Have you studied or worked at the University of Eastern Finland or at the former universities of Joensuu or Kuopio? Or do you have warm ties to these universities for other reasons? Then you are welcome to join the University of Eastern Finland Alumni and Friends Network! Becoming a member of the Network is free of charge.
Join us at the alumni page!
Distance learning means studying that is non-place-bound and may also be non-time-bound. Usually, the studying is partly or entirely online. Hybrid learning combines different forms of studying. In hybrid learning, teaching is both local and online.
In distance learning, one’s own activity is very important. The ability to concentrate and schedule one’s own studies also plays an important role.
When studying online, you will need an internet connection and a computer with the necessary programs. The programs required in the studies determine whether a mobile device is sufficient.
In e-learning, the teacher may put together the learning materials and teaching in an e-learning environment (e.g., Moodle) but they may also send the materials via e-mail. In online teaching, discussions and group work can also be carried out like usual.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, university-level guidelines change teaching practices, and this changed information has been put on the page Studying and teaching arrangements during the coronavirus situation.
Support Channels for Students page contains different support channels, opening hours and contact information.
Digital environment page contains the web services used at the university and instructions on how to use them. Wistec’s video guides offer a lot of tips for Office programs and more.
You can find a lot of tips for more information in the Student life and well-being category and especially on the Providers of help page.
Variable information related to students is communicated in:
Personal data means all information relating to a natural person that makes it possible to directly or indirectly identify the person. Direct identifiers include a person’s name, personal identity code, photo, video footage, voice recording, email address containing the person’s name, and handwritten signature. A person may be indirectly identifiable if a sufficient number of indirect identifiers is known to allow the person to be identified without unreasonable effort. For example, if a person’s job title and employer or position (such as the chair of a specific city government) is known, identifying the person may be fairly straightforward.
The processing of personal data is governed by data protection legislation (EU General Data Protection Regulation [EU GDPR 2016/679], Finnish Data Protection Act [1050/2018] and special legislation). Personal data processing means all activities performed on personal data, including viewing, collection, recording, organisation, storage, alteration, pseudonymisation, anonymisation, erasure or destruction.
Students may occasionally process personal data in connection with their thesis or in various study assignments.
As a rule, the author of a thesis collects and processes personal data if the thesis concerns living persons. The EU GDPR does not apply to deceased persons. Despite this, it should be kept in mind that a deceased person’s personal data may contain references to living descendants who may be identified even if they are not the subject of the thesis. Data protection legislation does not apply to pre-anonymised research data from sources such as the Finnish Social Science Data Archive. Data protection legislation also applies to published personal data, such as those collected from online sources.
Students can collect personal data in a number of ways, including
An interviewee’s voice recording, photo or video are personal data. Even in an anonymous survey, personal data are processed if the information that is collected can be used to identify a respondent directly or indirectly. Even collecting background variables may be enough to identify a person (such as age, sex, place of residence, job title, employer). Identifiability does not mean that a large group of people can identify a person; the person is identifiable even if only by close friends and family or the researcher.
The processing of personal data in various study assignment (not the thesis) can be considered as purely personal processing (so-called household activities), the EU GDPR does not apply to the assignment. Even in this case, personal data should be processed appropriately (see Edinburgh Univerity: If your research is strictly for domestic purposes related to your own personal academic use whilst studying at the University, then your research may be exempt from the Data Protection Laws. However, you should still work as if the legislation applies as it also aligns with ethical best practice). In contrast, the processing of personal data collected for a thesis cannot be considered as personal or household activities.
Before you begin processing personal data:
The purpose of processing personal data and the legal basis are not one and the same. The purpose of processing means that personal data are collected only for a specific purpose (such as managing an employment or client relationship, maintaining membership records, planning and monitoring treatment of a patient, writing a student thesis, undertaking scientific or historical research, compiling statistics, archiving in the public interest). The purpose of processing must be determined separately for each scientific study or student thesis because each research plan defines a specific set of research questions (= purpose of processing personal data) and research methods (= means of processing personal data)
There must be always be a legal basis for processing personal data that is established before processing begins. The legal basis cannot be changed once the processing has been associated with a specific legal basis. The legal basis governs what rights research subjects have relative to the controller. In scientific research, the legal basis for processing is usually public interest (processing is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest, more specifically for scientific research purposes).
The legal basis must be defined in the privacy notice and communicated to research subjects. If the research plan for the thesis (Bachelor’s thesis) does not meet the scientific criteria of the field of study, the legal basis for processing cannot be scientific research in the public interest. In such cases, the legal basis must be the research subject’s consent, for example.
All research subjects from whom personal data are collected directly must be asked to consent to participate in the study (so-called informed consent for research, not the same as consent to personal data processing). Informed consent can be obtained from participants in writing, verbally before an interview or in a separate field in the survey form after the research subject has received a separate notice describing the research.
Store the documents for at least the period of time that you store your research data.
You can find the templates on the Intranet (requires login).
In order to protect the privacy of research subjects, you should pseudonymise (remove all direct identifiers and store then separate) or anonymise (delete all personal data in a way that ensures that it is impossible to revert to identifiable data) the data you use in your thesis. You must store the data in a secure location on a platform provided by the University or your personal computer and make sure that the data are sufficiently protected.
A personal data breach or data security anomaly means that personal data are lost or disclosed to outsiders. If you suspect a personal data breach, report it to [email protected] or [email protected] immediately for further instructions. Situations in which a device used to store data is lost or stolen (such as a phone or computer) are also considered data breaches.
Keep in mind that you may not discuss confidential information shared by research subjects with outsiders. Under the non-disclosure obligation, you may not show or disclose documents to outsiders (confidentiality of documents), disclose contents of confidential documents or unrecorded information which, were it recorded in a document, would be confidential (obligation of confidentiality), or use confidential information for the benefit or detriment of yourself or another (prohibition of use). If necessary, you can go over your research data with your thesis supervisor as they are not an outsider to your thesis and you have named them in the privacy notice. However, note that if you are the controller, you may not usually disclose the data to the University for some other purpose (other than scientific research).
After your research has ended, any research data that contains personal data must usually be destroyed in a secure manner that ensures that the data are not disclosed to outsiders. Do not throw out written materials in a public recycling bin! The University has locked trash bins for secure recycling of written documents. Files saved on network drives and Webropol must be deleted and any other data destroyed in a secure manner. It is especially important that the lifecycle of data is managed appropriately. Personal data processing has a beginning and an end. In some case after a study has ended, research data can be stored in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive or Language Bank of Finland, for example.
Privacy protection (in Intranet requires login) and Information security (in Intranet, requires login)
Guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK)
Guidelines by the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman for scientific research
For guidance and advice, contact the University of Eastern Finland Data Protection Officer: [email protected], tel. +358 50 576 0282.
Accessibility refers to the design of physical, psychological and social environments so as to allow everyone to function as equals despite their individual characteristics. At the university, accessibility is something that concerns all students and staff members; however, it is of particular importance to those members of the academic community who have a disability, who are ageing, or who belong to a cultural or linguistic minority.
Accessibility includes the following aspects:
Individual study arrangements refer to measures previously known as special arrangements. Students who have an impediment or a disability can request individual arrangements. Individual arrangements can pertain to (Finnish) entrance examination and/or to the completion of studies. If you already are a student at the University of Eastern Finland and you need individual arrangements for your studies, you can request them by filling out the Individual Study Arrangements Form.
If you need further assistance or advice on how to request individual study arrangements, please get in touch with the accessibility contact person of your campus or faculty, or with your personal study plan counsellor.
Individual Study Arrangements Form (docx)
Pandemi Korona: Guidelines to Students in Risk Groups for Severe Coronavirus Disease: Arrangements on Completing Courses in the 2021.
Application and required attachments for individual study arrangements must be submitted electronically via the secure email website to your own Faculty.
Go to the secure email website (choose language “in English”) and type your own email address (and, to prevent junk mail, an alternating code on the form).
To the email address you give, the system will send a message with a link enabling you to send the secure message itself. Click the link and type the email address of you own Faculty to the receiver slot (To:).
Next, type the message itself on the secure email form and attach the needed enclosures. Finally, press the send button.
E-mail addresses: first name.last [email protected] / UEF Connect (opens in a new tab).
Individual study arrangements can involve, for example:
There is a portable induction loop system for students to borrow at the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses. The induction loop system can be borrowed at Oppari’s service desk (located in the campus library in Joensuu and in the Canthia building in Kuopio). Furthermore, there is a fixed induction loop system in the larger auditoriums at the Joensuu Campus (for example in auditoriums AU100 and AU206 in the Aurora building).Electric height adjustable desks can be found in the library (two desks, located closest to the staircase) and in Atrium (one desk).
A large part of the university’s facilities are accessible and can be used by people with different disabilities. The newer the building, the easier it has been to implement modern accessibility solutions and regulations. The campuses have parking areas for accessible parking, and accessibility has also been taken into consideration in the outdoors routes on campus, for example in structural solutions and winter-time maintenance. The main entrances of the buildings have accessibility ramps and, as a rule, the doors can be opened by pressing a door opening button. In the university buildings, coat racks with storage possibilities are available at accessible heights. Braille buttons are available in the elevators, and some elevators also have voice guidance. All buildings except for the Haltia building have elevators and accessible toilets that are indicated with signs. The largest lecture rooms have induction loops in them, and there are also portable loop systems that can borrowed. Baby care tables can be found in the accessible toilets.
NB! Lecture room maps (Kuopio Campus only) can be found on the intranet.
There are several restaurants at the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses. All of these restaurants are practically accessible; however, there is a low metal doorstep by the door of the Carelia restaurant at the Joensuu Campus, which may pose difficulties for those using a wheelchair. The doors of the Carelia restaurant are kept shut due to fire safety reasons. In other campus restaurants, there are no doorsteps or closed doors, and there is a wheelchair lift in the restaurant in the Snellmania building at the Kuopio Campus.
If you need someone to help you, for example, to carry your tray, the restaurant staff will be happy to assist you. Should you have any special dietary restrictions, it is wise to contact the restaurant you intend to eat in beforehand.
Contact information and locations of the campus restaurants
Both the Joensuu and Kuopio campus have special exam facilities. See Special exam facilities and practices.
Facilities are at the disposal of the students who have the right to special arrangements. Special exam facilities are equipped with two computers of which the other is a regular computer and the other for electronic examinations. In the facility one can submit an electronic examination, provide answers with a regular computer or conduct a paper examination. Upon request, computers can be equipped with special software or other aids, such as speech synthesizer or braille display.
How to use special exam facilities
A contact person for matters relating to accessibility has been appointed for each campus. These contact persons are tasked with giving common accessibility-related guidance and they also lead accessibility-promoting work at the faculties and academic departments.
A contact person for matters relating to accessibility concerning studies at the faculties:
For contact information, see UEF Connect (opens in a new tab).
Aviris- aids for visually impaired
Celia – accessible literature and publishing in Finland
ESOK – meeting the needs of diverse student body in higher education
Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities – Invalidiliitto
Kuuloliitto
Threshold Association – Kynnys ry
Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired – Näkövammaisten keskusliitto
Opi oppimaan – help for learning difficulties
Joensuu areas special learners – Joensuun seudun erilaiset oppijat
You can book a quiet space to participate in a distance exam or teaching
There are teamwork rooms in both Joensuu and Kuopio campus. Teamwork rooms are equipped with computers and cameras (either fixed or loaned ones). The students can reserve the rooms via Tuudo or Peppi. Read more about room reservations in UEF Intra (the link opens to a new window). You can also contact Oppari help desk (Support Channels for Students –> Oppari) to book a room.
Students of the University of Eastern Finland can book university’s facilities for study-related purposes. The reservation rights allow for making facility reservations in Peppi or the Tuudo mobile application on separately specified workspaces and seminar halls.
Students can make facility reservations for study-related purposes free of charge within the opening hours of the facilities, e.g., for independent study, group work, research interviews, or participation in remote teaching.
You can find additional information on this in Intra (requires log in, opens in a new tab).
A party who is dissatisfied with this decision may lodge a written appeal against it with the Administrative Court of Eastern Finland. The appellate document shall be addressed to the appellate authority and submitted to the Administrative Court of Eastern Finland within the appeal period.
The time limit for appeal is 30 days from the moment the appellant was notified of the decision. The appeal period is calculated from the day following the date of service. If the last day of the appeal period is a holiday, Saturday, Independence Day, First of May, Christmas Eve or Midsummer Eve, the appeal may be submitted within working hours on the following weekday.
The date of service is calculated as follows:
• Regular service shall be effected by sending a letter to the addressee. The addressee shall be deemed to have received the service in seven days from the sending of the letter, unless otherwise is proven.
• In the case of regular electronic service, the addressee shall be deemed to have received the service in seven days from the sending of the message, unless otherwise is proven.
The appellate document shall indicate:
• Which decision the appeal concerns (the decision subject to appeal);
• The parts of the decision that are being appealed against and what changes are demanded to be made to it (demands);
• Grounds for the appeal;
• What the right of appeal is based on, if the decision subject to appeal is not directed at the appellant themselves;
• The appellant’s name, postal address, telephone number and other necessary contact information, e.g., an e-mail address; and
• the postal address and any other address to which documents related to the court proceedings can be sent (process address).
If the appellant has appointed a legal representative, agent or legal counsel to speak for themselves or the appeal has been drafted by a third party, the appellate document must also indicate the name, postal address, telephone number, and other necessary contact details, e.g., an e-mail address, of such persons.
The Administrative Court must be notified of any changes in contact details without delay when the appeal is pending.
The appeal shall be accompanied by the following documents:
• The decision subject to appeal with appeal instructions, original or copy;
• Proof of when the appellant was notified of the decision or another indication of the date of commencement of the appeal period;
• The documents the appellant refers to in support of their appeal, unless the documents have already been delivered to the authority; and
• The power of attorney, unless otherwise is regulated in section 32(2) of the Administrative Judicial Procedure Act.
The appeal may be submitted in person, by post, by electronic means or by using an agent or courier. If delivered by post or by electronic means, the appeal will be sent at the sender’s own risk.
The appeal must be submitted to the appellate authority during office hours before the end of the 30-day appeal period. The electronic document must all be available to the Administrative Court in a reception device or information system so that the message can be processed before 16:15 on the last day of the appeal period.
The office of the registry of the Administrative Court is 8:00–16:15 from Monday to Friday.
An appeal may also be lodged in the e-Services of Administrative and Special Courts at https://asiointi.oikeus.fi/hallintotuomioistuimet (in Finnish and Swedish).
Contact details of the Administrative Court of Eastern Finland:
Postal address: P.O. Box 1744, FI-70101 KUOPIO, FINLAND
Visiting address: Minna Canthin katu 64, Kuopio
Telephone: +358 29 56 42500 (switchboard), fax: +358 29 56 42501
Email: [email protected]
A court fee will be charged for the processing of the matter at the Administrative Court in accordance with the Court Fees Act (1455/2015). The amount of the fee is EUR 270. The Court Fees Act contains separate provisions on cases where no charge is levied. The Court Fees Act can be found at https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2015/20151455 (in Finnish and in Swedish).
Transferring campuses within the Faculty of Science, Forestry, and Technology is possible no earlier than after the first semester of studies. Changing your major or campus is only possible during bachelor’s studies and can only be done once.
You must have a valid study right during the application period and the following semester. The application period is flexible.
Within the Faculty of Science, Forestry, and Technology, you can apply for a campus transfer if you have the right to study for a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in the faculty in Computer Science and are studying in Joensuu or Kuopio. There is no minimum requirement for the extent of completed studies.
The application must include a transcript of records and a motivation letter explaining your reasons for wanting to transfer campuses. The motivation letter should describe your interest in the field, previous studies, reasons for transferring to another campus, and how and on what schedule you plan to complete your studies in Joensuu or Kuopio. A suitable length for the motivation letter is about one page.
Application Attachments: Transcript of records and motivation letter
Application is done using the form available in the university’s service portal (requires login).
In order to promote the safety of minors, patients and customers, restrictions have been implemented to student admittance from the beginning of 2012. An admitted student may be requested to provide an excerpt from his or her criminal record for the purpose of assessing his or her capacity to study.
In order to promote the safety of minors, patients and customers, restrictions have been implemented to student admittance from the beginning of 2012. Correspondingly, a right to study already granted may be cancelled.
The restrictions apply to the following fields: medicine, dentistry, logopedics, psychology, pharmacy, and social work and teacher training. These fields involve a requirement that the health and functional capacity of persons admitted as students are sufficient for the practical tasks or training related to the studies. A limitation related to health or functional capacity is not an obstacle to admittance if its effects can be eliminated through reasonable measures, such as special arrangements. The intention is also not to raise unnecessary obstacles to the admittance of those who are disabled or have other physical or mental limitations. Indeed, the restrictions to admittance are applied for only when the applicant has a serious illness or disruption of functional capacity of such nature that it is obvious that he or she may not participate in the studies.
A student admitted in 2012 or later may be requested to provide an excerpt from his or her criminal record for the purpose of assessing his or her capacity to study. The excerpt may be requested from only those students whose practical training or other duties related to their studies require working with minors, and it will be requested before the beginning of the practical training or duties. In order to promote the safety of minors, it is necessary to know that a student entering practical training does not have an entry in his or her criminal record for certain serious offences (indecency and sexual offences, murder, manslaughter, homicide, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and serious narcotics offences). With certain additional conditions, being guilty of these offences constitutes grounds for the cancellation of the right to study, if the studies require working with children.
In certain very limited cases, the student may also be obligated to present a certificate of a drug test. Such cases mainly involve situations where testing is necessary in order to determine the student’s functional capacity and where certain additional conditions defined in detail in the law are fulfilled.
Guidelines of the University of Eastern Finland for the students’ excerpts from criminal records.
These instructions pertain to students who have received a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree study right and have registered as absent for their first year of study due to a statutory reason for absence, and are starting their studies, e.g., a year after receiving their study right.
Get to know the new students’ materials and take part in the orientation. You can find further information on the New Students’ orientation page.
Contact your programme coordinator and discuss your registration. If you are liable to pay tuition, you must pay the tuition fee before you can register as being present. Further information on the tuition fees and waivers.
At the University of Eastern Finland, the academic year begins 1 August and ends 31 July. In accordance with the Universities Act (558/2009), students must register annually as being present or absent.
You must register within the registration period. The registration period begins 1 June and ends 15 September.
Register as being present or absent with the electronic registration form (link opens in a new tab). If you are unable to fill out the electronic registration form, please contact the Student and Learning Services’ customer service (contact information at the bottom of the page).
If you register as being present, you must pay the Student Union membership fee. You can find the payment instructions on the registration form. The Student Union membership fee for the entire academic year 2025–2026 is 73 €. For just the autumn semester the fee is 36 €, and for just the spring semester the fee is 37 €.
The Student and Learning Services’ customer service will let you know by email once your registration is complete.
You can also register as being absent. If you register as being absent, you do not pay the Student Union membership fee. You also cannot complete any studies or complete your degree during the academic year. Register as being absent within the registration period by contacting the Student and Learning Services’ customer service (contact information at the bottom of the page).
Bachelor’s and master’s students who register as being present must pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education to Kela annually.
Here you can find more information on annual registration.
If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact the Student and Learning Services’ customer service:
