UNICOM+ Accelerating Working Life Contacts and Experience of Early Career Researchers
UNICOM+ services facilitate the access of early career researchers to the open labour market in South-West Finland by supporting their employment in existing companies and organisations as well as in starting a business. Services are targeted to early career researchers at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University during 2025-2027.
Are you considering career opportunities beyond academia? UNICOM+ helps early career researchers connect with employers, gain work experience, and explore new career paths in Finland.
Networking events for early career researchers
Two networking events will be organised in the spring 2026 and spring 2027. The aim of the events is to enhance the networking of early career researchers with potential employers.
The events will be organised in cooperation with Culture Campus Turku, Health Campus Turku and Technology Campus Turku.
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Job placements for early career researchers
UNICOM+ job placements in host organisations affiliated with the UNICOM+ project are open to international early career researchers (doctoral researchers and post-doctoral researchers) in all fields of research at the University of Turku.
By participating in a job placement, the early career researcher:
- Gets work experience and learns new skills and ways of working
- Gets an opportunity to implement collaborative projects
- Builds new networks and connections with companies and other organisations
- Learns about Finnish work culture and working life outside of academia
- Learns and develops transferable skills and methodological competencies outside of the academic environment
There are two types of job placement options:
Full-time job placements are from 1 to 4 months long, and they are open to all doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. The job placements in host organisations may include research work, developing new processes and products, reporting and/or international marketing.
In case of doctoral researchers, ideally, they should be near the end of their doctoral studies. During that period, the doctoral researchers should not progress their thesis work, but instead, focus on the job placement. Furthermore, they should discuss with their supervisor of the potential effects of the job placement with their doctoral work and any potential funding.
The recruiting company will be responsible for the salary of the researcher, as well as other employee obligations.
The first application round of job placements takes place in the autumn 2025 and the second round in the autumn 2026. In principle, the job placements take place in spring-time after the application round has been completed. However, if the company or organisation offering the job placement wishes to offer the placement already before spring, arrangements can be made to accelerate the recruitment process.
Job placements are applied for via online form. Applicants are required to attach their CV and a cover letter along with their application. Each job placement is to be applied separately. The applications of eligible applicants are sent directly to the recruiting companies for evaluation and selection.
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The part time (maximum 20 % working time) job placements of post-doctoral researchers should last no more than 6 months. However, based on a reasonable application, the job placement can be tailored to fit the needs of the post-doctoral researcher and host company/organisation. The job placements may include research work, developing new processes and products, reporting and/or international marketing.
Before applying, please discuss and agree with your PI or the head of the research group you are working in which part(s) of your project could be suitable to be integrated in a job placement.
Part-time job placements can be applied for any time from October 2025 to December 2026. Job placements may take place from January 2026 to August 2027. The placements may take place in host organisations affiliated with the UNICOM+ project. In addition, post-doctoral researchers are also encouraged to look for a suitable job placement independently.
Job placements are applied for using an online form. Applicants are required to attach their CV and a cover letter along with their application. Each job placement is to be applied for separately. The applications of eligible applicants are sent directly to the recruiting companies for evaluation and selection.
Follow this site for more information!
Questions?
For more information, please contact:
Jenni Gray, University of Turku
Maria Ljung, Åbo Akademi University.
Uniting Companies, Employers and International University Talents (UNICOM+) project is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027. The project is coordinated by the University of Turku and implemented jointly with the Åbo Akademi University and the Turku University of Applied Sciences. Read more about the UNICOM+ project.