Once you’ve received information on your acceptance to the course, please upload the acceptance letter to Mobility online. Note that the acceptance letter can also be an email in which your acceptance of the course is detailed.
4. After all the supplements have been uploaded, go to "Submit application with attachments".
Your application is now submitted and handed in for International Exchange Services for processing.
The International Exchange Service organizes an application round to some Summer Schools with which we have made an agreement. A certain amount of students will be chosen for these universities based on the agreements and general selection criteria of International Exchange Services will be used. Below you can find the destinations open in this application round, technical instructions for applying as well as the necessary attachments to the application.
The application round will be 2nd to 12th of February 2026 (by 15.00 local Finnish time).
Please note, that the destinations for the summer 2026 will be updated on the website closer to the application period.
The selections of grant recipients will be made as soon as possible after the application period ending.
Nordic Center summer courses in India and China
University of Helsinki takes part in Nordic co-operation in India and China and gets to choose a couple of students yearly to attend summer courses offered by Nordic Centers there. These paid courses in English are held yearly in June - August, and are applied to in February, through an application round by the International Exchange Services. The selected students are then enrolled for the course by the International Exchange Services. For the Indian course, application is done directly according to instructions received from the Centre, and for the course in China, through International Exchange Services. Note that the course fee is paid by the student. University of Helsinki gives a grant to the selected students, more exact sums can be found in the information about each destination.
The courses have students and lecturers from other Nordic countries.
Please note that Nordic Center summer courses can be found in Mobility Online under 'Summer courses' and the following codes: IND HYDERA01 - Nordic Center in India - University of Hyderabad and CN SHANGHAI01- Fudan University. Write the name of the course(s) to the text field in your preferred order. The same student can only receive a grant for one course per summer, even if they do not overlap time-wise. Also note the level of the course - students should preferably be on the same (BA / MA) level as the course they're applying for.
Nordic Center at Fudan University - Business and Innovation in China
Host university in Mobility Online SHANGHAI01 - Fudan University.
Approximate costs
The course participation fee is 1000 RMB (about 130 EUR). The fee does not include accommodation, traveling, visa, insurances, etc. (the students need to cover those costs by themselves as well).
Grant sum
500 EUR
Credits
5 ECTS
Places to apply for summer 2025
3
Nordic Center in India - Gender and Society in Contemporary India
Organiser
Study in India Programme, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
Host university in Mobility Online IND HYDERA01 - Nordic Center in India - University of Hyderabad
Approximate costs
INR 116875 - 123750. See more information on the costs (course fee, housing etc.) on the course website. The cost does not include expenses for travels to and from Hyderabad, visa fees, or medical and travel insurance (students need to pay by themselves).
Grant sum
900 EUR
Credits
7,5 or 10 ECTS
Places to apply for summer 2025
3
Summer courses in the Nordic countries
University of Helsinki has agreed on sending a certain amount of students after pre-selection to the summer schools offered by our partner universities.
The nominated students don't have to pay course fees but there might be other costs for attending the course. International Exchange Services pays a grant of 500 euros for nominated students to help with the costs such as travel, accommodation and social expenses.
Some of the courses might have been filled before the decision about the grant. Remember to check the deadline and to apply to the Summer School in time! Nomination to the Summer School is not yet a guarantee for admission.
Term 1: 2 - 18 July 2025, Term 2: 23 July - 8 August 2025
Level of studies
Bachelor's and Master's level
When applying for Master level courses, you must hold a Bachelor's degree (or as a minimum have obtained 180 ECTS in your study programme) by the time of application deadline to Aarhus (18.3.2025).
You may apply for a grant for one course.
Costs
Nominated students from the University of Helsinki are waived from the tuition fees.
Cost of living: Estimated budget for a one-month stay in Aarhus: approx. 1000 EUR. This estimate includes housing, living costs, transport, books and social programme. Find the budget here.
In addition is the student responsible for travel, insurance and possible visa expenses.
Check once again that it says “Summer courses” as programme
Check that it says 2025/2026 as "Academic year"
Fill in the lacking information. Press “Send application".
If you are about to convert the credits of the course to a certain obligatory course in your program, seek for approval from your faculty. You’ll find the instructions on “Returning home” and “Credit transfer”. If you are planning on including the course in your selective studies, it is sufficient to write for example "To my selective studies in Master's degree." on the registration form. No signatures are needed.
2. You’ll receive an email with a link to the application system where you can finish your application. Log in to your application through the link.
3. Prepare the following supplement to your application and upload it on your application on “Upload application documents”:
Unofficial transcript of records of the University of Helsinki
You can order this via Sisu, save it on your computer and add it to your application.
4. After the supplement has been uploaded, go to "Submit application with attachments".
Your application is now submitted and handed in for International Exchange Services for processing.
If you are selected in the summer school application round you must still after being nominated apply for the summer school course itself according to the instructions of the receiving institution. Once you receive it you must also upload the acceptance letter from your host university so that the grant can be paid.