Rector Sari Lindblom’s new five-year term of office began on 1 August 2023
During her term, Lindblom’s responsibilities will include matters related to wellbeing, previously overseen by one of the vice-rectors.
“Our strategic plan sets out the objective for the University of Helsinki to become the best place to study, teach, work and engage in research by 2030. This is why promoting sustainable wellbeing throughout the University community is an important duty for me,” Rector Lindblom says.
A thriving community also serves as the foundation for building the University’s future.
“The past years have demonstrated the importance of our community and the capacity of our large University for even rapid change. As we consider together what kind of a university we wish to build, we must take advantage of our inclusivity and ability to change,” Lindblom notes.
From the strategic plan, Lindblom also points to the objective of being a leader in responsibility and sustainability. Through the measures taken under the University’s sustainability and responsibility plan, several significant steps have been taken in this area.
“In 2023 the University of Helsinki has, among other things, released a new course on sustainability expertise for staff, awarded seed funding to degree programmes for the development of sustainability education and published the Carbon neutral University of Helsinki by 2030 roadmap,” Lindblom says.
“In addition, sustainability research and global partnerships have been boosted through a programme promoting the mobility of junior scholars from Africa. Through their collaborative projects, the selected researchers contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. Global partnerships and broad-based cooperation are emphasised in our efforts in sustainability and responsibility,” Lindblom adds.
Sari Lindblom, DPhil, is a psychologist and professor of higher education. She has served as rector of the University of Helsinki since 2020, in addition to which she served as a vice-rector and deputised for the rector from 2017 to 2020. Moreover, she was the director of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning HYPE from 2004 to 2017.
Rector
Sari Lindblom
president@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
00014 University of Helsinki
Executive Assistant
Taina Värri
tel. +358 294122210
taina.varri@helsinki.fi
Vice-Rector Kai Nordlund is responsible for academic affairs, digitalisation and Swedish-language affairs, as well as financial planning and monitoring in support of the rector. Nordlund also deputises for the rector.
Vice-Rector Nordlund has always believed that there should be a close connection between teaching and research at the University.
“The University of Helsinki has a great opportunity to utilise its top-level research to increase further the number of master’s students coming from outside the University. Master’s level teaching can be focused on our strong research fields, enabling also junior researchers to attend unobstructed the teaching of specialist courses. Such development also promotes research, as talented master’s degree holders are natural candidates for doctoral studies.”
As a scientist specialising in computational science, Nordlund has been closely following the digital revolution for three decades. Among his other achievements, he created one of the first Finnish student association websites in 1993.
“The change brought about by digitalisation has been rapid and has radically changed our lives. The change is about not only the acceleration of communication, but also the transformation of social relationships. The development is ongoing: original web-related solutions have already become outdated, and new ones are increasingly diverse but not always easier to use. Coordinating the deployment of new systems and having them comprehensively tested by end users before large-scale rollout is important.”
Nordlund is also responsible for the University’s bilingual affairs.
“Experiences in teaching in Swedish alongside Finnish are now useful when we have more and more teaching in parallel in three languages.”
Nordlund points out that researchers from other cultural and university backgrounds bring with them fresh ideas on how things can be handled differently from our traditions.
“The University of Helsinki is a highly multilingual community. Officially we are bilingual, but in practice we are trilingual on all of our campuses. And many other languages besides English have strong representation at the City Centre Campus in particular. This is an asset that we should take advantage of in both teaching and research.”
Professor of Computational Materials Physics Kai Nordlund, PhD, served as dean of the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Science from 2018 to 2022. Previously, he was director of the Department of Physics in 2018 and vice-dean for academic affairs, bilingual activities and infrastructures at the Faculty of Science from 2014 to 2017.
Vice-Rector
Kai Nordlund
vr-education@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
00014 University of Helsinki
Executive Assistant
Jessica Mildh
tel. 02941 57664
jessica.mildh@helsinki.fi
Vice-Rector Anne Portaankorva is responsible for research, doctoral education and sustainable development.
Portaankorva highlights the societal significance of research and research-based knowledge.
“All decision-making should be based on research knowledge. It is the only way to generate impact. Investment in research is an investment in the future of society as a whole. We are educating doctoral graduates and future top-level researchers who will change the world,” she says.
The University of Helsinki is a strong national and international operator, and Portaankorva wishes to ensure that this will continue in the future.
“To succeed, for example, in the competition for international research funding, we must develop our work critically and systematically. As a basis for this, we must have a clear vision and indicators for the peers we are comparing ourselves with and the factors used in the comparison, as well as how we rank in this process. For the University of Helsinki, boosting collaboration and research activities between disciplines constitutes an important prerequisite for success.”
Anne Portaankorva has a background in neurology, and during her professional career in academia, she has conducted multidisciplinary research using the methods of various fields of science. Portaankorva also holds an Executive MBA degree, which she believes provides a solid foundation for managing broad-based topics.
“We have strong democracy at the University, and researchers enjoy autonomy in their work. At the same time, research overall and related activities can and must be managed. A strong multidisciplinary approach is a special characteristic of the University of Helsinki, and as a vice-rector, my focus in management is in fact the management of networks. In addition, my duty is to promote the allocation of resources to research so that we are an attractive place to conduct research,” Portaankorva notes.
Vice-Rector Portaankorva also oversees sustainable development at the University.
“Sustainability and responsibility are an extensive whole, which must permeate our operations. Besides curbing biodiversity loss and achieving carbon neutrality goals, it means, among other things, ethical research, sustainable funding sources and a sustainable human resources policy, as well as integrating sustainability into all teaching.”
Professor of Neurology Anne Portaankorva, MD, served as the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki from 2022 to 2023. Previously, she was the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oulu from 2017 to 2021, the director of the Medical Research Center Oulu from 2017 to 2018 and the deputy head of the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Eastern Finland from 2014 to 2016.
Anne Remes in the research portal
Vice-Rector
Anne Remes
vr-research@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
00014 University of Helsinki
Executive Assistant
Merja Hykkönen
tel. 02941 57662
merja.hykkonen@helsinki.fi
Vice-Rector Jouni Hirvonen oversees innovation, infrastructures and facilities, including campus development.
Vice-Rector Hirvonen notes that long-term and unrestricted research and doctoral education founded on inquisitiveness and aimed at producing new knowledge and theories separate universities from other educational units. This also makes it possible to lay the groundwork for significant innovations and even the development of commercial applications.
“In recent years, public engagement and innovations stemming from research conducted at the University as well as measures aimed at commercialising them have become an increasingly important part of the University of Helsinki’s operations. Moreover, collaborations with, or other projects involving, industry continue to be an essential element of the everyday operations of many disciplines and research groups.”
Hirvonen points out that the University of Helsinki hosts a significant share of the Centres of Excellence, Academy Professors, Flagships and profile-building projects of the Research Council of Finland. In fact, domestic and international competitive research funding outside the University budget constitutes well over half of the overall funding in many faculties and independent institutes.
“You can justifiably say that success in research often benefits education and the other duties of the University. Researchers at the University of Helsinki are doing well in the ever-intensifying competition for research funding. In my position as the vice-rector for innovation and infrastructures, my goal is to support and help all members of the University community to succeed in this competition for resources. The consensus in the Finnish Parliament on increasing the national research, development and innovation (RDI) funding to 4% of the gross national product is an excellent opportunity for us in the University community as well.”
In fact, Vice-Rector Hirvonen’s key duties include the development of research infrastructures and increasing resources for innovation.
“The advantage and strength of a large and diverse operator such as the University of Helsinki is that it’s easier to reach a critical mass in research compared to smaller units. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects and consortia within, for example, sustainability sciences, atmospheric sciences, life sciences and the humanities and social sciences – and especially between them – have generated an entirely new research and innovation culture at our University in recent years. Internationally speaking, well-functioning research equipment and methods are a prerequisite for recruiting top-level researchers and establishing research groups.
Similarly, international and domestic networks are an important operating environment, and a channel for developing the University’s infrastructures and innovation activities.”
“The high-quality European LERU and Una Europa networks and the UNIFI network of Finnish universities effectively engender both national and international university collaboration, not to mention discipline-specific and personal networks. A tripartite collaboration agreement important in terms of innovation and commercialisation was concluded in spring 2022 with KU Leuven, a multidisciplinary university at the global top in the field, and Aalto University in Finland.”
For facilities and campus development, the circumstances have been transformed entirely following the coronavirus pandemic. Many members of the University community have remained in at least a partial mode of telecommuting, which is clearly evidenced on the campuses as fewer people on location and reduced demand for space.
“The remarkably successful renovation of the Main Building has just been completed, and the building can be put into full use. Changes in facility needs and expectations related to facilities will be discussed together with members of the University community and experts. Whenever possible, campus-specific needs and views will be taken into consideration.”
Jouni Hirvonen, Doctor of Science (Pharmacy), has worked as Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Helsinki since 1998. He served as vice-dean for academic affairs at the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Pharmacy from 2004 to 2009 and as dean from 2010 to 2022. Hirvonen served as vice-rector for research, doctoral education and innovation from 2022 to 2023.
Vice-Rector
Jouni Hirvonen
vr-innovation@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
00014 University of Helsinki
Executive Assistant
Jessica Mildh
tel. 02941 57664
jessica.mildh@helsinki.fi
Vice-Rector Hanna Snellman is responsible for international affairs and public engagement, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion.
“My work is founded on a solid ethos of collaboration. I wish to further advance the University’s public engagement and international activities in a cooperative manner.”
Under Snellman’s leadership, the University has promoted the development of strategic partnerships in accordance with its partnership model. Strategic partnerships provide excellent opportunities for both scholars and the entire University.
Under Snellman’s leadership, the University has also made new strategic initiatives on various continents. The University’s Africa Programme consolidates partnerships with African universities. A key element of the programme is the Africa Early Career Mobility Programme, which promotes collaboration between talented junior scholars from Africa and top-level researchers at the University of Helsinki. The University’s Arctic Vision strengthens the University’s expertise in research, education and cooperation related to the region.
Collaboration with European partners received a significant boost at the University of Helsinki when in 2019 it joined the Una Europa alliance of 11 European universities. In addition to the University of Helsinki the members are Freie Universität Berlin, Universitá di Bologna, University of Edinburgh, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Universiteit Leiden, Universität Zurich and University College Dublin.
According to Snellman, who serves in 2023 as Chair of Una Europa’s Board of Directors, one of the guiding principles of the collaboration network is to provide the staff and students of the partner universities with new opportunities for study, mobility and work.
“Together with our partners, we are building the European university of the future. Una Europa has six focus areas: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Europe and the World, Cultural Heritage, Sustainability, One Health and Future Materials,” Snellman says.
Snellman would like to continue building new university partnerships on many different levels.
“Collaboration with stakeholders and partners is important and needs to be nurtured. We must work towards a shared understanding with our partners regarding values, goals and the practices we are pursuing together. I believe it’s important for the University to attentively listen to its partners, as well as sentiments expressed in the wider social context. The University of Helsinki is the only university representing Finland in its entirety. We have activities and units, such as research stations and university consortia, across the country. The University must offer something to its surrounding community, but it must also listen to this community and be in genuine interaction with it.”
In the next academic year, Snellman will highlight the following goals: increasing global impact, taking advantage of the opportunities associated with Una Europa to benefit all faculties, as well as developing collaboration with decision-makers both nationally and internationally.
Another matter close to Snellman’s heart is getting the international staff of the University increasingly involved in public engagement.
Hanna Snellman, DPhil, has worked as a professor of ethnology at the University of Helsinki since 2012. She served as the dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University in 2017–2018 and as a vice-dean of the same faculty in 2014–2016.
Vice-Rector
Hanna Snellman
vr-international@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
00014 University of Helsinki
Executive Assistant
Merja Hykkönen
tel. +358 2941 57662
merja.hykkonen@helsinki.fi
The director of administration shall manage the general administration of the University in support of the rector; be responsible for the efficient, economic and effective management of the University administration; monitor issues concerning the University; present initiatives for the development of the University administration; and attend to other duties assigned to him or her by the rector. The director of administration shall also serve as the secretary general of the Board of the University.
The director of administration shall bear overall responsibility for the human resources, finances and assets of the unit under his or her leadership.
Esa Hämäläinen, Master of Social Sciences, is the Director of Administration of the University of Helsinki.
Esa Hämäläinen
Tel: +358 2941 22212
admindirector@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
FI-00014 University of Helsinki
Executive Assistant
Mari Lehtonen
Tel: +358 2941 22396
mari.h.lehtonen@helsinki.fi
P.O. Box 3
FI-00014 University of Helsinki
List of deans and vice-deans of each unit can be found on their own pages.