University of Helsinki Annual Review 2017
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ANNUAL REVIEW 2017 1,1 MILLION CREDITS COMPLETED UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI ANNUAL REVIEW 2017 First published in Finnish on 28 March 2018 English version published on 21 May 2018 INTRODUCTION BY THE RECTOR The year 2017 marked the beginning of the University of The new degree programmes provide students with the Helsinki’s new strategy period, which is guided by our skills needed to succeed in the changing and multifaceted vision of global impact in interaction. The University world of work of the future. The old and new degree wants to contribute to a better world by taking an structures will run parallel until 2020, when the transition increasingly active role in the resolution of global period will end. problems. We join forces with partners and stakeholders In 2017 the University also celebrated the centenary of both in Finland and abroad. Finland’s independence. The theme of the jubilee year was The University wants to provide ideal circumstances for Together. The University community participated in more research and learning. An international environment for than 30 projects and events that were related to the learning and top-level research offers a solid foundation centenary. On the occasion of the centenary and the 500th for creativity and innovation. Community spirit, anniversary of the Reformation, the Faculties of Theology, interaction and an open operating culture are key to Philosophy and Law also organised solemn conferment achieving our objectives. The wellbeing of our staff and ceremonies of their degrees. students is of crucial importance. In September, the new Think Corner – a meeting place for The University has defined three strategic research areas, science and citizens – was opened in the heart of Helsinki. namely life sciences, the human mind in a changing world, The popularity of Think Corner surpassed all expectations: and the structure of matter and materials science, and during the first three months since its opening, over 250 builds hubs of competence extending over organisational events, with more than 30,000 participants, were hosted. boundaries around these research areas. In the life The University of Helsinki organised the science-based sciences, the Helsinki Life Science Centre launched Helsinki Challenge competition together with nine other operations that will bring the University’s campuses Finnish universities under the theme ‘the UN’s sustainable together to form a multidisciplinary community. In 2017 development goals’. Helsinki Challenge raised the profile the University made preparations for the establishment of of Finnish research as well as the new approach to research the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science HELSUS represented by the competition. A good example of this is and the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System the Helsinki Challenge Impact Camp set up by the Research INAR, which officially started operations at the participating Finnish universities, which attracted the beginning of 2018. interest of EU lobbyists and decision-makers in Brussels. We have actively and successfully applied for the Academy At this time, making research information available to of Finland’s funding intended to raise the research profiles decision-makers is more important than ever. of Finnish universities. In the Academy’s four calls for The past year was a time of consolidating services and applications thus far, the University has received €34.5 building an operational culture for the University Services million, and just in the third call in 2017 a total of €15 organisation. In the process, the line organisation, which million. The University will continue to hone its research previously focused on administrative duties, learned to profile to help in meeting the challenges of the digital operate efficiently as a service organisation. world, ageing and wellbeing, globalisation, and sustainability. In the autumn of 2016, the University Board decided to commission an independent review of the downsizing and We will advance open science by improving open access to restructuring process of 2015–2016. The report of the research publications and furthering the conditions of review group resulted in a lively discussion within the sharing and opening research data. A project for a service University community. The University prepared measures centre for open access publishing was launched with the to be taken on the basis of the review report. Consequently, aim of supporting publishing through both open channels the University will increasingly involve the University and those subject to a subscription fee. The project community in decision-making processes, improve change includes the Helsinki University Press, which will make its management and communication, and follow closely the publications freely available online. The first publications wellbeing of staff and students. The University community will come out in 2018. will together create ideal circumstances for research, In 2017 the University implemented an extensive teaching and studies. education reform. The University now offers all education I wish to thank the entire University staff and all our in degree programmes, most of which are students for their excellent work in 2017! multidisciplinary, crossing faculty boundaries. Almost half of the University’s master’s programmes are open to Jukka Kola, Rector international applicants. The number of options available for application has been cut by half, which makes it easier for applicants to select their preferred programme. 3 KEY FIGURES IN 2017 • 31,312 degree students • 1,872 international degree students representing 112 nationalities • 6,055 completed degrees • 1.1 million completed credits • 22,120 applicants in the main admissions procedure, 3,367 admitted students • 25,310 students at the Open University • 7,783 employees, including 4,383 teachers and researchers • 1,234 international staff members representing 97 nationalities • 11,446 publications, of which 63% were peer reviewed • 3,252 research projects • 56th in the Shanghai ranking of world universities • 81st in the US News Best Global Universities ranking • 21 Academy of Finland centres of excellence, including 15 coordinated by the University of Helsinki • 20 Academy of Finland professors • 10 researchers in the Highly Cited Researchers listing, which contains a total of 21 Finnish researchers • 108 invention disclosures and 43 patent applications • 28,000 registered alumni • 48 million euros in donations through the Best for the World fundraising campaign (between 2013−2017) • 36 million page visits to the helsinki.fi website • 28,000 media hits in addition to mentions on TV and radio • Operations in 16 different localities 4 ORGANISATION IN 2017 For a presentation of the current organisation, see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/university/organisation. 1) Joint research units of the University of Helsinki and other organisations: The Helsinki Center of Economic Research (HECER) is a joint unit of the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and the Hanken School of Economics. The Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT is a joint unit of the University of Helsinki and Aalto University. The Helsinki Institute of Physics HIP is a joint unit of the University of Helsinki, the University of Jyväskylä, the Lappeenranta University of Technology, the Tampere University of Technology and Aalto University. The Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM is a joint unit of the University of Helsinki, the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), the National Institute of Health and Welfare and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. 2) UniSport is a joint unit of the University of Helsinki and Aalto University that provides sports services. 5 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI – ANNUAL REVIEW 2017 CONTENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BY THE RECTOR .................................................................................................................. 3 CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 THE CHANGING UNIVERSITY .......................................................................................................................... 7 STRATEGIC PLAN 2017–2020 ........................................................................................................................ 11 RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................................................... 19 TEACHING ........................................................................................................................................................... 29 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT .................................................................................................................................... 41 STAFF ................................................................................................................................................................... 48 FINANCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 54 SERVICES ............................................................................................................................................................. 61 FACILITIES .........................................................................................................................................................