Statement of the Finnish Union of University Professors on the Government’s public finance plan for 2025-2028

The Finnish Union of University Professors thanks the Finnish Government for its significant allocation of R&D funding. The Union would like to emphasise, however, that the funding for RDI activities should be directed to universities in the form of basic funding for free research. Free research funding would enable universities to respond faster to the challenges posed by international competition and to participate in co-operation within the scientific community and with companies.

The Union points out that the basic funding of universities and universities of applied sciences rests, generally speaking, on the indexation in the Government’s public finance plan. At the same time, the universities and universities of applied sciences are required to increase the number of educated young adults to near 50 per cent by 2030 and to develop the possibilities for continued learning. If the volume of higher education is increased to that degree simply on the basis of the indexation of basic funding, the quality of the education is in danger of weakening and, thus, any increase in the level of competence will be nominal.