Join us for the opening ceremony of the academic year 2024–2025 on Monday, 2 September 2024!
The opening ceremony will be held in the University’s Great Hall on September 2nd starting at 12.15. The event can also be viewed via a stream. All students, staff, alumni and friends of the University are welcome at the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony will include an address by Rector Sari Lindblom as well as greetings from the staff and the Student Union delivered by Olli-Pekka Kasurinen, Chair of the Helsinki University Association of Teachers and Researchers, and Antti Kaijansinkko, Chair of the Board of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki. Music for the opening ceremony will be performed by the string quartet of the Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra and the student nation choirs.
- Follow the opening ceremony on the University YouTube channel (the stream includes interpretation in sign language).
The duration of the opening ceremony is approximately an hour, and the audience is expected to arrive at the Great Hall well in advance before the ceremony begins (entrance from Aleksanterinkatu 5/Unioninkatu 34). Accessible entrance to the Great Hall is available from the courtyard of the Main Building through the archway at Yliopistonkatu 2. Please leave your coats and large bags in the cloakroom on the first floor of the Main Building (Entrance Hall Aleksi). After the audience has taken their places and the opening ceremony has begun, the live stream can be followed in the Karolina Eskelin Hall (U3032).
The opening ceremony will be followed at about 13.30 by an ecumenical service in Helsinki Cathedral (Unioninkatu 29) and a secular service in Cupola Hall at the National Library of Finland (Unioninkatu 36). Bishop Emeritus Eero Huovinen will give the opening sermon at the church service, while Professor Lotte Tarkka will give a speech at the secular service.
Following the services, the audience is invited to enjoy coffee and cake in the foyers of the Main Building (second floor) starting at 14.00. After coffee and refreshments, you can also stop by Agora, where you will find a tintamarresque adorned with a photo of the Main Building, offering you the opportunity to photograph yourself alongside your fellow students and colleagues. If you wish, you can share your photo on social media using the hashtag #wearehelsinkiuni. Agora is located on the first floor of the building.
Academic procession and dress code
The University leadership and the staff participating in the academic procession will convene on the second floor of the Main Building at 11.55. The dress code for the participants in the procession is dark suit and doctoral hat, or other academic attire for those holding a doctoral degree from a foreign university. The dress code for the other attendees is casual/smart casual, and they must arrive directly at the Great Hall by 12.15. After the opening ceremony at the Great Hall concludes, the academic procession will walk to the cathedral and the secular service.
Visit the Helsinki University Museum Flame’s exhibition centre on the opening day from 12.00 to 18.00
The beginning of the academic year provides an opportune moment to explore the history of Finland’s oldest and largest university. What significance has the University had to its community and to society at large? In the new exhibition centre of Helsinki University Museum Flame, you can immerse yourself in the development of the University and its disciplines, in a range of people’s stories as well as in unexpected locations for research and studying. What is the story of our community?
The colourful and surprising temporary exhibition Food for All invites you to consider notions pertaining to food through activities and provokes you to realise how research manifests on our plates. The exhibition also features fabulous food characters.
You will find the exhibition centre of Helsinki University Museum Flame on the first floor of the Main Building at Fabianinkatu 33. Students and employees of the University always have free access to the museum exhibitions.
Opening carnival on the City Centre Campus from 14.00 to 18.00 and the opportunity to meet the rector for freshers
At the carnival, University students can explore the activities of the Student Union associations, the Student Union and other University operators. For more details on the programme of the opening carnival, visit the website of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki.
New students, who are starting their studies this year, have the chance to meet the rector of the University and pick up a University tote bag at the opening carnival. The bags are available at Think Corner (Yliopistonkatu 4) on 2 September from 14.00 to 18.00. From Think Corner, you can proceed to the University’s Main Building and join the long tradition of greeting the rector and signing the rector’s guestbook (Fabianinkatu 33, rector’s reception lounge on the second floor) on 2 September from 15.00 to 18.00. Students can also meet the rector and sign the guestbook on Tuesday, 3 September from 10.00 to 12.00.
The University warmly welcomes all guests to the opening of the academic year!
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Photo: University of Helsinki