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Living and Studying

How doctoral studies are funded at HICT partner universities?

The quality of research and education in both HICT universities is world-class, but the education is still practically free as there are no tuition fees for doctoral students in the Finnish university system. Most doctoral students within the HICT network are typically hired as full-time employees for the duration of their doctoral studies in computer science. Some doctoral students also fund their studies with grants or by working in the industry while conducting their research. The average duration of doctoral studies is four years.

The HICT network does not directly fund doctoral student positions. Funding for HICT doctoral student positions is provided by the partner universities.

Read more about doctoral student positions and funding from HICT Admissions pages.

Laajalahti

What is Finland and Helsinki like?

The Helsinki Metropolitan area is a comfortable place where services are close by and public transport works excellently. In terms of the living environment, Helsinki has consistently ranked as vibrant and safe city, and it is surrounded by beautiful nature, Helsinki is currently in the fifth place in the world’s startup city comparison (Valuer, 2021).

Finland is among the best countries in the world with respect to many quality of life indicators, ranking at the top in education and subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, Finland is the world’s happiest country in 2021 – for the fourth time in a row (World Happiness Report, 2021).

About HICT host institutions

Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to high-quality research with significant impact on the international scientific community, industry and business, as well as the society at large. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 20 000 students and more than 30% of our academic personnel are non-Finns. Aalto is in world’s top-10 of young universities (QS Top 50 under 50).

The University of Helsinki, established in 1640, is one of the world’s leading universities for multidisciplinary research. We are an international academic community of 40,000 students and staff members. The university lays special emphasis on the quality of education and research, and it is a member of the League of the European Research Universities (LERU).

Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT is a joint research institute of Aalto University and the University of Helsinki for basic and applied research on information technology. HIIT’s mission is to conduct top-level research, seamlessly moving between fundamental methods and technologies to novel applications and their impact on people and society.

Welcome to video tours at Aalto University and the University of Helsinki!