Our research operations are mainly targeted at developing our services and operations. Research cooperation can also be utilised to support decision-making and knowledge management.
Our research partners include
- universities and graduate schools
- the hospital district
- research institutions
- competence hubs and centres
- the region’s universities of applied sciences, and
- different research networks.
In spring 2024, we started working together with the University of Helsinki’s Master’s Programme in Development of Health Care Services. The objective of this cooperation is to use our shared knowledge assets and resources to increase research, teaching and development cooperation, promote operations based on proven work life practices and develop competence. Visit the master’s programme website(Link leads to external service) .
Would you like to write your thesis for the Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division? The Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division offers a range of options for writing theses and dissertations of different subjects and levels. Annually, the division receives around 200–250 research permit applications, most of which are thesis studies. The research operations are mainly focused on developing services and operations, which means that the research topics often stem from the division’s own research and development needs.
These pages list the published studies and theses made in our division.
View the published studies (in Finnish) (PDF)
You can also find Aihepankki, the topic and theme bank for thesis works, further down this same page.
Feel free to also propose your own thesis topic.
Contact the unit or office for which you would like to write your thesis well in advance before applying for a research permit.
Theses must always have an appointed contact person who is employed by the division, in most cases the supervisor of the target department.
A research permit is required for all theses that collect or process data related to the division’s clients, personnel or materials, regardless of the method used to collect this data. However, research permits are not necessary for literary reviews or the students’ course work or assignments that do not include a report to be published or that do not use client information.
Helsinki City Rescue Department shares information about its research operations on the Rescue Services’ website.
The website has information on the principles and practices of research and the opportunities of writing your own study or thesis in cooperation with the Rescue Department.
Go to the Rescue Service’s research website.(Link leads to external service)
You will need a research permit for your study if you plan to review any materials, personnel or clients of the social services and health care sector as part of your research.
The employees of the Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division have the option to apply for state funding for university-level health research.
The applicant can be an individual doctoral researcher, a post doc researcher or a research group. If the applicant is a research group, at least one of the members must be employed by or in the service of the Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division.
The division coordinates a joint annual application.
More information on applying for state research grants (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)
The Urban Research and Statistics Unit is in charge of research at the City level.
Go to the Urban Research and Statistics Unit’s website(Link leads to external service)
Aihepankki – topic and theme bank of research and thesis studies
Browse Aihepankki to view the free research and thesis subjects that have been collected from our services.
To reserve a topic and in case of enquiries, please contact us by email: sotepe.oppilaitosyhteistyo@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program) . Enter “aihepankki” into the subject line of your message. Please note that you can only reserve a subject when your studies have reached the thesis stage.
We regularly update and expand the Aihepankki, so please check this page for the latest information. We remove a topic from the Aihepankki once it has been selected or when further theses on the same subject are not currently accepted.
Topics can be suggested in Finnish and Swedish. We add topics to the Aihepankki in the language in which the service itself has submitted the topic and in which the service wishes the research to be conducted.