Join my group

I am hiring PhD students and postdocs:

• PhD 1
• Postdoc 1
• Postdoc 2
• ELLIS Institute Finland postdocs

PhD and Postdoc 1 focus on using constraint-solvers for ILP. Postdoc 2 focuses on applying ILP to the Abstraction and Reasoning Corpus (ARC). The ELLIS-funded postdocs are open in scope. including neural-ILP.

If interested, email me at andrew.cropper@helsinki.fi.

FAQ: Living in Helsinki as a PhD Student or Postdoc

Do I need to speak Finnish? No. Almost everyone speaks English. Banks, government services, and universities all work in English.

What salary can I expect? PhD students earn around €2600–3600/month (€2100–2700 net). Postdocs earn €3800–4100/month (€2800–2900 net). This salary is enough for a very comfortable life. Taxes cover universal healthcare, social security, and generous parental leave.

How much does housing cost? Modern apartments are easy to find:

• One-bedroom city centre: ~€1,000/month
• One-bedroom outside centre: ~€800/month

Rent often includes water, heating, sometimes internet. Finnish homes are very high quality and well insulated.

Is it dark and cold? Winters are cold (sometimes as low as -15°C). But it is a dry cold. Easier than the UK. Homes and public spaces are very warm. Winter sports and sauna help. Days are short, but snow reflects light. Summers are long and sunny, nearly 24 hours of light. Temperatures are around 22–24°C. Helsinki gets more annual sunshine than London (1802 vs 1675 hours).

Why join Helsinki?

At least two reasons:

• Nature Helsinki is a capital city build around nature. The CS department is next to a small forest. The sea is 5 mins by bike. A big forest is 10 mins by bike. In summer, you can go to beaches and outdoor pools (one is about 3 mins from the department), and visit nearby islands by boat. In the winter, you can ski, sledge, and ice skate, all within 15 minutes of the department. If you love the outdoors, Helsinki is hard to beat amongst European capitals.
• Everything works Everything just seems to work in Helsinki. All the flats are warm and well built. The buses and trains work, are cheap, and run on time.