University of Turku Celebrates its Doctors with a Three-day Ceremonial Conferment
A Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees common to all the faculties of the University of Turku is organised on May 30 – June 1, 2013. There are 13 Honorary Doctors and 112 Doctors conferred at the ceremony.
The tradition of ceremonial conferment originates from the ceremonies held to highlight the independence of the medieval university. The academic traditions upheld in the ceremonies represent continuity – the connection the science and higher education of today have with the old European civilisation.
The first Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees that included all the faculties of the University of Turku was held in 1927.
Ceremonial Conferment Begins with the Sword Sharpening
The first event of the Ceremonial Conferment is the sword sharpening on May 30. The swords of science are sharpened with grindstones dipped in sparkling wine in the hall of the University Main Building from 7 pm on.
The official Act of Conferment is held in the Turku Concert Hall on May 31 at 12 o’clock. The new Doctors then have an academic procession at around 3 pm from the Concert Hall to the Turku Cathedral for a service. After that, there is a conferment dinner in the Turku Castle and a ball in the ceremonious house of the volunteer fire department.
The three-day celebration ends with a cruise to Naantali where a closure dinner is eaten. The Master of Ceremonies for the Ceremonial Conferment is Professor Pekka Vallittu.
Honorary Doctors Hold Celebratory Lectures
The Honorary Doctors are partners from different fields with strong academic credits and societal influence used to contribute to the operation of the University of Turku. Among the prospective Honorary Doctors are Erkki Tuomioja, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Allan Rosas, Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and Seppo Remes, the most famous Finnish business manager in Russia.
The Honorary Doctors also hold celebratory lectures. In the event of the Faculty of Humanities on May 29, Professor Peter Kivisto holds a lecture. Estonian Academic, Professor Jan Einasto continues the Turku-Tartu guest lecture series and gives a lecture on 29 May. The celebratory lecture of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences is held on May 30 by Professor Li-Rong Zheng.
In the event Studia Generalia of the Faculty of Medicine on May 30, the speakers are Professor Terry Dwyer from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute of Australia and Malcom G. Parker from the Imperial College of London.
On June 3, Turku School of Economics organises an event with the speaker Paul Healy, Professor of Harvard Business School. The lectures of the Faculty of Law are held on June 30 by Judge Allan Rosas and Professor Juha Karhu.
Professor Jaap Dronkers (Maastricht University), the prospective Honorary Doctor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, holds a short series of lectures on May 28–30. In the event of the Faculty of Education on May 29, the lecturers are Professors Risto Rinne and Roger Säljö from the University of Gothenburg.
More information:
More information on the celebratory lectures (in Finnish)
Text: Hannu Aaltonen
Translation: Anniina Väisänen