The application round to the international degree programmes of the University of Turku ended on 22 January. The University received a record number of applications: 2,008 in total from over a hundred countries, whereas last year the number was 1,376. The number of applicants increased by 52 percent.
The next Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees of the University of Turku is organised on 28–29 May 2020. 15 honorary doctors will be conferred in the ceremony. They will receive title of the honorary doctor for their scientific merits, collaboration with the University of Turku, or because their actions have had an impact on society.
Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) has chosen a Finnish appendicitis study as one of the top ten articles that are most important to clinical medicine and public health published in the 2010s. The research shows that for most patients, antibiotics could replace surgical treatment when it comes to uncomplicated acute appendicitis. The research article is the only surgical research on the top ten list. JAMA, published by the American Medical Association, has the world’s widest circulation when it comes to weekly published peer-reviewed high-quality medical publications.
The University of Turku and the Singapore Maritime Institute collaborated for the second time in organising the Finland–Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp. The winning team was announced on the final day of the camp held in Singapore on 11–16 January 2020. The camp was organised in collaboration with the business partners Jurong Port, MacGregor, and The China Navigation Company.
A research group from the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku studies the diversity of parasitoid insects around the world. Parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) are one of the most species rich animal taxa on Earth, but their tropical diversity is still poorly known. In the latest study, the group discovered 15 new, sizeable species that parasitise spiders in the lowland rainforests of the Amazon and the cloud forests of the Andes.
The centenary of the University of Turku, the first Finnish-language university in the world, is celebrated this year with many different kinds of events. Throughout the year, there will be several open events to the public, such as the UTU100 Carnival in the spring and the UTU100 Fair in the autumn.
The international degree programmes offered by the University of Turku can be applied to during the joint application period on 8–22 January 2020. This application round includes the Master’s Degree programmes offered in English as well as the new Bachelor’s Degree programmes in education, also offered in English. Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology is also open for application.
A company based in Turku, PianoDuo ConFuego Company Oy, is donating €100,000 to the University of Turku. The donation will be allocated to neurological research on the impact of listening to music on the results of treating patients with brain diseases. The donation event was organised on 19 December 2019.
In 2018, the University of Turku received a donation from the Raisio Research Foundation worth of €500,000 for funding the first five years of the professorship in Food Development with special focus on Nordic foods and their health effects. The new professorship focuses on the study of the plants cultivated in Finland, supports the export of Finnish foods that are based on sustainable development, and promotes well-being by advancing the development of healthy foods.
A joint study by the University of Turku and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has shown that the ability of photosynthesising microbial cells to produce biohydrogen from solar energy can be markedly improved by attaching the cells to a transparent nanocellulose film. The method is also expected to enhance the production of other biochemicals from microalgal cells. The results have been published in the prestigious Journal of Materials Chemistry A.