FinEd Newsletter 1/2016
01.02.2016
This is a FinEd (former KASVA) Newsletter. Newsletters are sent to all members of the FinEd Network and published on the FinEd website.
The new cooperation agreement of the FinEd Network with seven universities
During last autumn, the long membership negotiations of the FinEd network were finally brought to a conclusion. The following seven universities and their units became officially members of the renewed FinEd Network by signing the cooperation agreement:
- University of Eastern Finland: Doctoral Programme in Educational Studies and Doctoral Programme in Social and Cultural Encounters
- University of Jyväskylä: Doctoral School in Education
- University of Lapland: Faculty of Education
- University of Oulu: Faculty of Education and Human Sciences Doctoral Programme (EUDA-DP)
- University of Tampere: Doctoral Programme of Education and Society
- University of Turku (coordinating university): Doctoral Programme on Educational Policy, Lifelong Learning and Comparative Education Research (KEVEKO) (coordinating unit) and Doctoral Programme on Learning, Teaching and Learning Environments Research (OPPI)
- Åbo Akademi University: Doctoral Programme for Educational Sciences
The new FinEd network is comprised of faculties, doctoral programmes and/or other units in seven Finnish universities. According to the agreement, all doctoral candidates of these units are members of the FinEd Network.
Due to its critical economic situation and major structural changes, the University of Helsinki decided to stay out of the FinEd Network at this stage. However, the researchers in Helsinki continue their unofficial cooperation with the network and hopefully the UH will join FinEd again in the future.
In the FinEd cooperation agreement, the partners agreed on the national cooperation network that arranges multidisciplinary doctoral education and promotes research cooperation and internationalization in the field of education.
The agreement parties of the network allocate every year a moderate membership fee for the financing of the two-day annual seminar, for the national and international educational and research cooperation, as well as for the administrative operation for the salary of a part-time (25%) coordinator's work contribution. There will be more information about the current and future plans of the FinEd Network later this year.
Budget of the FinEd Network during year 2016
The operational financing of the Academy of Finland to the FinEd Network (former KASVA) expired at the end of 2015. This financing enabled the organizing of the annual seminars of the networks, as well as the travel grants to the doctoral candidates in 2014-2015 and the activies of the KASVA’s subprogrammes before that.
Currently, the operational budget of the FinEd network is composed only of the rather small annual membership fees paid by the agreement parties of the network. These membership fees enable the organising of the two-day annual seminar, national and international cooperation in the doctoral education, as well as the administrative operation of the network (salary of a 25 % part-time coordinator). The explicit objective of the FinEd is to find more operational financing from other sources.
New board of the FinEd Network
The board of the FinEd Network gathered in connection with the Kasvatustieteen päivät in Vaasa on November 18th, 2015. At the meeting, the composition of the new board of FinEd was confirmed. In the new board, there are now also two doctoral candidates Jenni Tikkanen (University of Turku) and Minna Körkkö (University of Lapland). All new members of the board are warmly welcome to the Network!
Annual Seminar of the FinEd Network on May 25-26 in Helsinki
The FinEd Network organises its annual seminar on May 25-26, 2016 in Conference Hotel Sofia, Helsinki. Please save the date in your calendar! This year, the seminar concentrates on the theme of scientific communication and publishing in national and international journals. As keynotes for the seminar, we invite professor Diane Reay (the University of Cambridge) and editor Kaisa Leino from the Finnish Journal of Education (Kasvatus). The preliminary programme of the seminar with a link for registration is published on the web pages of FinEd as well as in the following FinEd Newsletter in February. As before, the costs of the seminar (the overnight stay, meals and the most economical travel expenses) are covered to all FinEd members by the network.
N.B. Even though the University of Helsinki is not currently an official member of the FinEd Network, the board of FinEd agreed already in June 2015 that Helsinki University takes together with the coordinating unit of the FinEd the planning responsibility of the organizing of the annual seminar in 2016. The researchers of Helsinki University have continued the planning of the seminar also as a non-member together with the coordinator. Due and thanks to this cooperation, the network welcomes also the doctoral candidates and supervisors of the University of Helsinki to the annual seminar, at their own cost.
E-mail list of the Network to history
As stated above, according to the new agreement of cooperation, all doctoral candidates (i.e. those having the right to complete a doctoral degree) of the member units are now members in the FinEd Network. Because the register of the doctoral candidates change constantly and at varying pace in each member university, the FinEd Network is closing down the email list of the FinEd. After this Newsletter, the distribution of the Newsletters as well as other informing will be distributed to the FinEd members via a contact person in each member university. As before, the Newsletters will be attached to the webpage of the FinEd Network both in Finnish and English.
This Newsletter is the last one that is sent to the old e-mail list of the FinEd/KASVA. If you are unsure whether you’ll be reached by the university based contact person and want to ensure that you receive the FinEd information also in the future, please contact the coordinator. This applies especially to the supervisors of the Network.
Calls for applications of foundations and funds now open
Here are links to some calls for applications of foundations and funds open in February:
- Finnish Cultural Foundation regional funds, application period 10.1.–10.2. http://skr.fi/en/grants/grants-available-application/regional-funds-application-period-10-january-10-february
- The Finnish Work Environment Fund, application period ends 15.2. https://www.tsr.fi/frontpage (detailed applying information is only on the Finnish website – the application must be written in Finnish or Swedish, but the research plan can be written in English)
- The Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation, application period 1.1.–27.2. http://www.ellageorg.fi/en/about