We regularly rank among the top one percentile of universities worldwide and are known for our high standards for research and teaching and for our strong societal impact.
Established in 1640, we are a research university with a long history of multidisciplinary activities. With the joined forces of more than 30,000 students and 8,000 experts, we are building a future based on scholarship, teaching and open collaboration. The University’s 11 faculties operate on four campuses in Helsinki and on a number of research stations across Finland and beyond.
Our international and diverse community believes that bold ideas and scientific curiosity can change the world, one insight at a time.
The University of Helsinki received the International Employer of the Year 2025 award in the public organisations category. The Junior Chamber International in Finland awards this title to organisations demonstrating exceptional commitment to promoting diversity, international engagement and equality in the work community.
We are a genuinely multicultural and multinational community with staff representing more than 100 nationalities – our campuses truly reflect the diversity of the global community. We lead the way in embedding diversity and engagement throughout the entire organisation.
We actively promote equality and equity while enhancing the work environment to support the wellbeing and professional growth of all staff members. Our goal is to consolidate a community that encourages international talent to grow, thrive and find their commitment together.
We strive to be the best place to work for our staff and have also set this as our strategic objective.
We attach great value to the wellbeing and inclusivity of our community.
We invest in supervisory work and in career advancement opportunities for all staff. We offer an extensive support programme for supervisors, including leadership coaching, and provide opportunities for tailored individual coaching and mentoring. Working at a world-class university presents a wide array of professional opportunities.
Our values – truth, Bildung, freedom and inclusivity – guide our activities in the recruitment and leadership of staff. We promise our prospective and current staff that we will act openly, equally and without discrimination.
We are committed to acting responsibly towards all our staff. We wish to lead the way in promoting equality and creating an atmosphere of respect for diversity.
Equality is one of the University’s core values. We identify and pre-empt practices and structures that create and maintain inequality. Equality and accessibility promote the diverse profile of the University community.
The University’s students and researchers work together on the campuses, often in the same facilities. Interaction between students and other staff plays a vital role in the University’s daily operations. The University is a smoke-free environment for both students and staff.
The results of the 2025 Employee Wellbeing Survey were excellent and encourage us to continue developing our work towards a better working life and university community (scale 1-5):
These results confirm that the University of Helsinki is committed to long-term investment in employee wellbeing, an inclusive organizational culture, and good leadership.
The University of Helsinki’s high-quality teaching, research and innovation activities enjoy international acclaim.
In international university rankings, we have continuously ranked among the top one percentile of universities in the world and the top 40 universities in Europe. We outperform other Finnish universities in many fields.
We are one of the founding members of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), which includes the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, among others.
The University of Helsinki has a solid funding base, with some 60% of our budget coming from the national budget. We offer comprehensive support services to applicants for research funding. The Helsinki Metropolitan Area also lends numerous cooperation opportunities for our researchers.
We are a pioneer of open research in Finland. We secure excellent support services for our academic community.
At the University of Helsinki, researchers have the opportunity to focus on research. The share of teaching duties is comparatively small in relation to many other international universities.
At the University of Helsinki, teaching is solidly based on research. Accordingly, one of the University’s key strengths is scholarly research and teaching based on it. This is also reflected in our core principle of all teachers doing research and all researchers providing teaching.
The University of Helsinki is a key player in Finland’s research infrastructure and a major contributor in the European context.
We consider research infrastructures to be essential for research work and a key resource for the development of research. With the help of open data, we make our research results available to society as shared knowledge capital.
Our competent support staff assist researchers in their daily work. Specialist and support staff help research and teaching staff as well as students to focus on research, teaching, learning and public engagement.
Holders of specialist positions at the University of Helsinki contribute to the academic community in a significant way by supporting cutting-edge research and advancing scholarship, learning and a sustainable future.
At the University of Helsinki, work adjusts to the staff’s life situations. Flexible working hours and holidays as well as opportunities for remote work help staff find a balance between their professional and personal lives. We are a genuinely family-friendly employer, willing to invest in wellbeing.
Personal development is part of everyday activities at the University. We offer opportunities for versatile careers and support professional development not only through training but also job rotation.
The University of Helsinki employs more than 3,000 specialists and professionals in service provision. The range of positions includes marketing specialists at Think Corner, technicians at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and research funding coordinators at Meilahti Campus, or novel roles dedicated to building the future of research.
Specialists at the University of Helsinki are able to develop their duties at the top of their field, while making use of state-of-the-art technology and networking with international experts. Working at the University is about combining expertise, a sense of community and purpose, each and every day.
The University of Helsinki is a significant international university and multicultural organisation, with staff and students from many countries. More than 30% of the research and teaching staff as well as more than 40% of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers hail from outside Finland.
The University attracts international researchers with its reputation for high-quality research and teaching. The funding, awards and other recognition granted to our researchers attest to our standing in the international academic community.
We help newly-appointed international staff members and their families to settle into their new work environment and country of residence. We wish to ensure that this relocation and integration takes place as smoothly as possible.
Support is available to the newcomers at every stage of the relocation process. At meetings, we survey the individual circumstances of each new employee and offer targeted support and advice for all.
We also help international staff integrate into the academic and wider communities. All international staff have the opportunity to enrol in Finnish language courses and the UniBuddy programme, and to make use of the support services for international spouses.
The work culture of Finnish universities is widely recognised as democratic, effective and meaningful. At the University of Helsinki, employees at different career stages work together in an informal manner, regardless of rank or hierarchy. Academic or job titles are rarely used in everyday situations.
People respect each other’s personal space and independence. Our work culture supports independent, self-directed work and fosters intercultural cooperation. Multiculturalism can be seen and heard in everyday interactions.