Finnish Council of University Rectors: Finnish Council of University Rectors Visit of the Chinese Education Association for International Exchange Rector Ilkka Niiniluoto (University of Helsinki) Chairman of the Finnish Council of University Rectors


Slide2: Member of the European Union since 1995 Population 5,2 million Randamp;D funding 3.5% of GDP (2005) Exports: 23% high technology Helsinki Finland: A Small Country in a Big World


Slide3: Lappeenranta (1) Vaasa (1) Oulu (1) Helsinki (7) Rovaniemi (1) Joensuu (1) Kuopio (1) Tampere (2) Espoo (1) Jyväskylä (1) Turku (3) Universities and Higher Education Institutions in Finland The Finnish higher education system consists of two sectors: universities and polytechnics. 21 universities 30 polytechnics University towns


Slide4: Universities in Finland 10 Multifaculty Universities 6 Specialized Universities 4 Art Universities 1 National Defence College


Universities in Finland: Universities in Finland


Slide6: Universities in Finland  Regional availability of HE and research services Graduates are well employed  High return of HE investment  Universities important for export industries


Slide7: Budget funding and building investments EUR 1,317 million in 2006 Supplementary external funding EUR 696 million in 2006 Budget funding, percentage of GDP 0.83 % University Funding in Finland


Slide8: Budget funding negotiated between the university and the Ministry of Education Funding based on targets: numbers of masters’ and doctors’ degrees, agreement for three years On average, 35 % of university funding is from outside sources, i.e. competitive public and private money Universities are public and state owned government agencies without a balance sheet University Funding in Finland


Universities in FinlandIndicators & Statistics 2006: Students, total 176,599 Women 95,066 Men 81,533 Foreign students, total 4,949 (2005) Bachelor and Master degree students 152,100 Licentiate and doctorate degree students 21,800 New students 20,150 Universities in Finland Indicators andamp; Statistics 2006


Slide10: Universities in Finland: Indicators andamp; Statistics 2006 Degrees gained in total, 19,398 Women 11,962 Men 7,436 Bachelor’s degrees 3,814 Master’s degrees 13,128 Doctorates 1,409 Other Degrees 1,047


Slide11: Universities in Finland: Indicators andamp; Statistics 2006 Personnel Teachers 7,883 Research personnel 6,333 Other staff 14,211


Slide12: Universities in Finland: Indicators andamp; Statistics 2006 New students per teacher 2.6 Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students in attendance per teacher 17.4 Master’s degrees per teacher 1.7 Doctorates per professor 0.6


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Future Challenges in Higher Education and Research : Structural Development of the Public Research System Structural Development of Universities Deepening cooperation and new forms of collaboration between universities and with polytechnics; examples: - HSE + HUT + UIAH = Innovation University Kuopio + Joensuu = Eastern Finnish University Federation University of Turku + TSE = Turku University Consortium Future Challenges in Higher Education and Research


Future Challenges in Higher Education and Research (2): Future Challenges in Higher Education and Research (2) Financial Autonomy Since 1 January 2007: right to establish own foundation andgt; own funds Proposition: universities will form a new type of legal person under public law Internationalization of HE and research Renewal of the degree structure (Bologna process) Bachelor 3 years, Master 2 years


Future Challenges in Higher Education and Research (3): Future Challenges in Higher Education and Research (3) Quality Assurance as a development tool Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council FINHEEC - audits of all Finnish universities 2005 - 2011 Register of European Higher Education Quality Assurance Agencies Assuring regional effectiveness Regional university centres