Abstract. Instrumental seismic observations in northern Finland started in the 1950s. They were originally initiated by the Institute of Seismology of the University of Helsinki (ISUH), but the staff of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO) and later geophysicists of the University of Oulu (UO) were involved in the development of seismological observations and research in northern Finland from the very beginning. This close cooperation between seismologists and the technical staff of ISUH, UO, and SGO continued in many significant international projects and enabled a high level of seismological research in Finland. In our paper, we present history and current status of seismic observations and seismological research in northern Finland at the UO and SGO. These include both seismic observations at permanent seismic stations and temporary seismic experiments with portable seismic equipment. We describe the present seismic instrumentation and major research topics of the seismic group at SGO and discuss plans for future development of permanent seismological observations and portable seismic instrumentation at SGO as part of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) research infrastructure. We also present the research topics of the recently organized Laboratory of Applied Seismology, and show examples of seismic observations performed by new seismic equipment located at this laboratory and selected results of time-lapse seismic body wave travel-time tomography using the data of microseismic monitoring in the Pyhäsalmi Mine (northern Finland).