Happy Tuesday!

Wintertime (standard time) starts on this week's Sunday morning, so remember to turn your analog clock(s) backward 1 hour on 26 October at 4 am (or when you wake up).

If you're confused which way to turn your clocks, always turn them towards the summer!

Have a nice week!

Kind regards,
Joona Rantala | Coordinator of International Affairs, Joensuu Campus

ISYY Association Days 21-22 October

This week ISYY is organising the traditional Association Days, in which Student Associations, ISYY clubs and Campus Associations present their activities and events!  ISYY Association Days are open for everybody and there's no entrance fee.

In Joensuu campus Association Days are in Carelia lobby today and tomorrow Tuesday and Wednesday 21.–22.10. at 10–14.

It’s also possible that you’ll find some new activities or maybe new hobbies from Association Days! Many associations usually sell their own merch, e.g. overall patches.

Present your ISYY Freshman Bingo by 30 October and join the raffle!

ISYY's Freshman Bingo was organised to kick-start the academic year for our new students. By completing at least one bingo row, first ones got limited edition of ISYY FUKSI overall patches. Unfortunately patches are all gone, but all those who present the bingo sheet at the ISYY office can still leave their contact info to the raffle, where you can win gift cards to a café. We will raffle 10 gift cards (worth of 20,00€) to Kauppaneuvoksen Kahvila.

You can save the bingo sheet to yourself electronically from ISYY website or you can collect a printed bingo sheet from ISYY office. The Freshman Bingo must be completed by 30.11.2025 at 3 pm!

ISYY's breakfast 11.11.

ISYY’s breakfasts are relaxed and communal events open to all UEF students. Enjoy a nutritious start to your day and meet fellow students! The next breakfast will be held in campus restaurant Aura on 21.10. Registration for the breakfast starts in Kide.app on 28 October at 10.00 am.

JokiCon Autumn 2025

Jokicon  is a Board Game Convention at the University of Eastern Finland's Aurora building's A-side (Yliopistokatu 2) from 25.10. to Sunday 26.10.!

The event is organized by ISYY's Board Game Club: Joensuu Board Gamers (ISYY is the student union of the University of Eastern Finland). Jokicon is an alcohol-free event. The event consists mostly of casual board gaming. 
The club's board game library will be there for everyone to play, but you can also bring your own favorite board games!

The event is held at the Aurora and its lecture rooms, which are perfect for playing board games, partly thanks to the large table space.

Opening hours:
Saturday 11:00 - 21:45
Sunday 10:00 - 19:00.
Entrance fee: 3 €/day or 5€/2 days. 

ISYY Club Meetings

All currently listed club meetings (except JEIS meetings) are held weekly in ISYY's club room at ISYY's office located near the city centre (Suvantokatu 6, 80100 Joensuu) except the JEIS meeting. The club meeting list will be updated as new club meeting times and locations are confirmed by the clubs.

More information and a full list of ISYY's clubs in Joensuu can be found on ISYY's webpage:

• MtG (Magic: the Gathering) Guild Mon 3 pm - 8 pm
• Joensuu's Exchange and International Students Mon 5 pm - 6:30 pm
  • On Campus, Aurora-building, room AU102
• LUOMIO! (Literary Arts Club) Tue 6 pm - 8 pm
• JOOJAKU (Japanese Culture Club) Wed 4 pm - 8 pm
• Joensuu Board Gamers meeting Thu 3 pm - 8 pm
• Chess Club Fri 4 pm - 8 pm

Advance voting will begin next week! Who will get your vote?

The ISYY Representative Council elections advance voting will begin already next Monday! Now it is the perfect time to get to know the Candidate Lists and Candidates. But where can you find information? Keep reading!

• Combination of the Candidate Lists is published on ISYY website.
• In ISYY Election System you can find the Candidate Gallery and get to know the Candidates a little bit better. Click the link or write address https://isyy-vaalit.uef.fi/ehdokkaat/ to your browser
• Election Panels were held Mon 20 (in Joensuu) and Tue 21 (in Kuopio), you can watch recording of them via ISYY's YouTube channel
• The Voting Aid organised by SYL - answer questions and find the perfect candidate!

Campaigning Days of the Candidates

Who are the candidates? How can you know who's the best candidate for YOUR vote? Come to meet candidates on their campaigning days on campuses!

Campaigning days in Joensuu:

• Mon-Wed 27.-29.10.2025, from 10 am to 2 pm, Carelia lobby
• Thu-Fri 30.-31.10.2025, from 10 am to 2 pm, Natura lobby
• Tue-Thu 4.-6.11.2025, klo 10-14, from 10 am to 2 pm, Carelia lobby 

How the voting is done?

All ISYY members, who have registered as a present student in UEF and paid the ISYY membership fee by 20.10.2025 are entitled to vote in these elections! Advace voting begins on Monday 27 October at 9 am and will end on 31 October at 2 pm. The voting on the Actual Election Day 6 November will begin at 8 am and will end at 4 pm.

Shortly, the voting in electrical voting system works like this:

1. Go to the electronic system at https://isyy-vaalit.uef.fi
2. Click the logo of the University of Eastern Finland and sign in to the voting using your university user account and password (the same account you use to login to University's intranet or eLearn environment).
3. After a successful sign in, you may be asked for your approval of your personal information transfer. After pushing the ‘Confirm’ button you will be directed automatically to the voting page, and your student id is used to check if you are eligible to vote in this election.
4. Choose your candidate and write their number to the text field on the page and follow instructions and lastly confirm your vote by clicking the "Confirm vote" button.

More detailed instructions for voting: For voters

Curious about cricket?

Come join us for a fun and active afternoon at Tapionkatu field! This event is open to all students and staff – no prior experience needed. You’ll get to learn the basics, try out the sport, and even join a friendly match if you’d like. Karelia students will guide you through the rules and gameplay.

No enrollments needed. Participation in the event does not require a SYKETTÄ sticker!

Where? Tapionkatu field

When? On 29.10., from 15:30 to 17:30

What to bring? Comfortable sportswear and shoes

Are you looking for a workout buddy?

The Workout Buddy service is offered by SYKETTÄ university sports for higher education students who want to be physically active and are looking for someone to exercise with. The goal of the service is to connect students who share similar interests in different types of sports and activities.

In the Workout Buddy application, you can tell us what kinds of sports interest you and what kind of exercise companion you’re looking for. We’ll contact you once we’ve found a suitable match. You don’t need to have an active SYKETTÄ membership to take part in the Workout Buddy service.

By filling out the workout buddy application, we’ll help you find the right exercise partner for you!

Degree student: remember to pay Kela fee 

The fee must be paid by all students who are completing a degree at a Finnish institution of higher education and have registered as attending for the term in question.

• Use the OmaKela e-service to pay the healthcare fee. In October 2025, Kela will send a letter to students who have registered as attending for the autumn term but have not yet paid the healthcare fee.
• The healthcare fee is 35.60€ per term.
• The due date for the autumn term is 15 November, if you register as attending by 30 September.
• If you cannot use OmaKela for instance because you do not have Finnish banking credentials, please pay the fee to Kela as a bank transfer.

Student Survey: Turnitin – Helpful or Pointless? Share Your Thoughts!

Turnitin – have you used it? Did it help you, or was its value unclear? Now’s your chance to tell us how Turnitin has impacted your studies – and whether it’s truly needed.
 
The survey explores the perceived benefits of Turnitin, the desired features, and its role in supporting learning. It’s your opportunity to influence future decisions! Completing the survey takes 5–10 minutes, and all responses are anonymous.
 
The survey is open from October 6 to October 26, 2025: Student survey: Experiences with the Turnitin plagiarism detection system. Thank you for raising the student voice!

International Week 20-24 Oct!

Online info sessions will be recorded and shared for viewing starting on 27 Oct.

Wed 22 Oct

• 9-10, Teams: EURES-info (in Finnish).
• 12-13, Teams: Exchange info session in Finnish – general information about exchange studies and opportunities!
• 14-15, Teams: Exchange info session in English – general information about exchange studies and opportunities!

Thu 23 Oct: Young Universities for the Future of Europe -Day

• 12-14, YUFE Day at Carelia (Joensuu): information about YUFE opportunities for UEF students and staff. Special theme is YUFE Volunteering and YUFE Stars recognition. Come join us for information, coffee, snacks and great discussions!
• 16:30-19: ”Ai, mitä sanoit?! Viestinnän ymmärtäminen kulttuurin kautta” event at Agora’s café in Joensuu (in collaboration with JoMoni) and at Kompassi International Meeting Place in Kuopio (in collaboration with Setlementti Puijola). Coffee available!

Fri 24 Oct

• 11-15, Carelia lobby: Exchange study info desk in Joensuu. Come chat with us about exchange studies!
• 12-13, Teams: ”Ask Auntie YUFE – Kysy YUFE-tädiltä!”: Teams sessions for those who are not able to join Thursday’s YUFE Day events on location.

Towards Working Life in Eastern Finland

International students may now access a new, free-of-charge online course Towards Working Life in Eastern Finland (MOOC). The course is offered by Talent Hub Eastern Finland. 

The self-study course helps students get familiar with working life, culture and recruitment practices in eastern Finland, as well as use tools for competence recognition and professional development. 

You can find more information on th and register yourself on the course on DigiCampus. Course key: MOOC.

You may complete the online course independently at your convenience. Welcome to the course!

Get help to your career planning!

Mentoring can help you find your strengths and areas for development and encourage you to take on new challenges. Also, the mentors can get new energy and fresh perspectives on their work through students and other talents (actors).

 By taking part in the mentoring program, you will improve your skills and knowledge in

• job search and getting to know different career options and paths
• exploring interesting employer organisations
• developing professional expertise and finding your strengths
• communication and interaction with others
• building professional networks
• developing self-confidence and self-knowledge

Application for mentoring program is open until 31.10.2024. International students and other talents affiliated in Eastern Finland are eligible to apply. However, priority in intake will be given to students with approx. one year or longer experience in studying in Finland. Thus, if you have just started your studies in Finland this autumn, you should wait for one year, and give the opportunity for those who are closer to their graduation and the start of their professional career.

First-year student, please complete the HealthStart questionnaire in the Self online service!

If you started completing your first degree at an institution of higher education in the autumn semester 2025, you can now complete the HealthStart questionnaire in the Self online service.

After completing the HealthStart questionnaire, you’ll receive feedback on your state of health and may be referred to health promotion services provided by the FSHS. The aim is to check your health status and refer you to the appropriate services as early as possible at the beginning of your studies.

Come and try CURLING!

Curling season in Joensuu is all set to begin! Join our free Open House event on October 25, 3:00–6:00 PM.

We also have a course, Curlingkoulu, for beginners on October 28, 30 & November 2. After the course, you can easily join the local league starting in November. Come by yourself or gather a group of friends and get excited about curling!

 sign ups: joensuuncurling@gmail.com

Night of Horror – Halloween party

Monsters and mutant minds of Joensuu! Get ready to enter a terrifying world where Halloween is darker than ever!

On Wednesday 29.10. Bepop & Tombolo ry will host a traditional interdisciplinary Halloween party, but this time the spooky atmosphere will take you to the middle of a foggy world. Come and experience the wildest party of the autumn, if you dare!

• WHAT? Interdisciplinary Halloween party
• WHERE? Bepop Joensuu, Siltakatu 8
• WHEN? October 29th at 10pm-5am
• WHAT DOES IT COST? 5/6€
• DRESS CODE: Halloween costume (+ overalls)

Ticket sales start on Kide.App on Wednesday, October 22nd at 1pm!

November Market 7.-8.11.2025

The traditional Marrasmarkkinat (November Market) will take place at Joensuu Market Square from Friday to Saturday, November 7.–8.2025.

Opening hours:
Friday: 7 AM – 6 PM
Saturday: 7 AM – 4 PM

Changes to Joensuu Region Public Transport Bus Routes 101 and 104

Route 101: All weekday services will depart 5 minutes earlier than before.

Route 104: Buses traveling from Joensuu to Hammaslahti between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. will depart 5 minutes later. Services from Hammaslahti to Joensuu will remain unchanged.

Take advantage of the additional services to Linnunlahti:

On JOJO route 2, additional trips will operate via Linnunlahti. Some of these extra services already began in August 2025, and from yesterday, there are now even more additional trips available.

 Survey for international students holding a residence permit

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is currently preparing a report on the regulatory vulnerabilities of work-based and education-based residence permits.

For this purpose they would like to hear your experiences on studying in Finland and what challenges you might have faced. The target of the study is residence permits for students from third countries, so only holders of such residence permits should answer the survey. If you could take a few minutes of your time to complete the survey it would be greatly appreciated and any feedback is welcome. The first questions are for all students, questions 7-13 are for students that arrived on their own and questions 14-21 are for students arriving with a spouse or/and with children.

If you have questions about the survey do not hesitate to contact Senior Specialist Ariann Grandell (ariann.grandell@gov.fi). Answering the survey is completely anonymous.

The survey is open until the 22nd of October 2025.

Pinnalla -project: Survey of Womens' Skills in Swimming

With this survey, we collect information about the swimming skills of immigrant and immigrant-background women and their children, as well as their experiences of learning to swim.

The survey is part of the Pinnalla Project and will help develop the activities of the Finnish Multicultural Sports Federation, FIMU ry. The purpose of collecting this data is to provide better opportunities for learning swimming skills and improving water safety, especially for immigrant and immigrant-background women and their families. We will also share the findings with municipal sports services as well as the Ministry of Education and Culture. By gaining more knowledge about the swimming skills of immigrant-background women and children, we can promote equality and diversity in aquatic activities nationwide.

The survey is open until Sunday, November 2, 2025.

Answer the survey here

International student: Share your insights for our study on work life content on social media!

We are a research group from the University of Helsinki, and we are interested in social media content related to work life. We would like to hear about the kinds of work-related accounts you follow, as well as your thoughts and perspectives on their content.

We’re also looking into accounts that address work life from the perspective of neurodiversity or high sensitivity.

If you follow any such content on any social media platform, please click the link below to take our survey. We would greatly appreciate your response!

Taking the survey is completely voluntary. The questionnaire includes a link to the research privacy notice and contact details in case you have any questions about the study. Respondents must be 18 years of age or older.

On behalf of the research group, Emma Nortio, Postdoctoral researcher, Social psychology, University of Helsinki

EPIS Conference 2025 on 15 November

EPIS Think Tank is a youth-led network on European foreign and security policy. Applications are open for the EPIS Conference 2025, taking place online on 15 November 2025.

The Conference provides students with the opportunity to present their theses or research projects in small thematic panels, allowing for a stimulating exchange of perspectives.

• Audience: Undergraduate and graduate students in international relations, security studies and related fields
• The core of the event: Present research (10-minute talk) + 20-minute discussion with peers and experts
• How to participate? You can register for the event here
• The official language of the conference is English, and participation is free of charge. 

Why should I participate?

• Gain experience presenting research in an international academic setting
• Receive constructive feedback from experts and peers
• Engage in stimulating discussions on international relations and security policy
• Build connections with students, researchers, and professionals across Europe

Weekly Feed is the English language newsletter of the Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland (ISYY). You are receiving this letter on your email because you are a member of ISYY and are studying at Joensuu campus or because you have joined the mailing list yourself. 

Weekly Feed provides you with current information on matters related to the Student Union, UEF or other organisations close to students, such as FSHS. In addition, the newsletter provides you with information on events taking place at campus or the campus city.

Weekly Feed is published on Tuesdays during the academic year, with the exception of holidays and a few other days. If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore, you can unsubscribe the letter via the unsubscription link  located on the top of the letter. 

You will find more information on ISYY's newsletters  and data protection on ISYY's website.