Are you all about science and technology? Would you like to develop your skills and use them to tackle the greatest challenges of our time? VTT might be just the place for you – apply now for VTT Summer of Changemakers 2026 traineeships! 

VTT is one of the leading applied research organisations in Europe. What unites us are curiosity, a passion for learning, and a purpose: to solve the biggest challenges of our time and turn them into sustainable growth and well-being. Our cross-disciplinary community of nearly 2400 brilliant minds from 60 different nationalities is focused on creating impact through science-based innovation. Now, we are looking for passionate changemakers – you – to join us as summer trainees.

Our last summer's trainees rated their summer job experience at VTT 4.8/5 in our summer job survey. Below are some excerpts from their feedback when asked how they would describe VTT as a workplace:

"I was impressed by how much responsibility and freedom I was given. I was trusted to work independently, but support was always available when needed."

"VTT is a professional, inspiring, and forward-looking workplace where practical impact is evident. The work community is skilled and open to new ideas."

"I found VTT versatile, innovative, and inspiring."

Do you want to be our next Research Trainee in our Intelligent Robotics team? Join us - and let’s make science work for hope next summer! 

As a research trainee, your key goals are testing and improving the existing, feature-based 3D object localization system used in the team, as well as testing other Neural Network based methods. You will use both existing data, but also gather new data with our 3D cameras (such as different Zivid models) to localize objects meant to be manipulated by robots in possibly visually noisy environments.  

Our team, Intelligent Robotics, works on making mobile robots and manipulators of various sizes act more autonomous and perform increasingly difficult tasks, for which accurate and robust computer vision is required.   

Please note this position requires mostly working on-site at VTT premises in Oulu. 

What would your responsibilities include?

• Read scientific literature on the topic 
• Use research-level code accompanying publications to test on real data 
• Perform laboratory experiments with the cameras, both offline and online 
• Present your findings to the team 
• Document your code and experiments  

We're looking for someone who:

• Has studied computer vision or machine learning, or can show completed projects on the topic 
• Has the matching programming skills (Python, C++) and experience on using open-source projects (example of projects we use: Grounded SAM 2 ) 
• Is willing to delve into scientific literature. 
• Is not afraid of writing 
• Can work as part of a team and is not afraid to ask for help when needed 

The ideal VTT Changemaker is a curious mind, who is eager to develop and take on new challenges. We appreciate ambition and willingness to learn over having all the answers or skills ready when you start. You are also a team player with strong collaboration skills who wants to drive positive impact in the world.

What would we offer you?

• Impactful work for the future. As a leading applied research organisation, we are on a mission to bring exponential hope to the world by joining together people, businesses, science and technology. We tackle the biggest challenges of our time – from climate change and resource sufficiency to industrial renewal and smart healthcare – and turn them into sustainable growth. Read more about our strategy – the path of exponential hope.
• Career opportunities, top-level mentors. At VTT, your skills are appreciated and supported with the opportunity to learn from the top experts in their field. You’ll get to discover our community of nearly 2400 experts representing 60 nationalities working across cutting-edge fields of science and technology.
• Meaningful projects, real responsibility. With us, you get to take on meaningful projects and create innovative scientific and technical solutions. We treat all employees as equals and give you real responsibility from the start. VTT is a caring employer that supports your growth and work–life balance and offers a range of well-being services.

What is like to work with us solving the biggest challenges of our time? Check from the video what kind of experiences Aymara, Daniil, Eric and Isabella had from their summer traineeships and what kind of change did they drive.

Apply now and join our community of brilliant minds!

Come, curious minds and clever changemakers! Prepare your CV and cover letter, and send in your application with your transcript of records via our recruitment system as soon as possible but at the latest by 1 February 2026. Let’s change the world for the better next summer.

All VTT Summer of Changemakers traineeships are paid, and the salary is determined based on study credits: for Master's students the monthly salary is between 2650€ and 2850€, and for Bachelor's students the monthly salary is between 2150€ and 2450€. The typical duration of traineeships is between 3 and 6 months, with start dates usually falling between March and June, however the length and the exact starting date can be discussed with the hiring team. 

Please read more of VTT Summer of Changemakers from here: https://www.vttresearch.com/en/summer-changemakers

Interested and want to hear more?

For further information, please contact Research Team Leader, Markku Suomalainen, markku.suomalainen@vtt.fi, +358 50 343 1755 on Mondays and Fridays at 8:30-9:30 during the application period. 

We will process applications as they come in, and fill in the position as soon as we find the right candidate. We will inform all applicants about the continuation of the process during February 2026. Most of the interview will be held in February-March, however they can be started already during the application period. 

We look forward to hearing from you!