PEACE Students and their Stories

What is it like to study at TAPRI? How is it to be an international student at Tampere University? And what comes after the MA in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research? - Former PEACE students share their stories.

“My name is Rasmus and I graduated from the Peace program in summer 2020. I am currently working on a research project, exploring the role of images in peace processes. After graduating with a bachelor’s in political science and Economics, I was looking for internships abroad and came across TAPRI and the Peace program. While interning at TAPRI, I met students and teachers and realized that the program promised to be the ideal place to continue my studies. The Peace program allowed me to gain insights into various research fields and taught me a very comprehensive and complex understanding of international peace and conflict processes. I especially enjoyed the variety of different study options as well as the freedom of choice in defining my research interest for the master’s thesis. The teaching staff always encouraged the students to be creative and proactive and supported student-led initiatives and ideas. Students organized conferences and an excursion to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Additionally, the program allowed us to get in touch with notable scholars as well as visit Finnish actors engaged in conflict management and peace mediation. The international community in Tampere is pretty well connected and I was able to meet students from a multitude of cultural and educational backgrounds. Especially the students from Tampere International Global Society Students (TIPSY) created a high sense of belonging for the students in the Peace Program.”

“I remember coming back from my Erasmus exchange six years ago and feeling a bit lost, scrolling through European Master’s Programmes in the field of international relations. The PEACE programme seemed like a perfect combination of international context and multidisciplinary, but focused, courses […]. I enjoyed the varied nature of courses offered in the programme, ranging from transnational conflicts to peace photography. Especially the courses of Ms. Élise Féron, a lecturer who truly engages with students and has a lot of practical research background, were motivating.

What benefited my career most was the opportunity to do internships. I did one for three months at the Office of the Defense Attaché in Paris and it taught me a lot of practical skills needed in working life. I would say that gaining work, internship, or volunteering experience during the studies is essential and should be further encouraged. After completing my studies, I worked for three years at the foreign affairs desk of Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Last summer, I moved to Vienna to work at the Finnish Permanent OSCE Delegation where I coordinate Finnish extra-budgetary funding for OSCE projects, many of which are related to peacebuilding, follow the OSCE’s efforts to mediate in protracted conflicts. […] In general, just being curious and using the study time to explore interesting international topics, as well as learning languages, has been useful later during my career. Warm greetings to all fellow and future TIPSYies! It is a joyful student organisation, and I can highly recommend applying for the PEACE Programme.”