University professor salary and cost of living in Helsinki

seththy · Post by **seththy** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:36 am

Hi,
I'm an university professor (Art/Photography) and considering applying for a job on Aalto University. Unfortunately, I can't find any info on professor salaries anywhere on a web.
Does anyone know what average professor salary could be and can family of 3 (+ 2 dogs) live of that in Helsinki for a while?
My wife is an film/video editor and colorist, but I'm not sure when and will she get work permit and a job, so for a while, we probably gonna have to live on one salary only.
Thank you
Seth

**Sponsor:**

interleukin · Post by **interleukin** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:13 am

The Finnish universities have official salary scales (composed of different levels of education and of responsibility/how good you are. You should be able to even email and ask for those. That doesn't in any way tell you, however, where you'd actually end up, discussions about which category your salary is derived are often part of the negotiations & interview.

You write that you are a professor. What do you mean by that? Are you a full professor? Are you an associate or assistant professor? Are you a docent? You don't write where you are from, but you need to think about possible differences between different systems.

Unless you are a superstar, you'd apply for a call advertising positions for new group leaders/teachers. Such positions would typically put you at the docent level and staying on might get you to full professor within ten years.

If you get a docent-level salary, you should be fine in supporting a family (I've supported two people on a salary that was one step lower in the scale). Depends on your costs & requirements of course. A typical job advertisement at least at Helsinki University (where my experience is) will write the estimated level of salary (the category).

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:02 pm

interleukin wrote:The Finnish universities have official salary scales (composed of different levels of education and of responsibility/how good you are. You should be able to even email and ask for those. That doesn't in any way tell you, however, where you'd actually end up, discussions about which category your salary is derived are often part of the negotiations & interview.

In 2012 the average professor made 6700 in Aalto University. It is safe to say that any type of professor will make more than average.

http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/tyo/profe ... ja/a837344

interleukin wrote: You write that you are a professor. What do you mean by that? Are you a full professor? Are you an associate or assistant professor? Are you a docent? You don't write where you are from, but you need to think about possible differences between different systems.

Dosent is not a job title in Aalto. It's something you can apply for:

http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2009 ... idp1556448

Here's the Aalto career track:

http://www.aalto.fi/en/about/careers/ot ... positions/

seththy wrote: Does anyone know what average professor salary could be and can family of 3 (+ 2 dogs) live of that in Helsinki for a while?

Someone who makes 80k a year will be withheld about 40%. A family of three will be able to live of that kind of salary easily.

seththy wrote: My wife is an film/video editor and colorist, but I'm not sure when and will she get work permit and a job, so for a while, we probably gonna have to live on one salary only.

She will automatically get a work permit (it comes with the residence permit) based on being your family.

seththy · Post by **seththy** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:29 pm

interleukin wrote: You write that you are a professor. What do you mean by that? Are you a full professor? Are you an associate or assistant professor? Are you a docent?

I'm sorry, I forgot about that, right now I'm full professor, over 10 years experience (I'm from EU) and what Aalto say is that I can get job as one of these:
University Teacher, University Lecturer or Senior University Lecturer.

seththy · Post by **seththy** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:36 pm

betelgeuse wrote: In 2012 the average professor made 6700 in Aalto University. It is safe to say that any type of professor will make more than average.

Someone who makes 80k a year will be withheld about 40%. A family of three will be able to live of that kind of salary easily.

So that leaves me with 48k? I'm quite OK with that.

seththy wrote: My wife is an film/video editor and colorist, but I'm not sure when and will she get work permit and a job, so for a while, we probably gonna have to live on one salary only.

betelgeuse wrote: She will automatically get a work permit (it comes with the residence permit) based on being your family.

That's good to know. Thank you.

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:01 pm

seththy wrote:
interleukin wrote: You write that you are a professor. What do you mean by that? Are you a full professor? Are you an associate or assistant professor? Are you a docent?
I'm sorry, I forgot about that, right now I'm full professor, over 10 years experience (I'm from EU) and what Aalto say is that I can get job as one of these:
University Teacher, University Lecturer or Senior University Lecturer.

These positions are not professorships. However, I do not know know the School of Arts to say what it means for salary. Since you talked about work permits, I expected you to be a non EU citizen. Since you are an EU citizen, your wife regardless of citizenship does not need a residence permit.

seththy · Post by **seththy** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:17 am

betelgeuse wrote: University Teacher, University Lecturer or Senior University Lecturer.

These positions are not professorships. However, I do not know know the School of Arts to say what it means for salary. Since you talked about work permits, I expected you to be a non EU citizen. Since you are an EU citizen, your wife regardless of citizenship does not need a residence permit.

Yes, now I see that those are not professorships. I just thought they have different names for titles in Finland. I guess, I'll have to send them email with questions regarding the job.
Anyway, thank you, you've been most helpful.
Regards
Seth

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 2:01 pm

seththy wrote: Yes, now I see that those are not professorships. I just thought they have different names for titles in Finland.

This might even be a good thing depending on what your interests are. Professors tend to get a lot of their time tied to things they would rather not be doing like bureaucracy.

NordicFun · Post by **NordicFun** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:07 pm

Not sure how accurate, but here's an article I found that has some numbers http://www.eui.eu/ProgrammesAndFellowsh ... nland.aspx

Kössi K · Post by **Kössi K** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:30 pm

Just a thought: this may also be a case of different job titles in Finland vs. whereever the OP is from. I remember discussing his with some exchange students at the university- in their countries; 'a professor' at the university is a title that is applied to ALL lecturers/docents/etc. at their home universities. Whereas in Finnish universities, Professor is the highest ranking title, and a honorary title.
For example, it is very rare that the title of a professor here is given to anyone without a Doctorate. And for example, some faculties may only have 1 professor, or maybe a few, if a large faculty.
So, it may be useful to check what kind of a position you are after and contact the universities in question directly.
Good luck!

Tom_Campbell75 · Post by **Tom_Campbell75** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:12 pm

Aalto should appoint professors as professors.

Finland Forum

Find information about moving to, living in and life in Finland