Did you know that you can work during your studies in Finland?
During summer vacation, the Finnish government allows students to work up to 30 hours a week and there are no work hour restrictions. In fact, there are no limits for students who work on a job that is related to their field of study.
Working as a research assistant is one of the many student jobs offered to international students. Finnish universities are research-oriented. This implies that universities obtain funding from businesses, governments, and international organizations such as the European Union to work on various research projects in order to create, test, and explore new ideas that benefit both the university and the project sponsors.
For any project, different professionals at different levels are involved. These include the following
- University Professors – These oversee the running of the project
- Doctoral Students – Doctoral students are fully paid and earn credits towards their Doctoral Programme. They are recruited specially for the project they work on as doctoral Students.
- Full time researchers – These are full time employed graduates or professionals who are fully paid for their work. They have experience on the project their are working on
- Research Assistants – These are usually undergraduate or masters Students who wok on the project on a part-time basis. They divide their time between their studies and project work
Research Assistants
- They work part time, usually 4 hours a day. However, after earning enough credit units, they can switch to full time.
- They work can earn them up to 15 credits that go towards their studies (Total Credit load is usually 120 minimum for a Master’s student)
- They earn a decent salary of up tp 1000 Euros a month
- They are usually able to do their Masters thesis with the research group they are working with.
- May transition to full time researchers or Doctoral Students at the end of their studies (If the project is still running, or if the department has other projects that need hiring)
- Can use your job to extend your residence permit
How to apply as a research assistant
Full-time Bachelor’s or Master’s students enrolled in a degree program at a Finnish university are typically Research Assistants. As a student, you can apply for a position as a Research Assistant at your university or any other university in Finland.
The job is normally within your study topic, so you must have some experience and knowledge abilities to be hired. However, occasionally the department is merely searching for someone who is eager to learn and devote time to working on the project.
Typically, departments that sponsor these research initiatives will list job openings on their department website. They will specify the qualifications and experience required for each position. Your objective is to apply for the research assistant position that best fits your qualifications.
Research Assistant at Tampere University
Tampere University will advertise available positions on its intranet. To view these employment postings, you must have access to the university network, which means you must already be a student.
This job posting will also be included in the University’s daily intranet news summary email.Every day, all students and university staff receive this newsletter-style email. This email will include all current job vacancies.
Students can also go straight to the department or Research Lab website to see current projects and open positions.Some departments will directly list available vacancies on their department website.
If you are ambitious enough, you can also directly contact project managers for information about any research assistant employment.Visit your department of interest once more and look at the active projects. You will be given the contact information for the project’s project managers.
You can also browse for research assistant roles by visiting the university’s open positions homepage.
Case Examples
- Research Lab: FAST LAB Tampere University
- University Open positions: Alto University Open Positions
- University Open positions : Tampere University Open Positions
What to do as an applicant
- Read the daily Intranet News Summary and look out for open positions
- Visit the Open positions webpage frequently for any new openings
- Contact project supervisors from different Labs and express your interest in working with them.
- Attend University Job fairs and Research and Lab career events
