The University of Helsinki is an international academic community with more than 40,000 students and members of staff. It operates on four campuses in Helsinki and nine other localities in Finland. The University's 11 faculties are home to many departments. Furthermore, the University accommodates several independent research-oriented institutes, multidisciplinary research networks, campus units, and units attending to duties of a national authority. The University of Helsinki enjoys excellent visibility and influence all around Helsinki and in the rest of Finland.
What kind of teaching will be offered, and what kind of research will be conducted at the University of Helsinki in 2020? In what ways will the University engage with the surrounding society at that time? How will we continue to achieve excellence? The image of the future the University pursues with determination – its vision of "Global Impact in Interaction" – can be realized by taking active measures. In these pages, we share stories of scenarios and wishes for the future and our passion for research, high-quality teaching, and social impact. These stories encourage us to make bold choices that will enable the University to contribute to global challenges.
The University of Helsinki is the oldest and largest academic education institution in Finland, an international scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers. In international university rankings, the University of Helsinki typically ranks among the top 100. The University of Helsinki seeks solutions for global challenges and creates new ways of thinking for humanity's best. Through the power of science, the University has contributed to society, education, and welfare since 1640.
The University of Helsinki is the only Finnish University to rank in the top 100 international university rankings consistently. There are approximately 18 000 universities in the world.
In 2017, the University of Helsinki placed 56th in the Shanghai Ranking, 90th in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking and 102th in the QS World University Ranking, and 81th in the Taiwan (NTU) ranking.
The University of Helsinki aims to produce research of a high international standard in all fields. Research provides the University's scholars with substantial expertise to participate in society's development and the business sector in various national and regional cooperation projects. The University of Helsinki is a member of more than half of all national and Nordic centers of excellence research. It is also the only Finnish University to have received an invitation to join the League of European Research Universities (LERU), an association of the leading research-intensive universities in Europe.
The University allocates funding to research based on competition and evaluation. Particular emphasis is placed on multidisciplinary initiatives within basic research. About half of the research conducted at the University of Helsinki is financed from the University's operating expenses and the other half from external funding sources.
Teaching at the University of Helsinki is based on research. The underlying principle is that every teacher does research, and every researcher teaches. According to an international evaluation, teaching at the University of Helsinki is of a high European standard. As a research-intensive university, the University of Helsinki encourages most of its students to complete a second-cycle degree. The great variety of minor subject options continues to be an essential component in the high quality of degrees completed at the University. The Open University offers teaching by the University of Helsinki's degree requirements, and the University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education HY+ provides professional education programs in the various fields represented at the University.
The University of Helsinki is a responsible social force, an advocate of science and scholarship, and a valued partner. The University boasts an extensive network of partners, including its alumni and friends, donors and funders, foundations and civic organizations, businesses, and the media and political decision-makers and civil servants in the public sector.
The University's social engagement is manifested through its core duties of research and teaching, in addition to which the University and members of the University community interact with the surrounding society in numerous ways.
Interaction with the University enhances its partners' operational conditions, the business sector, and society at large. Graduates serving as experts in various fields constitute the University's most significant contribution to society. Decision-makers consult the University's representatives, participate in public debate, and provide research information for public use. Productive, well-functioning partnerships generate solutions to the significant challenges facing not only Finnish society but societies globally.
The University of Helsinki is the only Finnish University to be a member of the League of European Research Universities, or LERU, an association of 21 leading European universities promoting the conditions and opportunities for basic research in Europe.
Of the University of Helsinki's teachers and researchers, 22% are from outside Finland. The University has 1 700 international Masters and doctoral students in 2016.
Approximately 800 students embark on a student exchange every year. Meanwhile, the University of Helsinki receives approximately 1,000 incoming exchange students every year.
The University of Helsinki was established in Turku in 1640, and the University continues to celebrate its anniversary on the date of the establishment of the Royal Academy of Turku, 26 March. The University moved to Helsinki during Finland's Russian rule in 1828, and when Finland gained its independence, it was renamed the University of Helsinki.
The Royal Academy of Turku was one of the four national universities in the Swedish realm. Its academic community comprised 11 professors and 250 students. Teaching and research were connected to Lutheran theology and European humanism. Research topics of the time included the structure of the universe, the nature of matter, the rules of mechanics, and the earth's resources.
After Finland became a part of Imperial Russia in 1809, the University was dramatically expanded. The Imperial Alexander University became a Humboldtian university of science and edification which studied humanity and its environment through the scientific method.
Once Finland gained its independence in 1917, the University assumed a central role in building the nation-state and its welfare. Members of the University community promoted the fledgling state's international interaction and economic development.
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