Interest in Professorships Fights the Brain Drain

The large number of applications delights Dean Patrik Scheinin, particularly as it goes against talk of a brain drain from Finland.

The call for applications for a professorship at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, which ended in January, received a great deal of attention both in Finland and abroad. There were a total of 72 applications for the professorships in two of the Faculty’s focus areas. Approximately a third of the applications came from outside Finland. One of the professorships is located in the focus area Learning and interaction and the other in Education, society and culture.

In addition to these, there were 18 applications for the two new professorships in Swedish-language class teacher education, which was also significantly more than expected. Filling two professorships and five university lectureships at the same time significantly strengthens the Swedish-language teaching at the Faculty of Educational Sciences. The University can now better respond to the major expectations placed upon it to alleviate the teacher shortage in southern Finland, particularly in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

The professorships will be filled according to the tenure track model as assistant professorships, associate professorships or full professorships during this year.

More professorships

The application periods are still ongoing for three Profi2-funded assistant professorships or full professorships (tenure track) at the Faculty of Educational Sciences. The application period ends on 15 February 2017.