INFORMATION PACK FOR JOHAN GADOLIN SCHOLARS

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Gertrude Tucker
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1 Åbo, December 2017 INFORMATION PACK FOR JOHAN GADOLIN SCHOLARS Welcome to Finland and to Åbo Akademi University! This document contains useful information regarding insurance, taxes, registration of stay, living, etc. If you have any questions regarding your Johan Gadolin Scholarship, to which you cannot find an answer to in this information pack, please contact the Scholarship Fund s Coordinator, Ekaterina Korotkova (jgs@abo.fi). The main bureaucracy in a nutshell 1. You need to register at Migri 2. You need to apply for Mela longer than 3 months? 1. You need to register at the Local Register Office longer than 4months? 1. You need to register at Migri You need the insurance Are you from EU? longer than 90 days? 1. You need residence permit for researchers 3. You need to register at the Local Register Office 1. You need Visa INSURANCE The Finnish law requires that everyone who receives a research scholarship gets an insurance that covers occupational accidents. This is also mandatory for recipients of the Johan Gadolin Scholarship. The procedure is different for EU members and n-eu members. Nevertheless, in all cases when you preform research at the Åbo Akademi University facilities you must have a valid insurance covering health care and other cost if occupational accidents happen. The Åbo Akademi Process Chemistry Centre (PCC) requires, in accordance with Finnish law, that all Johan Gadolin Scholarship recipients provide a copy of their insurance statements and a receipt of payment of the insurance in English to the PCC, regardless of the length of your stay. If you have any questions regarding insurance, please contact Coordinator Ekaterina Korotkova (jgs@abo.fi) or your local insurance agency. The PCC will pay for this insurance or reimburse the

2 cost after your arrival. The PCC will not, however, pay for other insurance costs than those regarding health care. Most PhD students are insured by their home university even during a study visit abroad. In these cases the PCC requires a statement confirming this insurance from the student s home university. The PCC will not reimburse the cost of the insurance. If a PhD student, however, cannot get insurance for the study visit from their home university, the PCC requires a written explanation from the student s supervisor/professor or from the university administration. If that explanation is accepted, the PCC will pay for the insurance during the student s stay at Åbo Akademi University. NON-EU CITIZENS To get a visa/work permit in Finland non-eu-members must have insurance that covers occupational accidents during the entire length of their stay in Finland. This means that all insurance matters must be arranged/taken care of in the recipient s home country prior to his/her study/research visit. The PCC will reimburse some of the insurance costs. The maximum amount that will be reimbursed is 200 /month for post docs and 150 /month for PhDstudents. In some cases also n-eu citizens are required to take the so called Mela insurance if they are covered by Finnish social security during the work (see next section). EU CITIZENS The JGS will pay for every scholarship recipient s mandatory insurance that covers occupational accidents. All other insurances must be paid for by the recipient. Scholarship for 4 months or longer: Scholarship recipients who are members of the European Union (i.e. can travel and work in Finland without a visa or work permit) are required to get insurance from the national insurance institution, Mela, if the length of their scholarship/stay exceeds 4 months. Mela is responsible for the statutory pension (MYEL) and occupational accident insurance (MATA) for persons with grants/scholarships and who have to be insured in Finland. The cost of the insurance depends on the size of the scholarship but is, in general, around 15% of the total amount of the scholarship. This corresponds to approximately 300 /month for postdocs and 200 /month for PhD students. By getting this insurance, you are insured against any occupational accident and furthermore you acquire pension. It is also possible to buy leisure time insurance from Mela. For more information, please visit If you want to check how much the insurance will cost, please go to the following website: The application for Mela insurance can be taken care of when you arrive in Finland. It is also possible for an EU member to get this insurance in their home country, in such cases a scholarship recipient must fill out a form (A1) and provide a copy of their insurance statement to the PCC. Scholarship for less than 4 months: If you have been granted a Johan Gadolin Scholarship for less than 4 months, the PCC still requires that you have an insurance that is valid during the entire course of your stay. However, if your stay does not exceed 4 moths you cannot apply for Mela insurance. In this case you should discuss different insurance options with your local insurance agency. Options include e.g. travel insurance, but the JGS will only reimburse the cost of health care insurance (often part of a travel insurance).

3 EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD All EU citizens and citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, rway and Switzerland can get a European health insurance card (EHIC) free of charge. The card ensures that you will get the same access to public sector health care (e.g. a doctor, a pharmacy, a hospital or a health care centre) as nationals of the country you are visiting. If you have to receive medical attention in a country that charges for health care, you will be reimbursed either immediately, or after you return to your home country. The idea is that you are given the care you need to allow you to continue with your stay. However, it is important to note that the card does not cover your health care costs abroad if you are treated for an illness or injury that you had/acquired before arriving in Finland. The card does not cover private sector health care. More information about EHIC: TAXES In Finland a scholarship/grant can be tax-free if the scholarship has been awarded on the basis of an open, public call for applications and the scholarship cannot be regarded as salary from work or duty. The Johan Gadolin Scholarship is, in most cases, a tax-free scholarship. According to Finnish law, a person must pay taxes for a scholarship that exceeds an annual amount of (year 2017). In practice, maximum amount of Johan Gadolin Scholarship is /year (9 months of postdoc scholarship). REGISTRATION OF STAY Foreigners that are planning to stay in Finland continuously for more than three months must register their stay at the local registration office ( EU-citizens must also register at the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). Start by filling out an application online in the e-service Enter Finland ( or a paper application. Make sure that you have all the necessary attachments for your application and bring them with you when you visit our service point. When using the e-service, you need to identify yourself at a service point of the Finnish Immigration Service. Book an appointment beforehand in the appointment system. Instructions for making the appointment can be found here LIVING Scholarship recipients are expected to personally handle their living arrangements prior to coming to Finland. The Student Foundation of Turku (TYS) offers different types of flats that one can rent during the stay in Finland. It is popular for university students to live in these flats

4 and TYS offers housing in different areas of the city. The rent is affordable and includes water, electricity and Internet access. For more information about renting a flat from TYS or to fill out the electronic form to apply for a flat, please visit this web page: For visits up to 6 months, it is possible to rent a room or a flat from Villa Hortus, also situated very close to the university campus: "Link to Villa Hortus". Other useful links: TVT Asunnot: Forenom: Asuntoverstas: (only in Finnish) Private market: Retrodorm: Airbnb: Some apartments might be unfurnished! So please pay attention to that. The furniture can be purchased from second hand shops (in Finnish) OTHER ISSUES CURRENCY AND BANKING Finland belongs to the Single European Payments Area (SEPA). This allows fast, cheap and secure money transfers anywhere in the euro currency area. The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and the Business Identifier Code (BIC) allow the identification of any account in the SEPA countries. Visa and MasterCard credit cards are widely accepted in Finland. Other credit cards, such as Eurocard, Diners Club and American Express, may not be accepted in all shops. Automatic cash dispensers accept American Express, Cirrus, Diner s Club, MasterCard and Visa. For many visiting PhD-students and researchers it is a good idea to open a Finnish bank account. This makes it easier to receive the scholarship payments, pay rent and other bills, and it allows you to get a Finnish bank card. Finnish banks usually grant credit cards only for long-term or permanent residents of Finland. Opening of a bank account is usually free of charge and a bank card usually costs around 2,00 /month. To open a bank account in Finland, you must have a valid passport with you! TRANSPORTATION If you want to travel around Finland, you can buy tickets here: Buses

5 Trains You might also need to buy a city bus card, since many of the flats owned by TYS are situated a couple of kilometres outside the city centre. A regular bus card costs 52 /month, a single ticket costs 3 (+1 at night time from to 04.00) and it is valid for 2 hours. You can read more about Turku region traffic as well as use the journey planner here: MOBILE PHONES There are several mobile phone operators in Finland. The biggest nation-wide operators are DNA, Elisa, Saunalahti and Telia. A simple way to open a line is to acquire a pre-paid card. The cards are rechargeable and can be purchased at R-kiosks, mobile phone shops and online. If you have an Internet connection, you can also stay in touch with your friends and family free of charge by making use of for example Skype or other peer-to-peer Internet telephone networks. MORE INFORMATION Here are some interesting links offering information about living in Finland: This is Finland A starter kit for keeping up with the Finnish culture Finland in your language All about living in Finland The city of Turku, please visit For more information about Åbo Akademi University, please visit

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