Where do we study?
University of Turku, www.utu.fi/en/university
Åbo Akademi University, www.abo.fi/en/
How to contact us?
University of Turku Student Union (TYY)
Student Union of Åbo Akademi University
Teekkarikomissio (Teekkari Commission)
What are our Guilds?
University of Turku
- Adamas – Guild of Material Technology – Light blue overalls
- Asklepio – Student association of Medical technology and health technology – White overalls
- Digit – Computer Engineering Guild – Black overalls
- Efficio – Guild of Industrial Engineering and Management – Forest green overalls
- Machina – Guild of Mechanical Engineering – Pink overalls
- Nucleus – Student association of Biotechnology students – Electric blue overalls
- Optima – Guild of Automation Technology – Beige overalls
Åbo Akademi
- DaTe – Computer Technologists – Black overalls
- Kemistklubben – Chemistry Club – Light green overalls, self-dyed
What are some of our main events?
1. Eldprowet
- When? 29.4.
- For who? All Teekkari Fuksi
- What happens? Fuksi prove their worthiness to receive their cap on Wappu during a strict 8-hour long checkpoint crawl. On the crawl, the Fuksi learns about the history and traditions of the various Teekkari guilds of Turku. Older students also take part via organising the checkpoints.
- Who organises? The Teekkari Commission and the Teekkari guilds of Turku, with help from various stakeholders, including TEK
- What is best? The extremely fun checkpoint activities, as well as the creative solutions to them found by the Fuksi
- www.teekkarikomissio.fi/en
2. ASINDA, Axels och Stinas industridag
- When? January
- For whom? All Teekkaris
- What happens? ASINDA aims to provide students with information about work life and an opportunity to network with potential future employers.
- Organiser: Kemistklubben
- What’s best? Biggest business event organised by teekkaris
- kemistklubben.org/pages/ASINDA/
3. Teekkari dipping in Turku
- When? 1st May
- For whom? Yesterday’s freshmen and other Wappu folk
- What happens? The dipping event is the culmination of Wappu as a freshman. The dipping is done using a crane and the crane basket is lowered into the Aura River. Only first-year students take part in the dipping, while their academic elders enjoy the spectacle on picnic blankets or aboard riverboats.
- Organiser: Dipping Committee of Teekkarikomissio
- What’s best? Climbing into the basket with a bunch of friends!
- www.teekkarikomissio.fi/en
Teekkaris in Turku
Teekkari culture in Turku was represented for a long time solely by Kemistklubben vid Åbo Akademi rf, which was founded in 1923. With the introduction of Computer Engineering programmes in 1999, the number of teekkari guilds in Turku tripled. Datateknologerna vid Åbo Akademi rf was founded at Åbo Akademi University, and the University of Turku also received its first teekkari association, Digit ry. In 2007, the University of Turku started offering a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology and Turku received its fourth teekkari guild, Nucleus ry. In 2020, the University of Turku started offering education in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and separate guilds, Machina ry and Adamas ry, were established near the end of the year for these disciplines. In 2022, the guilds were joined by Asklepio ry, the association for students in Medical Engineering and Health Technology. The first students of Automation Technology started studying the very next year, setting up Optima ry at a record pace. In autumn 2024, Industrial Engineering and Management students founded their own guild, Efficio ry. The same autumn also saw the start of the degree programme in Food Technology.
The teekkari associations in Turku are characterised by a strong culture of interdisciplinarity. Cooperation is done across departmental, faculty and university boundaries. Cooperation with natural scientists, in particular, is close.
The language of the guilds at Åbo Akademi University is Swedish, while the guilds at the University of Turku use Finnish. In order to facilitate cooperation between the teekkari guilds of both universities, Teekkarikomissio was founded in 2000. Its members include all the teekkari guilds in Turku. Teekkarikomissio organises joint cultural events for all the teekkaris in Turku throughout the year and manages the rights to use the teekkari cap of Turku and the awarding of the cap.
The joyful message of Wappu is spread by Wappu magazine Pönkeli, an annual publication produced by the Pönkeli Committee. The magazine is published every year in various formats. Pönkeli’s predecessor, Pilde & Napander, was published between 2001 and 2020.
Teekkariwappu in Turku is a series of events organised by the organisations of the Faculty of Technology at the University of Turku, including teekkaris as well as the Chemistry and Biochemistry student organisation TYK ry and the student organisation for Computer Science students Asteriski ry. Teekkariwappu in Turku starts at the beginning of April with a joint Wappu launch party of the Faculty of Technology at the University of Turku. Things start to get busy a couple of weeks before the actual Wappu on May Day: events include Pönkeli’s publishing party, Grill & Kyykkä, Morning sitsit and Tempositsit.
The teekkaris of Åbo Akademi University take part in the Wappu week traditions of their own student union. The week includes sitsit and appro events, beer pong evenings and student theatre.
Eldprowet is a checkpoint tour with secret content, the culmination of the fresher teekkaris’ training in Turku. The freshmen who successfully complete the tour and achieve the goals of their guild will get to put on their teekkari caps on Wappu Eve on the steps of the Turku Cathedral in front of all the teekkaris in Turku. The caps will be put on at Vartiovuorenmäki at 18.00 by the students of Åbo Akademi University, while students studying at the University of Turku will do the same at 18.00 at Taidemuseonmäki, where they will march in flag parades. Afterwards, the students will meet at the statue of Paavo Nurmi and give him a student cap with great ceremony. Starting from 2022, the capping ceremony has also included the announcement of the winner of the Varsinainen Tekniikan Teko Prize. On May Day, new teekkaris will be dipped in the river in the centre of Turku in a dipping basket.
The Turku Teekkari Cap is round, with the cord of the tassel beginning at the edge of the cap. Students of the University of Turku have the golden cockade of their student union (TYY) and a blue and white lining, while those from Åbo Akademi have a cockade featuring the lyre of ÅAS, and a yellow and black lining.
The ribbon (kuntanauha) of TYY is blue and white, and can be worn by the members of the TYY board, members of the Representative Council, and other officials. It can also be awarded to other deserving members. Åbo Akademi have instead a yellow and black ribbon, which may be worn by all members of the student union. The ribbons are primarily used for annual balls. Teekkarikomissio uses a technology-red ribbon with two stripes, one blue and one yellow, representing both student unions. The teekkari guilds also have their own organisational ribbons.
Teekkari culture in Turku is characterised by interdisciplinarity. The relationship with natural scientists and mathematicians, in particular, is very natural and honours long-standing traditions. Students of Biochemistry and Computer Science also study at the Faculty of Technology at the University of Turku.