Courses for exchange students at Tampere University
Although the two higher education institutions in Tampere formed a new community in January 2019, the course selection and registration still follows the rules of the campus you are applying to. Despite some limitations, there are many English-taught courses open to students from all campuses and other institutions.
Please note that our three campuses are not really close to each other. All campuses are accessible by public transport and approximate travel times by bus or tram are:
Hervanta <> city centre campus 25-35 minutes
Hervanta campus <> Kauppi campus 25-40 minutes
city centre campus <> Kauppi campus 10-20 minutes
For more details and public transport schedules, please see Nyssen reittiopas.
You can search for teaching and courses available at Tampere University via the Curriculum page. The courses can be found by filtering to the course units. When browsing courses, please use the filter Target Group: Exchange Students.For each course, you should alsoconfirmthe main language of instruction, the required prerequisites (if any), the completion options,the campus and the teaching period.
Courses from the Degree Programme in Languages, specialisation in English Language are only for students who are advanced in English (C1 level) and pass the proficiency evaluation test held in Tampere usually during the Welcome Week. Exchange students hosted by any other degree programme or specialisation have a limited access to the English specialisation courses. These students may take a maximum of 10 ECTS in the English specialisation during their exchange. However, there are no proficiency tests or limits for Language Centre's courses.
Courses from the Licentiate's degree in Medicine are mainly in Finnish and acceptance of exchange students is limited to the exchange agreements of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology (MET).
For studies within our non-English language programmes on the city centre campus, the language requirements are as follows:
Degree Programme in French Language: B2 French
Degree Programme in Languages, specialisation in German Language:B2 German
Degree Programme in Languages, specialisation in Russian Language: B2 Russian
Degree Programme in Languages, specialisation in Scandinavian Languages: B2 Swedish; students are required to prepare a motivation letter in Swedish and take and pass a Swedish proficiency evaluation test organised by the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (ITC) at the beginning of the semester
Study module in Finnish Language and Culture: B2 Finnish; students are required to prepare a motivation letter in Finnish and to take and pass a Finnish proficiency evaluation test organised by the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (ITC) at the beginning of the semester
The study fields are available for exchange students whose home university originally had an agreement with Tampere University of Technology.
You can search for teaching and courses available at Tampere University through the Curriculum page. The courses can be found by filtering to the course units and by filtering to the location Hervanta campus and to the target group exchange students.
The exchange students admitted to Tampere University Pori campus can select courses from their interdisciplinary Course catalogue page. Tampere University Pori campus operates under the University Consortium Pori (UCPori) to which Turku School of Economics also belongs. The city of Pori is located 100 km from Tampere, and therefore the students admitted to Pori cannot attend courses at the campuses located in Tampere.
Special requirements
Courses from the Master's Degree Programme in Sustainable Architecture are mostly for students majoring in architecture, and whose home universities have an agreement with the Faculty of Built Environment / Sustainable Architecture.
Thesis and project work always require a special arrangement. The master's thesis (30 ECTS) process takes often at least 7-12 months and is not usually possible to complete in one semester. Students who want to complete their thesis during the exchange study period will only be admitted as exchange students if they have a designated supervisor for their thesis already at the time of applying. Unfortunately, we are not able to help with finding a suitable supervisor. Students who succeed in finding a placement and a supervisor will need to apply as exchange students via the normal procedure and before the deadline.
As an exchange student at Tampere University, you are expected to choose a majority of the courses from one study field/faculty/campus. However, you are entitled to choose some courses from a selection of courses offered at Tampere University of Applied Sciences(TAMK) and Police University College (Polamk).
You can apply to TAMK or Polamk courses through the cross-institutional studies platform after your arrival in Tampere and completed registration with the University. Please notice that an application does not guarantee a place on a course. When you plan to register for courses on different campuses or at TAMK, make sure to check the schedules in order to have enough time to get from one campus to another as some campuses are quite far away from each other.
Online studies networks: courses for exchange students
Tampere University has joined several online studies networks which offer a wide range of courses that combine the expertise of different universities. There are no course fees, but please note the application periods and possible prerequisites for each course. The online courses are open to all Tampere University exchange students.
Asianet offers courses at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. All courses are organised through the Moodle online learning environment. The courses comprise lectures, book exams, online exercises and essays.
The course topics cover East, Southeast and South Asian societies, cultures and economics. In addition, the Asianet annually organises Asian Studies Days, which provide a national platform for discussions and networking in Asian studies. The goal of the network is to complement and strengthen teaching, doctoral education and expert activities on Asia at the network’s member universities.
Learn about the lands, peoples and issues of the Circumpolar North and prepare yourself for advanced study or professional employment in fields such as sustainable resource management, self-government, Arctic engineering and northern tourism. Special emphasis is given to matters concerning indigenous peoples of the Circumpolar North. The courses are offered online and on-site at participating UArctic member institutions. More information:
Application period: July-August (autumn semester), November (spring semester)
Pre-registration is required and space is limited. The complete application instructions are published in the intranet's student news and on this page during the application period. Remember to also contact your home institution to confirm the credit transfer of Circumpolar Studies courses.
Courses in the spring semester 2023 (Jan-Apr)
The spring semester 2023 of the Circumpolar Studies programme will start in January and end in April 2023. Four online courses are offered in the upcoming spring and these courses will be organised by Canadian universities. Each course is worth 6 ECTS credits and is taught in English. Courses are organised on a Moodle-like teaching platform and will include participants from different countries beside Canadian students. More courses will be offered later in autumn 2023.
Available online courses in spring 2023 (Jan-Apr)
CS 100 - Introduction to the Circumpolar World, 6 ECTS
CS 312* – Land and Environment of the the Circumpolar World II, 6 ECTS
CS 322* – Peoples and Cultures of the the Circumpolar World II, 6 ECTS
CS 332* – Contemporary Issues of the the Circumpolar World II, 6 ECTS
There are no prerequisites for the introduction course CS 100 and it is open for all new applicants.
* The CS 100 is the prerequisite course for CS 312, CS 322 and CS 332. Students who have not either completed CS 100 or are not completing right now CS 100 in the autumn semester, cannot register in these courses.
Eligibility, credit transfer and an academic transcript
Credits will be recorded at the offering institution and may be transferred on request to Tampere University’s academic transcript after completion of the course. The original academic transcript will be issued by a Canadian university and will be sent to Tampere University in 6-8 weeks after the end of the course. Studies completed in the Circumpolar Studies programme may be added to the transcipt of Tampere University, but it might take some time and might be ready in summer 2023. The completed course might be counted to your degree, but remember to discuss the credit transfer with your home university.
How to apply
Please note that the deadline for spring courses was on 21 November 2022
Please submit your signed (either digitally or by hand, but typed signatures are not accepted) and scanned registration form (.doc) before the deadline as a PDF file by email to Igor Tanskanen. Unsigned registration forms will not be accepted.
Please use your TUNI email address (if possible) and fill in the form on your computer as handwriting can be difficult to read. Space is limited - Tampere University will nominate you as a candidate and UArctic will make the final selection of students.
If you have any questions regarding the courses or the registration please email tocircumpolarstudies [at] trentu.ca.
Finland Futures Academy (FFA) is a national university study and research network focusing on futures research. The network is coordinated by the University of Turku’s Finland Futures Research Centre and features 10 member universities.
UniPID offers virtual courses on sustainable development and promotes multidisciplinary global development-related education, research and universities’ social impact. The network offers a diverse range of five-credit virtual courses that are free to all students of UniPID member universities and can be counted towards both bachelor’s and master’s level degrees. Apply at UniPID.fi.
Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) constitute the Tampere Universities community. Our areas of priority in research and education are technology, health and society.
Tampere University: +358 (0)294 5211 Tampere University of Applied Sciences : +358 (0)294 5222
