Hey Fresher,

Welcome to TES!

This webpage works best on a computer.

Picture of Tesseract excursion
to Repovesi national park.

This page is provided to you by Tesseract, the guild (student organization) for your degree: Technology and Engineering Science (TES). Tesseract represents TES students and organizes many activities like events and excursions.

Meet…
…your Fresher Captain

Hi and a warm welcome!

My name is Freija. I’m a second year TES mechanical engineering student and I’ll be your fresher captain this coming academic year. I’m twenty years old and originally from Kempele, but now I’m living my best life here in Lappeenranta. As your fresher captain I am pretty much responsible for teaching you the ways of a “Teekkari” and to help you on your path to becoming a true member of Finnish student culture. You can find me in pretty much any student event next year wearing a “sand” colored helmet that says FC on the side.

Your fresher weeks are important for networking and making friends, so I recommend going to as many events as possible and keeping an open mind. In TES everyone comes from different parts of the world so when it comes to having pre-existing friends in Lappeenranta pretty much everyone is in the same boat, so go get them tiger! What I want from you is to bring your best self forward.

…your tutors

The start of your first year will also be guided by your Tutors. Below you will find all TES tutors for this year. LUT will send you separate information about which tutor group you belong to. Regardless of what group you’re in, you can always ask any of the tutors to help you!

Iisa

Studies:
3rd year B.Sc TES Mechanical

Favourite place at LUT:
Sale cookie shelf

Guilherme

Studies:
2nd year B.Sc TES Energy

Favourite place at LUT:
Notski (fireplaces)

Sadi

Studies:
2nd year B.Sc TES Electrical

Favourite place at LUT:
Library

Yuriy

Studies:
5th year B.Sc TES Electrical

Favourite place at LUT:
Tesseract Guild Room

Farah

Studies:
2nd year B.Sc TES

Favourite place at LUT:
Sitting area in front of Aalef

Sami

Studies:
3rd year B.Sc TES Energy

Favourite place at LUT:
Lake Saimaa

Antonette

Studies:
2nd year B.Sc TES Energy

Favourite place at LUT:
The Gym

Adrian

Studies:
2nd year B.Sc TES Mechanical

Favourite place at LUT:
Fireplaces

Greetings from…
…your president

Congratulations on your study place to LUT University and the Technology and Engineering Science program! Secondly, I would wholeheartedly like to welcome you to the Tesseract community!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mari and I’m the President of Tesseract this year. As the head of Tesseract I’m responsible for the work we do for you, our students. We organise big and small events, provide student cultural experiences, advocate for you in formal bodies and support the beginning stages of your professional career including networking opportunities.

You are about to arrive to Lappeenranta and specifically Skinnarila, the land of endless opportunities of the student community. Here you’ll have the chance to tie great friendships, take part in hobbyclubs with your peers and participate in a whole bunch of different type of events. In the spirit of Skinnarila, you are welcome to our community regardless of who you are. At times, especially at the beginning you may feel overwhelmed by everything, but when you do we are here for you.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to talk to me, your tutor or our other board members. If we don’t have and answer, we’ll find you the right person to ask. Together we make the best of our study years!

Can’t wait to meet you at the benginning of the semester, see you then!

Sincerily,
Mari

…the rest of the board

Tesseract currently has 6 board members for 2024 who all have their own responsibilities. Board members are usually only elected once a year, but we also have officers, who can be appointed by the board at any time.

President: Mari Murtomäki
Treasurer: Roope Vuorikoski
Secretary: Yannick Schuurmans
Project Manager: Niina Laaksonen
Advocacy Representative: Yuriy Bokovoy
Communications Manager: Iisa Vaara

If you’re interested in getting involved, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can find our contact details on our contact page.

What we do

Other than this wounderful welcome page, you might be wondering what Tesseract actually does for you.

First and foremost, Tesseract represents the intrests of you as TES student. We work together with LES, our faculty, to improve education and the student experience over all.

We promote and maintain the TES student culture, for example by providing our members with overalls*.

*If you haven’t heard of the Finnish overall culture yet, ask your tutor about it!

Daytrip to Repovesi national park
Excursion to Helsinki, Ramboll office
The first ever batch of Tesseract overalls in April 2023

Tesseract also organises all sorts of activities. Excursions can help you get a better understanding of working life and job oppurtinities while having fun, and other events give you the opportunity to enjoy your time off.

Get to know LTKY

Dear fresher,

Congratulations on your acceptance to the Technology and Engineering Science programme! My name is Simon and I would like to welcome you on the behalf of LTKY, the student union of LUT.

The office of LTKY is where you can get the sticker for your student card and enjoy a cup of coffee in the lounge. However, we have a lot more to offer, too. The mission of the student union is to make the life of students better. LTKY organizes advocacy and lobbying of the students’ opinion on local and national levels. LTKY also runs Aalef’s restaurant Yolo and the small shop on campus’ main building. You can read about us in more detail and see the several services we offer for students on LTKY website.

One of the main tasks of LTKY is to maintain and respect the student culture. At LUT there are fourteen guilds in total and more than 30 activity and hobby clubs. Finnish student culture is unique and interesting, and I really recommend getting involved in it. I would suggest joining your guild Tesseract and trade union TEK. LTKY also organizes lots of activities and events together with the guilds and clubs. We here at LTKY also organize the Finlands longest Wappu that you don’t want to miss!

In addition to studying it is very important to have fun, enjoy life, and make a lot of memories while you are here. That’s why I would really recommend paying attention to all the extracurricular activities LUT, LTKY and the guilds offer and make new friends along the way. From this point of view LUT is the perfect place; The majority of students live next to the campus or within two-kilometer distance, creating lively community, where it is easy to make friends with other international and Finnish students as well.

Lastly, I’d like to point out the beautiful scenery in Lappeenranta. I’m sure you will like that the campus is fully surrounded by nature; trees, flowers and lake Saimaa. Between two lectures you can simply walk to the lake to sit down, have a break, and relax. It’s the best study environment anyone can wish for, in my opinion at least.

And to keep you informed before and during your studies with news and also more humorous stuff, make sure to follow us in our social media! You can find us on Instagram @ltky_insta and at @suomenpisinwappu.

Welcome to our community, enjoy your studies and make memories that will last for a lifetime!

Simon Hajjar

Simon is a member of LTKY’s board of 2024, and a familiar face both on campus and on LTKY’s social media, so don’t hesitate to come say hello!

Get to know TEK

Other than Tesseract another important organisation at LUT is TEK. TEK is a workers union that represents employees in the Technology sector. As a student, being a member is free. It comes with all sorts of perks, like free coffee at the TEK lounge on campus, but TEK even sponsors student organisations and events.

Our TEK contact person is Simon! If you have any questions about TEK, you can contact him here.

From our friends at Veiterä


We’re all very excited to meet you and help you get on your way here in Lappeenranta. We want to see to it that your university and professional life will be on a strong footing. Below, you will find information, photos, and random facts about LUT, Lapeenranta, working/living in Finland and much more.

Regarding LUT University and Lappeenranta

  • LUT University has two campuses, one in Lappeenranta and one in Lahti. You will be coming to the Lappeenranta campus, which is the oldest and largest LUT campus. There are 5,000+ LUT students here in Lappeenranta.
  • The legal name of LUT University is Lappeenrannan-Lahden teknillinen yliopisto LUT in Finnish, Villmanstrand-Lahtis tekniska universitet LUT in Swedish, and the English translation is Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT. However, you will hear it be referred to as LUT, LUT University, Lappeenranta University, etc, all are valid ways to refer to our school.
  • Inside LUT, there are schools and a department. There is the LUT School of Energy Systems LES which we are apart of, LUT School of Engineering Science LENS, and LUT Business School (kauppakorkeakoulu in finnish). We also have the department of social sciences.
LUT main doors winter 2022
  • LUT University is under the same organization as another school, LAB University of Applied Sciences, and it is located right next to us on the Lappeenranta campus, and it shares a campus with LUT in Lahti! LUT is the theoretical research university while LAB is the practical and career oriented school. There are about 3,500 LAB students here in Lappeenranta, and you have the right to access the LAB buildings as well. You may take some LAB courses, use their sports halls, eat at their restaurants, etc. Both LUT and LAB have the same parent organization (LUT Universities Group), they just have different teaching goals/methods.
LAB main doors fall 2022
  • The Kielo Campus next to our campus is for different companies who want to work next to the university campus, you can find cool stuff there as well.
  • Overall, the Lappeenranta campus has about 10,000 people, including LUT, LAB, Kielo, etc.
  • There is a student union buffet, Kielo campus buffet, pizza buffet, Indian food restaurant, LUT Buffet, LAB Buffet, and many cafes on campus. Many of the food places are all-you-can eat, meaning you are allowed to get multiple portions, a rare thing indeed in Finnish universities, but in abundance here in Lappeenranta! 
  • Student meals on campus are typically 2.95€ per meal, with some other options ranging from 5-10€.
  • To read more about LUT student culture please read the LTKY (LUT University Student Union) sites on student culture here.

About working/living in Finland

  • Don’t just grind your grades if you plan to stay in Finland, it is important you have fun, get friends, make connections and otherwise build your life here in Finland. Your experience here is very much based on who you know and how you integrate, meaning you will have a much easier time getting a job and building your career here in Finland if you know people who will help you, compared to just academic skills. Having fun and going to events is not a negative thing! Study, but remember that there is much more to university as well!
One of the many events of LUT. This was the 2023 Vappu eve celebration
  • Keep track of your residence permits, visas, health insurance, etc, and renew them at proper times (if applicable). Also don’t forget to pay the Kela student healthcare fee if you are a Finnish Student or non-EU Student. You MUST pay this fee, it is not optional.
  • Finnish work culture values experience. This means that getting internships, volunteering for organizations, personal projects, etc. are equally as important as completing your studies.
  • Pay the student union fee as soon as possible, you need to pay it to be able to stay in school 🙂 While you do this, remember to register for the school year!!! Again, you MUST do this, it is not optional.
  • Never be afraid to ask for help, chances are you are coming from far away and will be far away from your family. For your time here in Finland your friends and we here at Tesseract will be your family 🙂.
    • JOIN TESSERACT, it is your study guild, it’s there to serve your interests. It is more important than you might realize. You will get friends through guild events, experience through possible roles in the guild and excursions around Finland, etc.
  • As a community we expect everyone to adhere to “skinnarila spirit” of LUT and LAB, meaning that no students are left behind, and that everyone deserves to feel included and respected as an individual. We want you to thrive here in Lappeenranta as who you are.
LUT and LAB celebrating our campus diversity in May 2023
One of the intersections in the city center of Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta has some older buildings as well

About Studies

  • You have a study right to take as many courses as you want from many fields, meaning you can also complete minor studies if you do extra work! However, don’t push yourself too much.
    • If you feel overwhelmed, you can withdraw from a course, it won’t affect you GPA/Credit wise, you can just retake next year. Never let your mental health decline over a course and if you are struggling badly, sometimes dropping a course is the best action instead of failing 🙂.  It is hard being in a new country/city/environment, and it’s important to recognize that.
    • Aim to do around 60 credits a year, that’s a pretty good balance, if you feel adventurous you can go for 70-80, but if that feels like too much, again, drop before you burn out, you have multiple years of this left.
  • Your GPA is calculated based off of courses that are graded on a 1-5 scale, meaning pass/fail courses don’t affect it. Failing a course also does not impact your GPA, and it will not show up on your transcript. Just retake it. Isn’t the Finnish education system great ❤️.
  • If you have completed university level courses, you can ask the program head (Michael Child) to hear out your case as to why you should get credit for those and not retake them again, you might get free credit!
  • Your study right is 7 years, that is for a reason. For many, it’s normal to work during bachelor’s/master’s, and some courses just might take longer/you might need to retake, and some people complete extra studies, so it’s pretty normal to take 6 years to graduate from a 5 year bachelor’s + master’s program. You can also do it in less than 5 years. Everyone’s story is different, and the university knows that.

Scholarships

Scholarship information can be found here, but here at the basics if you have to pay tuition:

  • If you accept your spot early, you get an early bird discount, yippee!
  • If you do 60 credits in first year, you get 50% off second year!
  • If you do 120 credits in 2 years, you get 50% off third year!

Many other bachelor’s programmes at LUT have specific capacity for scholarships, like top 10%, top 20%, top 5%, etc of students. At TES, you will notice that if you simply complete enough credits per year, you get a guaranteed 50% scholarship. So, 50% off your degree, pretty epic right? That’s why we love TES ❤️

Some Important Websites/Apps

  • Download Tuudo (Android, Apple) from the play/app store and log in with your LUT credentials when you get it. It will tell you your teaching schedule and even restaurant menus.
  • Skinfo if you speak Finnish or have an online translator handy, it will let you know bus schedules and restaurant info as well.
  • You will use the Sisu system for your grades/course management, and Moodle as your course completion tool. We will teach you how to use these websites during orientation weeks.
  • ELUT ELUT ELUT KATO NYT V**TU ELUTISTA
    • https://elut.lut.fi/en
    • eLUT will have a lot of your information regarding studies, internships, registrations, payments, etc. Learn to navigate it, we will also tell you how to use it during orientation weeks.
    • Always ask questions, but sometimes you might just get a “check eLUT….” answer which means it is information that you can easily find from eLUT, use it.
    • The LUT website just has marketing stuff and is just a glorified university news site. eLUT is actually for students to find the important stuff.

(Mostly) useful facts

  • Rax all-you-can-eat pizza buffet in the city center is only 10.90 euros before 14 o’clock, and you get 10% off with a student card as well. Eating out can be affordable🙂 (but it usually isn’t)
  • The cheapest store to get groceries is Lidl, never underestimate what you can get from Lidl with close to no money.
  • Buses run from around 5 am to 11pm Monday-Thursday, 5am to 2 am on Friday-Saturday, and Sunday idk, it might come if the bus driver feels like it🧍
    • Bus lines 1, 1X, 101, 12, and 5 all go to the university. University is “Yliopisto” in Finnish so if you see that on a bus, you know you can jump on and end up at LUT at some point. Line 5 is fastest if you just want to go straight to the city center.
  • Lappeenranta has an airport with only one destination through RyanAir to Bergamo, Italy. Why? Because why not. Be warned, our aiport might result in zero braincell on the spot decisions to go to Bergamo for some reason on a Wednesday during exam week.
  • Prisma is big. If you need something you can probably find it from Prisma. Prisma Lappeenranta is one of the largest stores in Finland. Why is it here, in a town of 70,000? Great question, I don’t know.
  • The McDonald’s is open 24/7, but the inside closes at 23 o’clock, so if you’re on foot after that you need to walk through the drive through on foot and eat on the outside benches while the employees glare at you from inside🦶
  • S-Market Pallo is the only 24/7 store in Lappeenranta. Every other store closes between 21:00 and 23:00.
  • Any alcohol over 5,5% is only sold in the state owned monopoly store Alko. They are sprinkled scarcely around Lappeenranta. The closest one from Campus is at Prisma.
  • A bicycle/scooter is a pretty S-tier investment until the weather changes to icy, from then on paying the Kela healthcare payment is also a pretty S-tier investment.
  • There is a Saimaa ringed seal made of stone in the city center. There’s no fact related to it, it’s just pretty cool.
  • You might have noticed Finns love buffets, considering pretty much every restaurant in the university is one and they are everywhere in the city center. Take advantage of this, there are all-you-can-eat buffets ranging from pizza, chicken, sushi, thai food etc everywhere.

Once again, a happy welcome to Finland, Lappeenranta, and LUT University. We hope your experience here at Lappeenrannan-Lahden-Kouvolan-Mikkelin-Brysselin teknillinen kauppa- ja yhteiskuntatieteiden päiväkoti-yliopisto LUT-yliopisto Lappeenrannan kampus will be unforgettable.