| Aalto University | |
|---|---|
| Aalto-yliopisto Aalto-universitetet |
|
| Established | 2010 |
| Type | Public Foundation |
| Endowment | €700 million [1] |
| President | Tuula Teeri |
| Admin. staff | 4938 |
| Students | 19 516 (year 2010) [2] |
| Location | Helsinki and Espoo, Finland |
| Campus | Urban |
| Budget | Approx. €400 million per year[3] |
| Website | www.aalto.fi |
Aalto University (Finnish: Aalto-yliopisto, Swedish: Aalto-universitetet) is a Finnish university established on January 1, 2010, by the merger of the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Aalto University aims to create a new science and arts community by bringing together three existing universities of technology, economics and art.
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In 2004, a workgroup led by Anne Brunila of the Finnish Ministry of Finance concluded that Finland had too many universities and other institutes of tertiary education which should be consolidated. Following this, Yrjö Sotamaa, president of the University of Art and Design Helsinki at the time, proposed the merger of Aalto University's founding schools in his president's opening speech in 2005. Sotamaa's line of reasoning was that this move would create a unique interdisciplinary university that was needed to create new innovative thought.
The idea received attention within the Finnish Ministry of Education, which appointed Raimo Sailas, a leading official at the Ministry of Finance, to investigate the possibility of a merger. After Sailas' group reported that it considered the merger to be beneficial to the Finnish academic world and economy, the Finnish government decided to go on with the project on November 11, 2007.
On May 29, 2008, the government announced that the new university would be named for the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in recognition of his achievements in technology, economics and art. The Finnish Minister of Education at the time, Ms. Sari Sarkomaa, together with representatives of Finnish industries and professional organisations, signed the Aalto University charter on June 25, 2008 in Helsinki. On December 19, 2008, Prof. Tuula Teeri was selected by the Board to be the first President of Aalto University.
Aalto University started operating on January 1, 2010. In the process of creating the university the university law of Finland was rewritten for the university to be allowed to collect endowment. The process of collecting donations is still under way and aims to collect a total of 200 million euros from private donations. All private donations will be augmented by 2.5 times the sum by the Finnish state, to a maximum of 500 million euros. Making the projected goal of fund raising 700 million euros.[4]
As the Aalto University was founded the four schools of science and engineering were formed out of the departments of the Helsinki University of Technology (Teknillinen Korkeakoulu, Tekniska högskolan, TKK). The technology campus is located in Otaniemi, Espoo, in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. Founded in 1849 by Grand Duke Nicholas I, TKK received university status in 1908 and was incorporated into the Aalto University along with the School of Economics and School of Art and Design in 2010. In 1966, the then Helsinki University of Technology moved from downtown Helsinki to its current Otaniemi campus, designed by Alvar Aalto. The Otaniemi campus has about 250 professors and approximately 15,000 students studying in 19 degree programmes leading to master's degrees. This means the largest part of the Aalto University is located in Otaniemi.
Aalto University School of Economics (Aalto ECON), Finnish: Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu; Swedish: Aalto-universitets handelshögskola), known as Helsinki School of Economics (HSE) until 2009 was established in Helsinki in 1904 by the business community and was given the status of a university in 1911. It operated as a private university until 1974, when the state of Finland was given the financial responsibility of the university.
Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Aalto ARTS)(Finnish: Aalto-yliopiston taideteollinen korkeakoulu; Swedish: Aalto-universitets konstindustriella högskolan), known commonly as TaiK, is the largest art university in the Nordic countries, and was founded in 1871. Media Centre Lume - the National Research and Development Center of audiovisual media - is also located in the university. The school awards the following academic degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Arts.
The university has been active in establishing research projects and industrial collaborations via the private sector. During the rectorship of Yrjö Sotamaa the university was active in integrating design into Finnish innovation networks.
The University is governed by the seven-member Aalto University Foundation Board. The Board decides on the Foundation's strategy, operation and financial issues, is responsible for any far-reaching plans and appoints the University president and vice rectors. The first President of Aalto University is Tuula Teeri, a molecular geneticist and former deputy president of Royal Institute of Technology. The university is organized into six schools with their respective deans and administrative structures.
The Aalto University Student Union (AUS) is the student government of Aalto University and all registered students are members. Its elected leadership consists of a representative council elected by the student body and a board selected annually by the Representative Council. The student union is responsible for a wide range of things, such as student housing, recreation and health care.
The university is organized since the beginning of 2011 into six schools formed out of the three merged universities. Each school having several departments and separate laboratories as well as a number of separate research and other units.
All engineering programmes offered by the schools of science and technology lead to the degree of diplomi-insinööri (M.Sc. (Tech.), Master of Science in Technology), a five-year taught Master's degree, which is fairly similar to the German Diplom-Ingenieur degrees. The only exceptions to this are the architecture programmes that lead to the M.Sc. degrees of architecture and landscape architecture. From 2005, according to the Bologna process, all students must also complete a Bachelor's degree (B.Sc. (Tech), Bachelor of Science in Technology), in Finnish tekniikan kandidaatti or TkK, before the DI or architect's degree. However, the schools of science and technology do not offer programs terminating in a Bachelor's degree; a student may only be accepted to study for the Master's level degree. The schools of science and technology require a Bachelor's degree from foreign students studying in English, because only Master's studies are offered completely in English.
Undergraduate studies are generally quite similar in between different programs with a considerable part being taken by a tuition of a solid base in mathematics and physics. Students may depending on program of study choose the level of undergraduate mathematics studies, with the L-course (Laaja, wide) being the most rigorous. Only the top of approximately 10 % of the students are invited to the L-course in addition to the students in the Engineering Physics and Mathematics program, making it possibly the most selective mathematical training in the whole nation, taking into account the generally significantly selective nature of most Aalto School of Science and Technology programs.[5] Approximately 41 % of those students finish the first 3 L courses successfully, and 83 % of those finish the fourth, which is mandatory for only a part of them. Combined L1-3 completion rates are therefore similar to the recent ones for Harvard's Math 55.
Apart from numerous programs in Finnish/Swedish, various international Master's programs are offered exclusively for studies in English [4].
The postgraduate degrees given are tekniikan lisensiaatti (Lic.Sc. (Tech.), Licenciate of Science in Technology) and tekniikan tohtori (D.Sc. (Tech.), Doctor of Science in Technology).
Finnish students are accepted mainly on the basis of result in the national DIA entrance exam. The exam variant taken by most entrants mainly tests quantitative ability in mathematics, physics and chemistry, but specialized tests are available for students applying to a number of programs. The score required for entry to the Aalto University varies much depending on the intended field of study, however, in general the scores required for the Aalto University are higher than for any other university granting entry through the DIA exam. For example, the mean sum of mathematics and physics DIA exam scores was 7.2 in the year 2010, whereas the mean minimum sum of mathematics and physics exam scores for gaining admission to an Aalto program was 17.1-20.1, depending on the priority point distribution.[6] Aalto also contains five of the most selective programs with respect to the matriculation exam scores, out of approximately total of 50 university technology programs in the nation, of which approximately 30 are outside of Aalto, and the three most selective programs with respect to entrance exam and combined scores. The minimum scores required for these top programs are in the 95th-99th percentile range of the whole applicant pool, and approximately 98th-99.8th percentile of what would be the score distribution of the whole age group.
The School of Art and Design has been a leader in art and design education in Finland for over 138 years. It is an international postgraduate university institution with students from over 50 countries. It offers doctorate, master and bachelor degrees in a wide range of disciplines - fine art, design, new media, art education, visual culture, motion picture and production design. School of Art and Design is a pioneer in research and in developing interdisciplinary study programmes.
The School of Economics offers degrees in economics and business administration at the Bachelor, Master, Licentiate and Doctoral levels, along with MBA programs targeted to business professionals. Although the main teaching language of the university is Finnish, several of these degrees and programs are offered entirely in English.[7]
In its degree programs, the school has a two-step program structure with a three-year Bachelors degree followed by a two-year Masters degree. A doctoral degree normally takes four additional years.
The Aalto University School of Economics has two campuses. The main campus is located in the center of Helsinki. At this campus, the school offers five Bachelor of Science Programs (out of which two are offered entirely in English) and 15 Master of Science Programs, including the European joint degree CEMS MIM and three joint programs organized between Aalto schools. Nine out of the 15 Master of Science Programs are offered entirely in English. New students start by studying towards the BSc in Economics and Business Administration degree and on completion, are eligible to continue to study for the Master’s degree.
The Mikkeli campus is located 230 km away from Helsinki in Mikkeli and offers an English language Bachelor’s program in International Business (BScBA).
Aalto MBA and Executive MBA Programs are organized by Aalto University Executive Education Ltd. MBA and Executive MBA programs are offered in Helsinki, China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Poland and have tuition fees, unlike the degree programs. The MBA program is taught through two-week modules by visiting faculty from some of the business schools in the world, including Emory University, Rutgers Business School, University of South Carolina, Georgetown University, UCLA, Concordia University, Queen’s University, Rotterdam School of Management, Indiana University, ESADE and INSEAD.[8][9]
The Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS) is a strategic alliance of 25 member schools around the world – each a top school of its country – and 57 prestigious corporate partners.[10]
The (CEMS) Master's in International Management provides a unique blend of top-level education and professional experience for multilingual, multicultural postgraduate students.[11] The CEMS Corporate Partners of AALTO are Kone, Nokia and Stora Enso.
AALTO students have the opportunity to take (CEMS) MIM program in addition to their MSc degree program at AALTO. CEMS MIM is a one year's specialization program in international management. The CEMS MIM curriculum has been jointly designed by CEMS Schools and the Corporate Partners. At graduation, CEMS students at Aalto ECON receive both MSc degree certificate and CEMS MIM certificate. CEMS MIM has a high recognition among the corporate sector. In 2009, CEMS program was ranked 1st in 2009 and 2nd in 2010 by the Financial Times among Masters in Management programs.[12]
Aalto University participates in 12 "Centres of Excellence" (huippuyksikkö, see below), selected by the Academy of Finland to represent the top research in the country and receiving separate, fixed-period funding from the Academy.[13]
Researchers at AALTO have achieved notability in, among other things, low temperature physics (holding the current world record for the lowest temperature achieved), the development of devices and methods for magnetoencephalography, mobile communications, wood processing, and neural networks, with professor Teuvo Kohonen initiating research in self-organizing maps. Additionally, the first commercialised total synthesis, the synthesis of camphor, was invented by Gustaf Komppa, the first professor of chemistry at TKK [14] and the Nobel laureate (chemistry, 1945) Artturi Virtanen held a professorship in biochemistry at TKK. More recently, the university has notably invested in the research of nanotechnology, operating the largest cleanroom facility in Northern Europe[15] and one of the largest microscopy clusters in Europe.[16]
The Nokia Research Center has operated a "lablet" on university premises since 2008, in order to establish joint research programs and daily interaction between Nokia and university researchers, who will share the same facilities.[17]
A Centre of Excellence (huippuyksikkö) is selected by the Academy of Finland to represent the top research in the country, and receives separate, fixed-period funding from the Academy. Currently, the following units are designated Centres of Excellence.[18]
Several high-tech companies, the Finnish forest industry's joint experimental laboratory KCL, and business incubators Innopoli and Technopolis are also situated nearby. It is also directly adjacent to Keilaniemi, with Life Science Center and the headquarters of several notable Finnish companies, such as Nokia and Fortum. The Otaniemi campus is connected by a 15-minute bus ride to the center of Helsinki and a metro line is being constructed. The main university campus is located at Otaniemi, Espoo. The former premises of TAIK and HSE are set to be gradually moved to Otaniemi, save for the master's level education in economy which is set to stay in Töölö, Helsinki.[19]
The other four Schools of Science and Technology are based in Otaniemi in Espoo, 10 km from the center of Helsinki, on a campus designed by Alvar Aalto. Otaniemi has the highest concentration of high technology in the Nordic countries.[20]
The ‘Teekkarikylä’ Student Village, home to over 2,000 students of technology, is also located in Otaniemi. There are over one hundred student organizations on campus which provide a range of opportunities to take part in pastimes of various kinds, from sports to music.
The Aalto University students are known for active student life, an integral part of many student traditions play the brightly colored overalls worn to many events. The color of the overall signals what the student studies (e.g. the economy students are recognized from dollar green overalls). The student community has also organised important charity events. In fact, the name for these events tempaus, has entered common language to describe any carnival-like charity event.
The students of technology (the teekkaris) are especially noticeable, as they wear a distinctive hat with a tuft on many occasions (both formal and informal). Technology students are also famous for, and Finland's leading practitioners of, student pranks (jäynä), similar in principle to MIT hacks. Their most widely publicised stunt took place in 1961, when a team of students smuggled a statue of Paavo Nurmi onto the 300-year-old wreck of Regalskeppet Vasa just days before its lifting from the bottom of the sea.[21]
The students of economy are known for their parties in downtown Helsinki, where the economy student building hosts a lavish nightclub, the KY Klubi (the economy student club).
Although student traditions vary in between the different constituent schools common activities started to burgeon early after the foundation of Aalto-U. The most noticeable student event of the first year of the university was Aalto on Tracks, where a group of 100 students came together to rent a private train which they traveled 10 000 km on from Helsinki to the Shanghai Expo enjoying multidisciplinary talks and workshops on the way.[22] The event was such a success that the follow-up Aalto on waves is planned to arrange a trip by boat to South America. Aalto on Tracks also spurred students of Tongji University to arrange Tonji on Tracks which essentially takes the journey of Aalto on Tracks in the opposite direction.[23]
Aalto Entrepreneurship Society is a multi-disciplinary society uniting students and graduates of all disciplines of the University. It aims to encourage high-tech, high-growth, scalable entrepreneurship by arranging get-togethers to spark ideas and innovations and aid start-up initiatives among the Aalto students.
The Aalto University Masters of Arts (MoA) festival is an event where the new professionals of the multidisciplinary university meet the public and the business community. It is also a place where art and science meet.
The festival shows the public a wide array of works: everything from distinguished theses, individual statements, concepts and products arising from commercial collaboration to works of art. All this in perfect harmony. For the graduating students the exhibition is an opportunity to interact with society, future employers, the media and other influential parties.
In addition to the exhibition, MoA offers a varying program with seminars, discussions, films, workshops and guided tours.[24]
Aalto University Student Union, AYY in short, and Aalto-yliopiston ylioppilaskunta in Finnish, is the official student union of Aalto University. Every Bachelor's and Master's degree student enrolled in Aalto University is a member of the Student Union.
The purpose of AYY is to represent the students, look after their interests, and support the community of 15,000 students. AYY provides its members with a variety of services such as healthcare, recreation and housing. The Student Union is financed by membership fees, investments and profits from student housing.
Aalto University Student Union was formed in the beginning of 2010 through a merger between the respective student unions of the merged universities.
The Aalto University is also one of the two universities in Finland to host one or more Nations, a Finnish type of student corporation. AU's only nation is Teknologföreningen (TF) and its goal is to unite Swedish-speaking students at the university. The nation is housed in its peculiar building called Urdsgjallar. There are no nations for the Finnish speaking students, however the 11 regional Finnish-speaking nations at the University of Helsinki do welcome AU students as members.[25][26]
In addition to the student union, Aalto university students have formed numerous associations for studies, cultural activity and sports. There are more than 150 associations maintained by university students.
Currently this list includes only the associations known to have English Wikipedia articles.
The housing area of Otaniemi campus, known as Teekkarikylä (technology student village), is owned mostly by the student union and partly by HOAS (Helsinki Student Housing Fund). The housing is characterised by the presence of foreign students of many nationalities. As of 2005, the village offers housing for approximately 2,600 students.[27]
Construction of the Otaniemi campus was started in 1950, in order for the first buildings to host the athletes of the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Some of the building material originally used for the campus was acquired from the former Soviet Union embassy, which had been destroyed during World War II,[28] as a result of bombings by the Soviet Union itself. The student housing has been used for housing athletes again in e.g. the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, sometimes to the dismay of the students that have to move out during the events. The quality of the Otaniemi student housing holds a high standard in international comparison. There is also a somewhat more limited availability of student housing available in the vicinity of the other campuses.
The Otaniemi campus also contains the former student union building Dipoli, named as the second Poli, the successor of the first student union building in downtown Helsinki. Dipoli was designed by Reima and Raili Pietilä and completed in 1966. In 1993, the building was permanently rented to the university to act as a conference and continuing education center and later sold due to high maintenance costs. It is regularly used for conventions, congresses and student parties.
All three constituent schools have played an integral part in educating many of the top names in their respective fields in Finland. After the second world war Finland's economy grew and Finnish companies became players in the international markets requiring highly educated expertise and leadership. Both the schools of technology and economy catered to this need as the premier schools of their fields in the country. During the latter part of the 20th century the schools had to increase their student intake considerably to meet the demands of the burgeoning markets. Meanwhile the school of arts and design has educated many of the household names of art that created what is today known as the distinctive style of Finnish design.
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