Talent Boost Strategy Project at Aalto in 2021-2024

Project context

The Talent Boost programme aims to attract specialists, workers, students, and researchers to Finland and to promote their integration into the country. Talent Boost is a national initiative, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Aalto University has been implementing Talent Boost activities as part of the Ministry of Education and Culture's internationalisation strategy for higher education with the financial support of the Ministry since 2021.  

The activities at Aalto have included developing the teaching of Finnish and Swedish to better meet the needs of international experts, the improvement of employment opportunities for international students, digital pathway studies for international applicants and scholarships for top Master’s students and fellowships for doctoral students from Africa and South and Central Americas.

Vice President for Education Petri Suomala praises the impact of the Talent Boost programme at Aalto and beyond: "Being successful in welcoming and retaining international talent is one of the most crucial objectives for the future of Finnish society. The Talent Boost programme has served as a valuable platform for enabling this by testing and piloting actions designed to attract and retain international talent. These efforts have helped us attract new international student cohorts, enhanced Aalto’s global visibility, and addressed Finland's talent shortages, positioning Aalto as a top global educational destination”.

Our Talent Boost activities were implemented in collaboration between the Learning Services, the Language Centre and the Aalto Advancement and Corporate Collaboration (ADCO) unit, Aalto Schools and partner universities.

The Talent Boost project at Aalto will officially conclude in December 2024. This article takes a look at its achievements.  

International Talent

The International Talent was led by the Aalto Advancement and Corporate Collaboration unit, ADCO. The initiative has provided international students with information about Finnish working life, has supported them in finding a thesis placement, and helped them create connections to employers and alumni at events that have been some of the main development outcomes of the initiative. The aim of the initiative has been to strengthen the connections of international students to working life, so that they would have better chances of being employed in Finland after graduation in jobs that match their qualifications.

"In addition," Heiskanen continues, "we have organised several Student & Alumni Networking Events. These events held in 2023 and 2024 enabled networking and valuable forum where 82 alumni shared experiences of studies, transitioning to working life, and settling in Finland with approximately 500 Master's students. The objective of these networking events was again to help international students establish connections to working life already during their studies. We know that this is often crucial for employment and integration”.

Aalto have also been working closely with the City of Espoo to promote the employment of international talents, improve accessibility of services, and tailor communications to international students. From this collaboration evolved the Study & Stay service model and communication tool. Study & Stay is designed to display side-by-side services provided by Aalto University or the City of Espoo. "Study & Stay follows the entire study path of a Master’s student and displays all services aimed at attracting, employing, and retaining international students in a single timeline. This makes it a very effective communication tool. With the help of the Study & Stay model, it is easier for students to form a clearer picture of the employment services available and understand at which stage of their studies each service is relevant. The model pays special attention to opportunities to study Finnish or Swedish", explains Talent Boost Specialist Sara Liski from the Aalto Career Design Lab.

Kielibuusti (Language Boost)

The objective of the Kielibuusti project is to improve the opportunities for international experts to learn Finnish and Swedish, increase retention in Finland, and thus address skills shortages in the labour market. Aalto University has been responsible for developing the national language learning service kielibuusti.fi and creating a national network of higher education institutions in teaching Finnish or Swedish as a second language. Aalto has coordinated the project in collaboration with the University of Helsinki. The implementation also involved the universities of applied sciences from the Helsinki metropolitan area: Haaga-Helia, Laurea, and Metropolia.

The kielibuusti.fi website, developed at Aalto, is an open and free-of-charge information and material bank to support the learning of Finnish and Swedish. The site serves language learners, teachers, career and study counsellors who encounter international experts in their work, and employers who hire international employees. For language learners, the site's services include, among other things, a nationwide search for language schools and remote courses, online learning materials, tools for language skills assessment and language study plans, as well as tips for language learning at work and in everyday life. For teachers, the site offers pedagogical models and teaching materials, and for higher education institutions, resources for integrating language learning into degree programmes. Employers can find a comprehensive toolbox for building a multilingual working community and solutions to language issues related to international recruitment.

Mari Maunula, Director of the Language Centre, illustrates the impact of the website and the extent of the work carried out: “The first version of the website was launched in spring 2023, and since then, the site has been actively developed at Aalto. Content for the site has been produced by over 80 language learning experts from five higher education institutions, and the site and its content have been successfully communicated. At the same time, the number of users of the site has increased: in September 2024, kielibuusti.fi already had 13,000 users. The site has established itself as a key source of information, especially among stakeholders working in the fields of integration and employment, as well as language teachers. The kielibuusti.fi website is undoubtedly one of the most visible and praised results of the Talent Boost projects nationally. Therefore, it is great that Aalto University will continue to maintain the site even after the Talent Boost strategy project comes to an end.”

Kielibuusti has benefitted not only the higher education sector and national integration and employment actors but has also supported the multilingual practices within the Aalto community. Language skills as part of workforce abilities and as a solution to skills shortages have also been prominently featuring in societal discussions. The project has succeeded at many levels: by supporting everyday multilingualism in Aalto's work community, higher education institutions, and stakeholder groups, and by highlighting in the media the importance of developing language skills.

University Pathway Finland

As part of the Talent Boost Project, the Ministry of Education and Culture asked Aalto University to set up an online part-time pathway programme for international students to attract and prepare them to apply to degree studies in technical fields in Finnish universities. The pilot programme was set up in collaboration with the FiTech network of technical universities in Finland, in particular the Tampere University, with Aalto coordinating the programme. The groundwork for this pilot project started in 2021, and entailed international market surveys and benchmarking, the creation of a University Pathway network of universities and mapping of the regulatory and legislative landscapes that Finnish universities function in.

The programme curriculum consisted of preparatory online studies in mathematics, acting as a pathway to a BSc programme in technology, science, or economics, as well as courses in Finnish and English that helped prepare students for degree studies in Finland while studying remotely from home.

The pilot expanded from a technology route and a chance to pursue degree studies in BSc Science & Engineering offered by Tampere University to tracks in Science & Technology and Economics, with a continuation route to a chosen degree programme at Tampere University, Aalto University, or the University of Oulu.

The programme was scheduled to run also in the academic year 2024-2025 but had to be cancelled due to a shortage of eligible candidates. Pauliina Ketola, the Talent Boost project manager at Aalto, maintains that the pilot was nevertheless a success: “The pilot met its targets: we, but primarily my predecessors Sanna Viitanen and Tiia Soininen, developed a new programme concept that was the first of its kind in a Finnish university. Moreover, students from the Pathway programme cohorts have progressed to degree studies in Finland. This means Aalto University, Tampere University and University of Oulu have all welcomed motivated students from the University Pathway Finland”.

Finland Scholarships and Finland Fellowships

Finland Scholarships were part of a national initiative to attract top Master’s and doctoral students to Aalto from outside the EU/EEA. However, the initiative went beyond just helping students fund their university education in Finland. It also aimed to provide the best support for settling in Finland, making the most of their studies, and launching successful careers after graduation.

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the Aalto University Finland Scholarship programme awarded nearly 400 scholarships to the most capable, tuition fee liable applicants for Master's programmes. The scholarship consisted of a tuition fee waiver for the intended duration of the degree and a relocation grant. Additionally, approximately 40 African and South and Central American doctoral students were paid a monthly salary for up to a year and a relocation grant. The recipients for both programmes came from 47 different countries.

In an impact study into the Finland Scholarships and Fellowships in summer 2024, 97% of Finland Scholarship recipients indicated that the tuition fee waiver had decisively influenced their decision to come and study at Aalto. Also, these recipients were more likely to want to settle in Finland. One recipient reflected on the transformative impact of the Finland Scholarship on their studies: "The tuition fee [waiver] as well as the grant has made me feel more positive about Finland and made me feel valued when I came here. I also feel like I'm more willing to integrate with the society and have more motivation to learn Finnish as well as the culture here. Also, the grant and the tuition fee scholarship allow me to focus more on my studies and have more time to spend time with my friends and become part of the community."

Efforts to help talented international students finance their studies will continue: with the Talent Boost funding, different external scholarships available to students around the world were also explored as a means for students to fund their studies at Aalto. This developed into a pilot project, set to launch in 2025. As part of the pilot, Aalto will seek to enter into agreements with external scholarship providers from countries that are currently underrepresented in the Aalto student body. The pilot will be led by External Scholarships Specialist Beatriz Chivite, who also carried out the groundwork for the pilot.

What is more, under the project, Aalto University revamped its support, communications, and event portfolio aimed at international degree students to better meet their needs. Planning Officer Aino Turunen identifies clear demand for support: “Many international students come from another continent and need help and advice with matters that might appear obvious for those who have grown up in Finland, such as how to dress up warmly in winter or how to approach employers. For instance, our monthly newsletters to international degree students gather relevant information from different sources and activities of various support services with the aim of supporting them to settle in Finland, thrive in their studies and find a job here after graduation, if they so wish”.