Clearance regarding publishing break of ISYY's newsletters, and reasons behind it

Student Union's newsletter, which has been in use since 2016, was found to include a tracking pixel collecting data on recipients’ IP addresses, opening times, and clicked links. This data was not needed or accessed by anyone outside ISYY staff. The issue was reported to the national supervisory authority (The Data Protection Ombudsman), and actions were taken to delete the data, update the privacy policy, and remove the tracking feature.

Read the whole announcement (published on 20th of February) on our website.

Exceptions to the ISYY Joensuu office opening hours

This week ISYY offices are closed for the whole week (3.–7.3.). Offices will serve you again on Monday 10th March.

Due to staff shortages, there will be following exceptions to the opening hours of the ISYY Joensuu campus office:

• Tuesday 11 March: closed
• Thursday 13 March: closed
• Tuesday 18 March: closed

In equipment loans, if the return date falls on a day when the office is closed, the loan period is automatically extended to the next day when the office is open.

ISYY Association Days 11-12 March

Looking for a new hobby, community, or maybe some awesome overall patches? ISYY’s Association Days brings together student associations, clubs, and other student organisations on campuses – this is your chance to explore them, and learn what they have to offer!

Where & when?

Joensuu: 11–12 March, in Carelia lobby
Kuopio: 12 March, in Snellmania lobby
On both campuses from 10 am to 2 pm

The event is free, and you can drop by between lectures or during lunch. Grab a friend and come to network with us!

ISYY's Municipal and County Election Programmes are published!

Find out more about ISYY’s Municipal and County Election programmes for 2025-2028!

The programmes are goal-oriented documents that highlight important perspectives raised by students regarding the development of Kuopio and Joensuu as student cities.

The Kuopio programme was created in collaboration with the Student Union of Humak University of Applied Sciences (HUMAKO) and the Joensuu programme with the Student Union of Karelia University of Applied Sciences (POKA).

Coffee & Friends

No café today as it's the winter holiday week!

The café meets on Tuesdays at 4-6 pm at Agora café in Joensuu and at 3-5 pm at Lukema in Kuopio.

Upcoming themes in Coffee & Friends:

• 11.3. Wellbeing
• 18.3. Bingo
• 25.3. Joensuu: singing bowl relaxation / Kuopio: volunteering (Guests from Kompassi)

Coffee & Friends event offers low-threshold hanging out after lectures and the opportunity to meet other students over coffee and a snack. All students of the University of Eastern Finland are welcome to Coffee & Friends. You can come to the café alone or with a friend. In addition, Coffee & Friends has a changing chill program. Participation in the programme is voluntary and you can come for a while or for the whole time. Participation is free of charge and does not require pre-registration. 

You can find more information and the program of Coffee & Friends on ISYY's website.

ISYY Club Meetings

All club meetings (except Academic & Historical Dance Joensuu & JEIS) are held weekly in ISYY's meeting room in Haltia-building, 2nd floor (Yliopistokatu 7).

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

• Magic The Gathering Guild meeting Mon 3 pm - 8 pm
• Academic & Historical Dance Joensuu Mon 6 pm - 8 pm (Educa, E200)
• Joensuu's Exchange and International Students Mon 4 pm - 6 pm (Aurora, AU206)
• LUOMIO! Literary Arts club Tue 6 pm - 8 pm 
• JOOJAKU meeting Wed 4 pm - 8 pm
• Joensuu Board Gamers meeting Thu 3 pm - 8 pm
• ISYY Chess Club meeting Fri 4 pm - 8 pm

Exceptions in schedules during the spring break week

During week 10 (3.-9.3.2025) instructed classes and turns held at Joensuu city sports facilities are on vacation with a few exceptions. Gyms and ball sports turns held in our own sports facilities are normally available. Badminton turns have been added to Mehtimäki hall from Monday to Friday.

Extra classes in week 10:

• Tue 4.3. Kickboxing at 6pm-7:30pm at Mehtimäki hall UEF block
• Thu 6.3. Fitness class with weekly rotation at 6pm-6:45pm at Mehtimäki hall pedagogical room
• Thu 6.3. Muscle tone class with weekly rotation at 7pm-7:45pm at Mehtimäki hall pedagogical room

Sport courses of spring: Cross-country skiing technique

When: On Tuesdays 25.2.-18.3. at 4pm-5pm
Where: Laulurinne ski tracks

Ilari Nissinen of Joensuu's Kataja ski division instructs skiing technique classes four times. Meeting in the parking lot by the Laulurinne ski track, next to Linnunlahti Camping. You must have your own equipment, but if there is a need for loan equipment, please contact Ilari in advance. More information in the class description in the sports calendar.  Enrollment via sports calendar on every class separately. You can enroll on the course with both a group exercise and a ball sports sticker.

NB! The course is intended for those who have already skied and know the basics, but it is not necessary to know the techniques beforehand. Also note that class is instructed in Finnish.

• 4.3. Classic
• 11.3. Skate skiing
• 18.3 Skate skiing

Student well-being survey is underway

Help Improve Your Study Community's Well-Being – Take the Survey! Do you want to make a positive impact on your study community? Now's your chance! You have received a survey link to your UEF-email, and by responding to the survey before March 9th, you can help us create a healthier, safer, and more enjoyable environment for everyone.

Every answer is important – please answer now! Thank you if you have already answered!

Major Service Interruption in Peppi 11-13 March 2025

Due to the installation of Peppi version 5.2, there will be a service interruption from 11th to 13th March 2025. To anticipate the service interruption, do these on 10th March at the latest, if needed:

• Complete your registration for the course units and exams on Peppi, on Tuudo or on EXAM.
• Check and save teaching timetables and links for remote lectures (e.g. teams, zoom). Teaching timetables can be seen on Tuudo during the service interruption.
• Download your transcript of records or study certificate on Peppi.

The new version of Peppi improves technical functionality and includes new developments related to cross-institutional studies and the Opin.fi service, as well as bug fixes.

Remember to pay the FSHS Healthcare Fee for spring term!

Degree students please note that you have to remember to pay the FSHS Healthcare fee for spring semester. You are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it unprompted. See instructions from the site linked below.

The due date for the spring term is 15 March, if you have registered as attending by 31 January. If you register as attending for the spring term on or after 1 February, the due date is 31 July.

You do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country, from Switzerland or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Find out how to proceed if you have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country, in Switzerland, in Great Britain or in Northern Ireland on Kela's website.

The 2025 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 35.60 per term.

BePop x JEIS International Music Nights!

Get your dancing shoes on and join JEIS for awesome international music nights in Bepop!

JEIS is collaborating with Bepop to bring some international music to Joensuu! These awesome music nights of the spring semester are going to happen on Thursdays starting from 11 pm. (March 13th, April 3rd, April 17th, May 8th, and May 22nd)

To make this event truly international, we want you to participate in making the playlists for the event!  Here is the anonymous song request form for the events.

Performance in English - It's a Beautiful Wound

It's a Beautiful Wound, written and performed by Rich Orloff, is a one-person show and the true story of Rich's adventures in underground therapy using MDMA (a.k.a. Ecstasy) and psilocybin mushrooms. These sessions, based on cutting-edge experiments to help people heal from deep psychological wounds, propel Rich beyond his ego and defenses into a journey that both challenges his perceptions and reveals possibilities he never before considered. Inspired by the autobiographical monologues of Spalding Gray, It’s a Beautiful Wound takes the audience through the experience of psychedelic-assisted therapy in an honest, amusing, and deeply compelling way.

But the show is about more than just psychedelics. Ultimately, It's a Beautiful Wound is about one person's journey towards reconciliation with the soul.

Joensuu City Theater, small stage

DURATION approx. 1 hr 10 min, no intermission

TICKETS starting at 20 euros, buy here Lippu.fi

ONLY 1 PERFORMANCE: Thu 6.3.2025 at 5.30pm!

SOHJO HACKS Hackathon 2025 12.-13.3.

Sohjo Hacks is an international, high-level hackathon aimed at testing rapid innovations and accelerating significant investments in the fields of photonics, forestry, and the circular economy.

Sohjo Hacks brings together a diverse and talented community, including companies, researchers, students, and public sector representatives from Eastern Finland. Together, they create and develop new innovations in response to the challenges presented. The event language is English.

SOHJO HACKS takes place at the University of Eastern Finland Joensuu campus, were participants can work on the challenges during two days 12.-13.3.2025, the decicated space will be open continuously during the hackathon. Participants can enjoy full catering as well as extra creativity-boosting activities such as morning yoga. The Hackacton is free of charge for participants.

JoES Startup & Pizza -evening

Attention all ambitious students, entrepreneurs and everyone interested in entrepreneurship and startups! 

Joensuu Entrepreneurship Society (JoES) is looking for new members to its community and ambitious individuals to become new board of JoES association with the help of an experienced advisory board consisting of people from Business Joensuu, UEF, Karelia UAS, Riveria Vocational College and City of Joensuu.
 
Join us for a discussion about the future of JoES and enjoy free pizza & drinks while networking! Joining the event does not oblige you to become a JoES member. The main language of the event is English, but you can join also if speak e.g. mostly Finnish. Sign up now to secure your spot and free pizza & drinks!

You can find the schedule of the event and more information at the @joensuues Instagram or through the sign up link below.

International House Joensuu Non-Stop Finnish language courses in spring 2025

Come and learn Finnish in a fun and interactive way by listening, speaking and doing! The courses are free of charge, and you don't need a textbook. Classes start from 10.3.2025! The courses are held at luotsi at Koskikatu 5 (Carelicum)

• Choose NON-STOP SUOMI– Beginners group, if you know little to no Finnish.
• Choose NON-STOP SUOMI– Intermediate group, if you have participated in the beginner course and have mastered the basics of Finnish.
• Choose NON-STOP SUOMI– Advanced group, if you can already have day-to-day conversations in Finnish.

Register for the course via email: registration.internationalhouse@joensuu.fi

In your message upon registration, be sure to mention:

• Your name,
• Your phone number and/or your email
• Which course you want to register for

You can find more information and the timetable for the groups at International House Joensuu's website.

Visit Finnish schools during your stay in Finland!

Would you like to visit a Finnish school while in Finland?

School visits can be carried out in any classes – in subjects such as languages, history, geography, sports, arts, cooking, biology, religion, and student counselling. You can also take part in a theme day organised by the local school, e.g., an international day.

Your school visit really makes a difference to the pupils!

You don't need to be a teacher, just a visitor bringing something new to the classroom. During the school visit, you will have a possibility to join lessons, present your country and broaden Finnish pupils' cultural awareness, and inspire them to study or volunteer abroad. You'll also gain insight into the Finnish education system.

Travel expenses will be reimbursed, and you'll receive a certificate of participation.

How to sign up for a visit?

You can register to the Erasmus in Schools programme through the Matching Machine platform. You will receive a notification by email once you have been matched with a school. After that, you can plan your visit together with the teacher.

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.