Interested in joining us?

FIMM promotes research careers at different levels, and participates in international researcher training. The EMBL strategy for operating an international PhD program is used at FIMM. We also team up with other Nordic EMBL Partnership nodes to operate PhD training in molecular medicine. These programs are associated with the domestic doctoral training programs in each country, which in the case of FIMM are the doctoral programmes in the Doctoral School in Health Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

Following the EMBL model, the PhD students will initially rotate between the different FIMM groups before selecting their primary group. The students will also benefit from the courses and long-established programmes of the Doctoral School in Health Sciences.

PhD students can join FIMM via two routes: direct recruitment to a research group OR through the annual FIMM-EMBL PhD rotation program. The FIMM-EMBL PhD student call is published on the FIMM Open Positions page (normally in January).

The FIMM-EMBL International PhD Program offers student-centered training and strives to best match PhD students with thesis projects. This approach provides numerous benefits, including:

• Scientific interests are developed and refined during the rotational period.
• Knowledge of scientific fields is more diverse and deeper after the rotation period.
• Early-career training with feedback in scientific communication on their own projects enhances research skills.
• A best match between student and research advisor(s) is fostered during the rotation period, so that when a student joins a group, they do so with informed intentions.
• Students are well connected within the institute.
• Collaborative relationships of two or more research groups can be formed by a single rotation student unifying research ideas, broadening the scope of individual research groups, and creating and bridging new research connections.

All FIMM PhD students need to apply for a study right from a University of Helsinki doctoral programme.
For more information on the eligibility requirements for a PhD study right at the University of Helsinki, please see Application process in a nutshell.

Postdocs can join FIMM via a variety of routes:

• By directly contacting the PIs of Research Groups: Research Groups regularly advertise postdoc positions on the FIMM Open Positions pages. In addition, you could reach out directly to Group Leaders with a specific interest to join the group and investigate options to apply for funding, such as annual Academy of Finland postdoctoral scholar calls, or annual Marie Sklodowska-Curie Incoming Fellowship actions.
• FIMM is looking to further develop our role in the EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdocs initiative, the EIPOD programme, which will next have an open call in June 2020. Within the EIPOD programme, postdocs self-design interdisciplinary programs with at least two EMBL groups part of core EMBL sites. FIMM groups can be involved as external partners.
• The Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine is actively working to build its own postdoctoral programme, to offer interdisciplinary postdoc training opportunities within the Nordic regions. More information will be available on this during the course of 2020.

Once postdocs have joined the FIMM community, they become part of the FIMMPOD professional career development program for postdocs and senior researchers at FIMM. FIMMPOD offers a variety of opportunities for training, career development, networking, and socializing. More information can be found on the dedicated FIMMPOD pages.

"If you want to do high-level research that has a real impact on people health, FIMM is the right place to be. And if you are interested in working with health data, you will be amazed by the huge amount of data you can get your hands on. There's a strong sense of community at FIMM and everyone is very collaborative and open to help you and share what they are doing, and lots of seminars and talks are organised to keep you up with the latest advancements in different fields. Overall, FIMM is just a great place where to do your PhD!"

"FIMM is the best place for research I have ever seen. It has plenty of different units and facilities that maintain routines and specific tasks (such as FACS, DSRT, DNA and RNA sequencing etc.), and this makes life much easier, if you want to get cutting-edge results. Moreover, collaboration with clinicians, patients and other research institutes and pharma companies provides a lot of options and materials to explore and discover. In addition, overall attitude and mindset of people working here inspire me to do my best in each and every business. FIMM is a great place to work and study."

Some feedback on the FIMMPOD program

"I find FIMMPOD EXTREMELY useful and valuable to FIMM and to us its members. It raises FIMM profile to outside community…and for us it creates an easy way to improve our non-scientific skills that are needed to advance our personal careers."

“a unique and excellent program”
“groups have been kept small “
“enough time to get individual counseling”
“support and training  I need at this point of my career”
“one of the reasons why I want to stay at FIMM”