The University of Helsinki Annual Review 2019
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ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 503 DOCTORAL DEGREES UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 Published 30 Apr 2020 Editorial board: Päivi Kuuppelomäki Jonas Lindholm Tuula Sunnarborg Soile Tapio Translation: University of Helsinki Language Services UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 INTRODUCTION BY THE RECTOR LOOKING FORWARD TO NEW INITIATIVES AS WE HEAD TOWARDS 2030 The year 2019 was in many ways significant for the to lobby for sufficient funding for these important is- future of the University of Helsinki. The whole Uni- sues. versity community joined forces in drafting our stra- tegic plan for the next 10 years, and we also lobbied The year 2019 also saw the formulation of our new for university funding through the #Researchmat- strategic plan. Unlike the University’s previous stra- ters campaign. tegic plans, the new one spans 10 years, which means that we are envisioning the future all the way up to The entire Finnish university sector eagerly waited 2030. for the publication of the new Government pro- gramme in the spring of 2019 as well as for the re- The most important aspect in the year-long endeav- sults of the budget negotiations that took place the our was that the whole University community had following autumn. However, instead of just waiting the opportunity to participate and have a say in the for things to happen, we made things happen. Since strategic choices to be documented in the plan. Dur- 2018, the University of Helsinki has been a commit- ing this year, the University community was invited ted participant in the #Researchmatters campaign to respond to an online survey in January and Febru- with the aim of defending Bildung and enhancing ary, engage in face-to-face dialogue with the rector high-quality academic education, the appreciation of and vice-rectors in open campus meetings in April, science and funding for the higher education sector. comment on the tentative strategic choices on the Throughout the campaign, we engaged in discus- Flamma intranet in October, and finally, participate sions with political decision-makers and highlighted in an open discussion session held in Think Corner our message in the University’s various communi- in November. In addition to the above joint events, cation channels. The entire University community, faculties and units organised a number of strate- from employees to students, not forgetting our alum- gy-related events over the course of the year. ni and other friends and partners, worked hard for the goals of the campaign. I wish to thank everyone All through the year, the faculties and various com- for their contribution to increasing the University’s mittees also contributed significantly to the drafting impact! of the strategic plan by analysing and collecting ma- terial to serve as a basis in the strategy-related dis- In September we received good news: after almost cussion sessions. The committees mentioned above a decade of funding cuts, core funding for Finnish also offered the University community a channel universities was back on track with an annual in- to continuously participate in the strategy process. crease of €40 million in addition to the restoration As well as the University community, alumni, de- of the university index. The Government programme cision-makers and other important stakeholders also included many excellent measures, such as pro- were asked to take part in the strategy planning. moting continuous learning and raising the level of The Board of the University will make the ultimate competence nationally. The University will continue decision on the strategic choices in February 2020. After February, the University will intensify commu- UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 nication about the strategic plan and translate the the vice-rectors were closely involved in the prepara- strategic choices made into concrete implementation tion of the strategic plan when chairing the various plans so that the choices and objectives of the plan committees. The open discussion meetings on the genuinely become part of the everyday life of the campuses with the University community provided University community. the rector and vice-rectors with excellent feedback and information for the further processing of the Both the #Researchmatters campaign and the draft- strategic plan. ing of the strategic plan are fine examples of the power of joining forces to make a difference. Togeth- During 2019, the rector and vice-rectors found suit- er, as a community, we are much more than the sum able work processes for their team, such as working of each of us as individuals. lunches on Mondays to go through topical issues to- gether. The team of rector and four vice-rectors has In 2019, the University’s international activities proved to be a successful ensemble with seamless moved forward in big leaps. We signed a strategic collaboration. As a large university means numerous partnership agreement with the University of Edin- meetings and events requiring participation by the burgh, one of the top universities in the world. More- senior management, a team of five enables the rec- over, we joined the UNA Europa university alliance, tor and vice-rectors to be present for the University also known as the Macron network. The Universi- community. ty hopes that through this alliance, which includes eight leading universities from Europe, it can raise The rector, vice-rectors and University units have its international engagement to an increasingly high- engaged in multifaceted cooperation. In the Univer- er level. The network will diversify our University’s sity’s management group, the leadership of faculties teaching offering by, for example, opening up new and independent institutes regularly review topical opportunities for virtual learning. issues with the rector and vice-rectors. The meet- ings between campus leaders focus not only on joint Last year also proved that the University of Helsin- matters, but also on campus-specific questions. Fur- ki fares exceptionally well in international compari- thermore, the bi-annual campus meetings with the sons. Even if we disagree on the significance of such rector and vice-rectors open to the entire University rankings, the fact is that they are followed around community provide an opportunity to discuss specif- the world, and some international students even se- ic issues raised by the campus community. lect their future university on the basis of ranking results. The rankings prove that the University of At the start of the new decade, the University of Hel- Helsinki has retained its position at the international sinki ranks among the top one per cent of the world’s top. What is particularly pleasing is our University’s universities. We produce research-based knowledge 15th place in an international ranking that assesses to the benefit of the global community and generate the promotion of sustainable development. For these solutions that can shape the future of our planet and great achievements, praise is due to all members of humanity. I would like to thank each and every mem- the University community. ber of the University community for making this pos- sible! The year 2019 was the first full year in office for the current rector and vice-rectors. The most important Rector Jari Niemelä task of the year was ensuring the progress of the strategy planning process. The rector and vice-rec- tors played many roles in this process, for example, UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 KEY FIGURES IN 2019 31,600 degree students 1,970 international degree students 6,142 completed degrees 1.1 million completed credits 27,531 applicants in main admissions 3,798 new students 28,500 Open University students 8,110 members of staff, of whom 4,638 are teachers and researchers 1,399 international staff members 10,708 publications, of which 73 % are peer-reviewed 3,157 research projects 63rd in the Shanghai ranking of world universities 19 Academy of Finland Centres of Excellence, of which 14 are coordinated from the University of Helsinki 14 Academy Professors 15 researchers from the University of Helsinki on the Highly Cited Researchers list 99 invention disclosures and 28 patent applications 34,384 registered alumni 41 million page visits on the Helsinki.fi website 12,800 international media hits Operates at 16 locations UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 ORGANISATION 2019 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI - ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BY THE RECTOR ........................................................3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................7 THE CHANGING UNIVERSITY ...............................................................8 STRATEGIC PLAN ................................................................................12 RESEARCH ...........................................................................................17 EDUCATION ..........................................................................................29 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT .......................................................................42 A SUSTAINABLE AND RESPONSIBLE UNIVERSITY .........................56 HUMAN RESOURCES ..........................................................................60 FINANCES .............................................................................................66 SERVICES .............................................................................................72 FACILITIES ............................................................................................77