Courses for exchange students at Tampere University

Content owner

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.

In order to prepare your preliminary study plan, first note to which campus you are applying to and your home university has an agreement with (if you are unsure which one is correct, contact your exchange coordinator).

Please note that our campuses are not really close to each other. All campuses are accessible by public transport and approximate travel times by bus are:

Hervanta <> city centre campus 25 minutes
Hervanta campus <> Kauppi campus 40 minutes
city centre campus <> Kauppi campus 20 minutes

For more details and bus schedules, please see Nyssen reittiopas.

City centre and Kauppi campuses

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. For each course, you should also confirm whether it is available for exchange students by using a filter or by clicking on the course name, and then confirming the main language of instruction, the required prerequisites, the completion options, the target group, the campus and the teaching period.

For more information, detailed instructions, Q & A and your study advisers, please go to the Student's Guide: Registration for courses and study practices for exchange students.

Special requirements

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 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

Hervanta campus

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.

For more information and detailed instructions, please go to the Student's Guide: Registration for courses and study practices for 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 Architecture are only for students majoring in architecture, and whose home universities have an agreement with The School of Architecture / Degree Programme in Architecture.
Thesis and project work always require a special arrangement. The master's thesis (30 ECTS) process takes 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 at the time applying. Students who succeed to find a placement and supervisor will need to apply as exchange students via the normal procedure and before the deadline.

Cross-institutional studies

As an exchange student at Tampere University, you are entitled to choose from a selection of courses offered on other campuses as well as at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK).

You can apply to TAMK 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.

For more information and detailed instructions, please go to the Student's Guide: Registration for courses and study practices for exchange students.

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 - courses on Asian studies

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.

Contact person: see contact page

Circumpolar Studies - courses on issues of the Circumpolar North

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: Participate in Circumpolar Studies and Core Course Materials.

Application period: July-August (autumn semester), November-December (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 autumn semester 2021

The application period is in summer 2021. At least the introduction course will be available, other courses will be confirmed during the application period.

CS 100: Introduction to the Circumpolar World
Other CS courses*

All courses are delivered online and are worth 6 ECTS credits each. The language of instruction is English and each course is organised by a Canadian or American university (University of Northern British Columbia, Yukon University, Lakehead University, Trent University or University of Alaska).

* The CS 100 course is the prerequisite for CS 322 and 332. Students who have not completed CS 100 cannot register in these courses. CS 100 and CS 311 are the prerequisites for CS 312. Students who have not completed CS 100 and CS 311 courses cannot register in this course

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/American 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 counted to your degree, but remember to discuss the credit transfer with your home university first.

Courses are open for all exchange students of Tampere University.

How to apply, autumn semester 2021

Please submit your signed (by hand) and scanned registration form (.docx) before the deadline as a PDF file 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 to circumpolarstudies [at] trentu.ca.

Contact person: Igor Tanskanen

Finland Futures Academy - courses on futures research

UniPID - courses on sustainable development

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 www.unipid.fi/en.

Contact person: Anna Wansén-Kaseva