Mr Chancellor, distinguished guests, Your Excellencies, dear members of the University community and friends of the University,
We are now hearing the same message from all directions: We live in the midst of upheaval.
Wars being waged near our borders, the sustainability crisis and geopolitical changes are shaking our confidence in the future. Surrounded by change, societal institutions are repositioning themselves. Even while local community becomes an increasingly important place of support, we are focusing ever more on the individual.
For young people in particular, the future can seem uncertain and frightening. Besides coping with societal turmoil, finding one’s way in life and selecting one’s field of study create a lot of pressure. Finding a safe and stable space for one’s thoughts and self-development is now more important than ever. We wish to connect with others, strengthen a sense of community, cherish traditions and foster hope.
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Dear members of the audience,
The great challenges of our time can be solved only by changing the way people think and act. Therefore, the changes individuals make are key to changing the world and kindling hope in society. The more complex the world becomes, the more we need each other.
For centuries, the University of Helsinki has served as a gateway to new opportunities. Since 1640, the University has helped young people to find their way in life and place in society. Our mission – research, teaching and public engagement – has remained the same for almost 400 years.
Major breakthroughs begin with us: in our thoughts and our everyday lives. The University of Helsinki is a place for discovering your own path, challenging yourself and forging lifelong friendships – a place for many personal breakthroughs in life.
Together we make scientific breakthroughs that impact the lives of every one of us across generations and disciplines. The insights and discoveries by students and researchers bring fundamental changes to the world. Some develop revolutionary drugs, others ethical technologies, while still others use scholarly knowledge to solve sustainability issues. Many others achieve their most important breakthroughs during their daily toil in health centres and court rooms, offices and classrooms, the corridors of power and the playgrounds of daycare centres.
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As the university institution and ways of learning are reforming, the University must better succeed in reaching out to the young. They must be able to trust us to provide them with the relevant skills to take them through critical times in the future.
As a leading international university, we aim to nurture versatile talent in a range of ways. We wish to bring to the fore young people whose work, research, entrepreneurial and other activities have been intrepid, impressive and inspiring.
In February, the University published for the first time a list of 30 promising individuals aged 30 or under representing different fields. The listed talents share not only the motivation to actively contribute to the world but also the commitment to positively impact their community and society. One aim of this is, of course, to encourage both current and future students to see the multitude of ways in which the knowledge and skills acquired at the University can lead to opportunities.
Of equal importance is to lower the threshold of university studies for all and also to reach young people from families with no academic background. We collaborate with our students in, for example, the Näktergalen project in mentoring children and adolescents from families with no experience of higher education.
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Distinguished guests,
Society around us has shifted radically, and the fields in need of experts keep changing. The University of Helsinki’s strengths lie in the knowledge that brings together the humanities, life sciences and social and natural sciences. Long-term multidisciplinary research ensures continuous access to state-of-the-art knowledge.
The University of Helsinki has always been an integral part of society, and has anticipated change through research. This is why we are able to offer the research-based expertise currently in high demand, such as in education in the health and social services and safety and security sectors. We also have the capacity to provide solutions to the sustainability crisis and the challenges presented by the use of artificial intelligence.
Sometimes change is rapid and unpredictable. Recent years have seen an urgent need for experts in zoonotic diseases, Near Eastern cultures, politics, as well as European and Russian studies. As research has been conducted in these fields for decades at our University, we can offer top expertise even in unexpected situations.
Broad-based scholarly expertise is a service to society. Experts from the University of Helsinki are interviewed by the media almost daily, and when conflicts arise, we are the first to be asked about their root causes.
Today, the role of universities as unwavering advocates of European values is of utmost importance. The values of the University of Helsinki – truth, Bildung, freedom and inclusivity –set an example for the wider society. Our values guide us in our active efforts to promote solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss while advancing a fair society. Every day we strive to promote equality, diversity and accessibility. We are needed now to provide direction for European policies, and we want the entire European Union to adopt the same value-based approach.
Last week, we had the great honour of hosting the President of Ukraine and the President of the Republic of Finland here at the University for a discussion with students and other members of the community on the role of Europe standing with Ukraine. The Presidents reminded students of the importance of remaining hopeful and of the potential for students to make a difference in the world. As President Stubb stated, young people are the leaders of the future, shaping the world. The University is a place where you can seize the future while building hope.
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Dear members of the audience,
Solving global challenges, maintaining national competitiveness and providing public and private services in the future are possible only through new insights. Sustainable growth is not about producing more of the same or variations of the same.
In the field of RDI activities, development and innovation draw on research. New knowledge and ideas are based on solid basic research.
Research can yield various benefits, which might emerge from unexpected directions. Supporting researcher-driven scholarship is a form of public risk funding. This support is the publicly funded foundation that engenders genuinely innovative and surprising solutions, services and applications. It is important for both scientific progress and Finland that a balance be maintained between core university funding and competitive project funding.
Since the University of Helsinki has the newest research results at hand, it has the opportunity to advance the utilisation and transformation of such results into innovations. Through our incubator activities we wish to support researchers’ commercialisation skills and offer services to businesses that seek to collaborate with us.
What is now needed for the advancement of both research and development is funding directly earmarked for universities. We expect the government to make wise decisions this spring and assign public funding to universities to strengthen the foundation from which new knowledge and skills can emerge to benefit Finland.
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Distinguished guests,
We are involved in societal change and collaborate closely with other institutions, cities and businesses. In collaborating with various partners in society, we gain access to the research knowledge and top field experts of other institutions and parties, advancing our efforts to bring hope and solutions to the whole world.
Every year, 5,000 students are admitted to the University of Helsinki. Through us, businesses can reach young experts of the future and learn about the latest research knowledge.
Our partnerships can open the way for new significant initiatives that benefit the University, businesses and the wider society. One such example is expertise in computer vision, an important and evolving field in Finland. Konecranes has supported research and young doctoral researchers in this field for several years. The company’s donation has enabled many young talents to pursue a career in research.
Today we are also celebrating the 15th anniversary of Club Giraffe, the University’s donor community. Donations are tremendously important, and funding is most urgently needed at the stage when various breakthroughs are nothing but budding potentialities. To give another example, thanks to Peter Sarlin’s generous donation, the University of Helsinki and other Finnish universities are able to bolster ambitious and high-quality AI research.
Overall, more than 100 University of Helsinki professors and other experts are employed with donated funds, either partly or in full. The University has received more than 100 million euros in donations. Every donation makes a difference and helps both students and researchers find solutions to issues, be they minor or major, affecting humanity.
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Dear members of the audience,
Our University, which is among the top percentile of higher education institutions globally, brings together different people and disciplines to create revolutionary breakthroughs. We need every generation, including students and researchers at different stages of their studies and careers, to join in tackling the burning issues of our time.
In our four campuses and 11 faculties we are harnessing scholarly knowledge to understand the individual, humanity, nature and the universe.
Our most important contribution to this world is an individual who has confidence in the future, seeks the truth, defends freedom, reinforces Bildung and fosters inclusivity.
Last autumn we surveyed new students’ thoughts about their future studies at the University. Here are some of their responses:
- Learning new things, growing intellectually and ethically, and making new friends
- Learning about job opportunities, seeing and understanding the world
- Forming a clear vision for the future and living through unforgettable experiences
These forward-looking expectations encapsulate the mission of the University to serve as a beacon of hope.
Happy anniversary!