Krista Varantola came to Tampere in 1989 as an associate professor of English, particularly of the theory and practice of translation, and was elected professor in 1998.

When Varantola was chosen as rector, she had already gained a great deal of national and international experience in university and science administration by serving as chair of the Finland-US Educational Exchange Commission (FUSEEC) from 2002 to 2003 and as a board member of the Steering Group for Higher Education of the Nordic Council of Ministers. During her term as rector, Varantola was involved in an extensive project in which the Universities of Tampere and Jyväskylä deepened their cooperation in research.

After her term as rector, Varantola was appointed chancellor of the University of Tampere. During this time, she particularly continued building and maintaining connections to China, where 25 Nordic universities had founded a jointly maintained centre called the Nordic Centre. Krista Varantola has chaired the centre’s board.