Setting aside the growing threat to the scientific literature from outright fraud, wilful misinterpretation, undeclared conflicts of interest, low-quality peer review and malign pseudo- science, it is an inevitable fact that much of what is put into print today will turn out to be erroneous when revisited in the future. At the very least, it...
In March 2024, the European Commission presented its new higher education package. The package includes initiatives on a European degree, a European quality assurance and recognition system, and careers in higher education. The package builds on earlier initiatives ranging from a European strategy for universities to micro-credentials. The Commission has plans for the European Education...
When I first joined the faculty in Tampere, a high-point of every working week was the institute seminar. Except when they were away at some other meeting, all PIs attended every time, and so did their PhD students, postdocs and other associates. Nobody was formally compelled to attend. They did so because that was what...
The EU directive on copyright in the digital single market and online transmission directive were decreed as part of the Finnish Copyright Act in the manner hoped by the Finnish Union of University Professors, that is, according to the directives. The partial update of the Copyright Act was completed early last year, with the updated...
In 2018 I wrote a short column for Tieteessä tapahtuu (Science now) describing my time as a visiting scholar at Humboldt University in Berlin. I finished that column by pondering on what I learned during the visit about the multifaceted experiences and aftermaths of the Cold War, particularly about the fragility of science and how...
The landscape of scientific publishing is rapidly changing. We academics need not only to keep pace with the changes, but preferably take back control of the entire process. Having been involved with the ‘industry‘ for almost 3 decades, both as author/reviewer and editor, it feels to me as if we are close to a tipping...
Introduction While the public funding of universities is a major topic in the policy discourse, there has been relatively little focus on how universities use their funding and manage their assets. The lack of interest may partly be explained by the fact that university financial management largely falls within institutional autonomy. But university financial management...
What does one write in a professional blog commencing the long-awaited summer break and concluding the academic year one was dreading for the last five years – the year of one’s tenure evaluation? My initial plan was to list and substantiate ideas to develop the tenure-track (TT) system. I wanted to focus on TT support,...
Recently I happened upon a group of students in the atrium of our institute, resplendent in their traditional student overalls, who were busy putting out plastic glasses and ice buckets of sparkling wine. “What are you celebrating?”I asked. They seemed a bit nonplussed, even slightly embarrassed by my question. I asked it again adding a...
Introduction Tenure or its equivalents mean a strong level of protection of the employment relationship of permanent research and teaching faculty at universities. In its decision of 10 January 2023 (KKO 2023:1), the Supreme Court of Finland wiped out the protection of tenure at Finnish universities for no proper reason. In this blog post, I...