The University of Helsinki is the oldest, largest and most multi-disciplinary university in Finland. It is also the only Finnish member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and ranks consistently among top-20 universities in Europe. It was established in 1640 and has 11 faculties: Theology, Law, Medicine, Arts, Science, Social Sciences, Pharmacy, Biosciences, Behavioural Sciences, Agriculture and Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine.

Of the University’s 38,000 students, well over 2,000 are international, covering more than 110 countries. There are some 7,400 employees, of whom 3,500 are researchers and teachers.

The University offers a wide range of services to its students including advanced computing possibilities and extensive library services. For an international student there is no need to know Finnish in order to be able to study as all faculties offer learning opportunities in English. More>

Research Projects at the University of Helsinki Computer Science: Algorithmic Data Analysis in Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics More> Cognitive Neuroscience: CBRU has several projects with variable durations More> Chemistry: Catalysts for biopolymers More> Biology & Environmental Sciences: Metapopulation biology of the Glanville fritillary butterfly, a model system for population biology More> Cell and Molecular Biology: Mitochondrial dysfunction underlying neurodegeneration More> Developmental Biology/ Cell biology/Genetics/Evolutionary Biology: Molecular regulation of animal development More>

 

• The University of Helsinki: "Millions of euros in funding from the European Research Council for UH research projects"

• Washburn University School of Law: "Jessica Kohls is First American Law Student to Participate in EUROScholars" 

From Markus Ophälders, Università degli studi di Milano:

“I became aware of the difference in preparations as well as affinities of interests. I especially appreciated the engagement and personal involvement of the student”.

“The student arrived with little experience but he was able to grow and elaborate nearly everything he was confronted with during his stay. The first was expected, the latter was more than I expected.”

 
A first for EuroScholars, we took the initiative and decided to visit one of our fellow scholars, Olga Korenovska, in Stockholm, where she conducts cancer research in the Karolinska Institute. We had a difficult time getting to the airport, with many train delays, and for a time, we thought that we would miss our flight. We arrived at the airport five minutes late, and fortunately, the airline still allowed us to check in for our flight.

Olga came to pick us up at Stockholm’s central station. We stopped at Burger King for a quick bite before taking a night tour of Gamla Stan, a historic part of the city. We took the subway system, and as a method of transportation around the city, it seems much more efficient and reliable compared to transportation throughout the Netherlands. We walked to the courtyard of the Nobel Prize Museum and nearby, saw the Swedish Royal Palace. We returned to her home, ate a traditional Swedish meal, consisting of meatballs with raspberry sauce and potatoes, and spent the next few hours bonding. We discussed our respective research, our differing nightlife’s, and the languages of Holland and Sweden, which are actually quite similar. Academic-wise, Olga seems to spend a lot more time working than we do, and we believe that is due to the laid back mentality of the Dutch. We planned out the following day’s activities and called it a night.

We woke up and spent the entire day sightseeing. The most interesting place we visited was the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum). The Vasa was a warship built for Gustavus Adolphus II in 1628. The ship sank only 30 minutes after beginning her maiden voyage. We spent many hours there before leaving with our stomachs crying out for food. We walked to London, the restaurant not the city, for lunch. Afterwards, we returned to Gamla Stan again during sunset. We bothered many Stockholm natives for pictures of us in front of the setting sun, and they were very obliging. We returned to Olga’s dormitory, met some of her friends from varying countries, and decided to experience the night life. We found it amusing how alike our experiences were with regards to meeting international students and going out in our respective countries of study.

On our last day, we said our goodbyes and looking forward to our mid-stay in Germany, we parted ways.

~Idu Azogu and Sander Zandbergen

 
Starting in Fall 2009, the EuroScholars program will offer several € 500 scholarships to select participants.

EuroScholars with a GPA of 3.5 or higher will automatically be considered for these scholarships. No additional application is necessary.