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 2025 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 over 2300 brilliant minds from over 55 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 4.6/5 in Oikotie's Responsible Summer Job survey. Below are some excerpts from their feedback when asked what was the best part of their summer job:

“Great team, interesting tasks, enough responsibility, and opportunities to make an impact.”
“I got to know a lot of professionals from different fields with this summer job. So, networking is the best part.”
“Interesting projects, nice and helpful colleagues, work-life balance, and equal treatment with permanent colleagues.”

Do you want to be our next Research Trainee or Master's Thesis Worker in our Innovative Air Mobility team?  

As a Research Trainee (or Master’s Thesis Worker), your primary goal will be to develop and implement a Ground Control Station (GCS) for semi-autonomous drones, with support and guidance from our team. The GCS will be implemented based on an already designed prototype user interface. In this role, you will play a key part in advancing the integration and development of the technical command and control solution for the drones. By the end of your traineeship or thesis project, you will have made significant progress in building a robust drone fleet control platform.

Our Innovative Air Mobility team specializes in unmanned aviation solutions and leads cutting-edge research on drone fleets and swarming. Drones play a pivotal role in advancing a carbon-neutral society, serving as efficient tools for data gathering, environmental monitoring, and delivery systems.

What would your responsibilities include?

• Your main goal is to create a Ground Control Station for a fleet of drones
• Creating a user interface for drone controlling ground station based on existing VTT made UI prototype displays
• Possible simulation modelling of the drone fleet operations
• Field testing the system with real drones
• Reporting and documenting the work in English
• Possibility to scientific article preparation and writing according to your interest. 

Who we are looking for?

• At least two years of university level studies in relevant technical field, such as electrical engineering, computer science, automation, mechanical engineering, technical physics, etc.
• Python programming skills (or strong background with other high-level programming languages)
• Possible familiarity with drones and open-source drone software, such as Ardupilot and Mavlink
• Independent problem-solving skills (with a strong support from the team)

As a person, we hope that you are:

• Curios and eager to develop your own skills
• A team player who wants to create societal impact together
• Willing to learn and have the ability to search solutions and information on your own

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 over 2300 experts representing more than 55 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 2 February 2025. 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 2600€ and 2800€, and for Bachelor's students the monthly salary is between 2100€ and 2400€. 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 Petri Mononen, petri.mononen@vtt.fi, +358405155808 on 29.1. at 10-11 or on 30.1. at 14-15 (Finnish time). 

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 2025. 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!