Career

With a degree from the Master’s Programme in Integrative Plant Sciences, you have many potential career opportunities. You can move directly into working life as an expert and innovator in your field, supported by your language, communication, lab and other transferable skills, or continue with postgraduate (doctoral) studies.

Career opportunities for graduates

Studies in the Master’s Programme in Integrative Plant Sciences (IPS) include career orientation, expert identity studies and career planning. Upon graduating, you will:

understand how research in plant sciences and biotechnology can contribute to plant breeding and production.
be capable of planning, coordinating and executing high-quality basic and applied scientific research.
have a good command of the scientific method and critically evaluate research across scientific disciplines.
master lab techniques in molecular and physiological plant sciences.
be able to use the basic skills needed to expand your knowledge into other related fields and communicate professionally with experts in those fields
have the skills to act in working life as an expert and innovator in your field, supported by your language, communication, lab skills and other transferable skills.

Graduates have many potential career options, for example:

as a doctoral student, researcher and/or part-time teacher at universities or other institutions of higher education.
as a researcher in national and international institutions in the public and private sectors.
as an expert, civil servant, authority or PR officer in public administration.
in various positions in international organisations or enterprises engaged in bioeconomy.
as an entrepreneur or consultant in the biological or environmental sectors of business.

The degree makes you eligible to apply for postgraduate studies at the University of Helsinki or other universities in Finland and abroad.

The programme allows you to participate in research projects.

Career services

Studies are part of your career. The Career Services at the University of Helsinki, in cooperation with degree programmes, supports the growth of your expert identity as part of your studies and with separate services. From the start of your studies until one year after the completion of your degree, Career Services supports your career path and

gives career counselling and job seeking support,
arranges info sessions, workshops and events,
provides suitable job and traineeship offers for students,
shares university’s subsidy for traineeships and
facilitates group mentoring programmes.

Group mentoring programme: UNITalent

Do you want to build a career in Finland? Get valuable insight into Finnish working life and build your professional networks by applying to our group mentoring programme.

In the HelsinkiUNI International Talent Programme (UNITalent), a group of international talents is hosted by a local company or organisation.

Successful applicants will get to:

learn about expert work first-hand from a local organisation.
hear about different kinds of career paths in a specific sector in Finland.
start building their professional network in Finland.
support the host in gaining an international perspective by sharing their perspective.
learn career management skills.

International master’s degree students at the University of Helsinki can apply as well as Finnish students who have completed their degree abroad.

Improve your career options with Finnish

Although international students can get by with English in the Helsinki region, learning Finnish will significantly improve your career options after graduation.

The University of Helsinki offers free Finnish language courses for enrolled international degree students. The beginners and intermediate level courses are not only a way to learn the language, but you also learn more about Finnish culture and get to network with other international students across the fields.

Postgraduate study opportunities

After graduating from the Master’s Programme in Integrative Plant Sciences, you can apply for doctoral programmes in Finland or abroad.

Usually, the requirements for a doctoral degree in Finland are 40 credits and a doctoral dissertation. Cooperation with Finnish and international institutions ensures excellent prospects for successful doctoral studies.

Suitable doctoral programmes at the University of Helsinki in this area of research are:

Other relevant doctoral programmes are:

Where students work after graduation?

The University of Helsinki conducts career monitoring surveys to collect information on graduate employment and the skills needs of employers. Career monitoring aims to determine how well a university education can meet the requirements of professional life. The data collected are used, among other things, for developing the career skills of current students.

According to the surveys, general skills gained from the studies include :

the ability to describe their skills (this had been the most important factor for their employment)
the ability to learn and adopt new things as well as self-direction/initiative
cooperation skills
problem-solving skills and stress tolerance.

International experience, organisational work or hobbies, and social media activity have been important or highly important for the employment of some respondents, even though these factors don’t stand out at the University level"

Alumni of the University of Helsinki

After graduation, the world is wide open and full of possibilities. How can you venture forward to make the career path you want? What kind of work would you like to do? What kind of life should you lead? The Helsinki alumni community is there to support you as you transition from the University to the world of work.

All previous University of Helsinki degree and exchange students, as well as staff, are our alumni. As a member of the University of Helsinki alumni network, Finland’s largest network of experts, you get valuable support, knowledge and contacts for your working life.

More about the programme