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 Integrated Computational Materials Engineering team? Join us - and let’s make science work for hope next summer! 

As a research trainee, your key goals are you will participate in the development of a multiscale computational framework for assessing the deformation mechanisms (Transformation induced plasticity, TRIP) in steels and other metallic materials. Specifically, you will assist in the development of crystal plasticity-based model for the simulation at the microstructural length scale.  

Our team, ProperTune Integrated Computational Materials Engineering, works on various aspects of computational materials research. As such, we contribute to VTT’s ProperTune concept for integrated computational materials engineering. Our aim is to bring digital materials design into the toolkit of industries both in Finland and globally and apply it to their critical components in mechanical machines and devices. 

What would your responsibilities include?

Depending on your background possible tasks could be: 

• Create and modify image or statistics based numerical representation of the materials microstructure 
• Calibrate micromechanical material models and post-process numerical results 
• Contribute to the development of microstructure scale modelling capabilities related to high strength steels and their performance dominating micromechanical phenomena under demanding application conditions. 

Who we are looking for?

• We expect you to be a Master level student in a relevant field (e.g. material science and engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, physics, or solid mechanics) complemented with programming skills. 
• You have knowledge of deformation and damage mechanisms of metallic (crystalline) and other condensed matter 
• You have knowledge of machine learning techniques and familiarity with modern related tools is a plus. 
• You have experience with numerical modelling and simulation is a plus. 
• You are familiar with Unix-like operating systems 
• You have basic programming skills (Python, C/C++, etc.) 

As a person, we hope that you are 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

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!