International Xamk
Our international activities bring expertise, international labor, and new collaboration and business opportunities to Southeast Finland. At the same time, we strengthen the vitality of our region.
Internationalization for Vitality
International expertise for South Savo and Kymenlaakso
International students represent a significant opportunity to increase the vitality of Southeast Finland, provided we can make them feel welcome and encourage them to settle here. They are offered support from the confirmation of their study place to alumni activities. We support their employment by providing sufficient Finnish language studies and opportunities for collaboration with local businesses and networking with regional stakeholders. This allows them to learn Finnish and gain insights into Finnish working life and culture. The Talent Boost program plays a crucial role in this work.
Xamk aims to double the number of English-taught degree programs and increase the number of international students to 1,500. In 2023, we had about 600 international students in nine English-taught programs.
Home internationalization and exchange experiences equip our Finnish students with skills for their future careers, such as becoming entrepreneurs, managers, or recruiters.
Educational export as a significant part of our business
We are strengthening our presence in the international education markets to make educational export a significant part of our business. Our goal is to enhance our financial success while simultaneously boosting the vitality of our region by attracting international talent to our area and to Finland as a whole.
Our educational export offerings are diverse, ranging from micro-courses to degree programs. The Edufication online service offers learners paid micro-courses on various topics in both Finnish and English. English-language studies are also available through Xamk Pulse.
A pathway for international talents in Finland
We offer many opportunities for those who have moved to Finland from abroad to pursue education and thereby facilitate entry into the Finnish job market.
If your goal is a new degree, you can start with the “Find Your Field” course, apply for preparatory education for higher education studies, or enroll in pathway studies. Of course, you can also directly apply to our degree programs.
At Xamk Pulse’s Open University of Applied Sciences, you can take individual courses in subjects such as the Finnish language, culture, or entrepreneurship. There are also themed study modules that can be tailored to meet individual needs.
Other opportunities to enhance your skills include continuing education aimed at a higher education diploma and micro-courses.
We are part of the European higher education system
We are developing European higher education within the European University INGENIUM. A joint international campus is being established, providing extensive educational and research collaboration with our partners. For instance, we have already initiated cooperation on doctoral studies, as well as enabling a lot of short exchanges for students and staff.
In the future, students will be able to complete part of their studies at any INGENIUM university, expanding the range of available courses. Both students and staff will have new opportunities for international exchanges.
Our region will also benefit from new business and collaboration opportunities and increased international expertise. The regional steering group includes representatives from South Savo and Kymenlaakso.
Internationalizing research and development
In our agreement with the Ministry of Education and Culture for the period 2025–2028, we have committed to internationalizing research and development. One of the metrics is international research funding, which we aim to increase by a quarter compared to the current level.
Currently, the share of international projects is 14%, and the share of international project funding is 36%.
Our goal is also to significantly increase international researcher exchanges and integrate development activities into national and international networks and centers of expertise.
Within the European University INGENIUM, we have already initiated cooperation on doctoral studies with Munster Technological University in Ireland, and joint research projects with various partners are starting.
Increasing number of international experts
Our staff is also becoming increasingly international: we have experts from 16 different countries working in various roles within our organization. Our goal is to further increase our international staff. We support this goal by promoting the standardization of job titles within our educational activities to align with those of European higher education institutions.
International staff exchanges and research collaborations offer our entire staff opportunities to enhance their international expertise.