A Nice Nice Network Meeting 2013 in León

Family photo of Nice Network members

In summer 2013 Pirkko Varis from Tampere University of Applied Sciences had the possibility to participate in the annual NICE network meeting, organised at Universidad de León in Spain. The coordinator of the meeting was Rafael de Paz Urueña from the international office of the university. The programme included plenary and workshop sessions on ERASMUS for All, international weeks, bottlenecks of internationalization, co-operation HEI-Enterprises, European Qualification Framework, cultural integration and future of the Nice Network. In addition, we did a lot of networking.

Banu, Thomas and Rafael with a new "old" member Alejandro

Pirkko was the facilitator of the workshop on co-operation HEI-Enterprises: other types of co-operation than placements. As introduction she gave a presentation on various types of co-operation between TAMK and enterprises, including SME co-operation, projects, business and product/service innovations, user-centered concepting, intensive courses and programmes etc. Thereafter participants told about their co-operation with enterprises and about their experiences. Finally we discussed about advantages, challenges and funding possibilities for this kind of co-operation. We could share many useful ideas for our work in this field.

 A historical procession in Astorga

Some visits to the region of León were organized by Rafael, too. First we visited the bimilenary city of Astorga. With over 2,000 years of history, Astorga has Renaissance cathedrals, ruins of Roman baths and the Episcopal Palace, designed by Gaudí, just to mention some of the attractions. After being conquered by the Romans, the town became an important strategic centre, mainly on account of the area's wealth in deposits of gold. We had a guided walking city tour and visited several Roman sites and ruins of Roman baths. In Astorga we also had a chance to follow a historical procession.

Castrillo de los Polvazares

After the visit to Astorga we made a very special visit to the pretty village of Castrillo de los Polvazares, which is an excellent example of perfectly preserved buildings and architecture since the 16th century. The red stone and clay of its house fronts are in contrast with the blue, green and white colours of the doors and windows. We visited the house of Rafael’s family, too. The village is a local heritage showpiece. Thank you Rafael for organizing this fantastic experience!

 Rafael in Castrillo de los Polvazares

Text : Pirkko Varis, TAMK
Photos: Ines Hammermüller-Sweeney, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden & Rafael de Paz, Universidad de León



What is NICE network?
The New Initiatives and Challenges in Europe, NICE network is a network for representatives of more than 35 business schools, faculties and departments of business and economics. They work together in order to develop curricula, joint projects, intensive programmes, exchanges, internships and other cooperation. Pirkko Varis from Tampere University of Applied Sciences has taken part for many years in the NICE network and in the projects initiated by the members of the network. For example the IICEE European module was developed by some partners and now it is part of the curriculum in several universities throughout Europe. An intensive programme (IP) was developed based upon the module, too. In annual meetings of the network study programmes and methods are compared, new initiatives are discussed and proposals are made for cooperation and development of the network. The Quality Charter of the NICE network and other information is available on the website of the network www.nicenetwork.eu

"A trip to paradise..."

...at least this is how one of the participants discribed it...

After over one week full of lectures and group work it was time for some well-deserved relaxation for the participants of the intensive programme "Traditional Food in combating food-borne pathogens".
And what Finns call a "normal summerday at the cottage" was a welcomed and very impressive change for the international group of students from all over Europe.

The IP participants enjoy the nice weather

We spent the afternoon at a typical Finnish cottage in Kangasala next to the lake 'Matalajärvi'. The weather was great, so everyone could enjoy the sauna and a refreshing dip in the lake. For some of them it was the first time ever in a Finnish sauna and therefore a great new experience.

 Professional instructor in Finnish sauna culture: Ms Leila Kakko

 

Fresh chanterelles and blueberries from the forest

Apart from the sauna there was the possibility to enjoy Finnish nature by collecting wild blueberries in the forest, which also suited the topic of the intensive programme very well. There were even some chanterelles found - and the self-picked berries and mushrooms were also a nice addition to the dinner.

 

Dinner with flamed salmon, fresh bread and salads

 The food was very Finnish and very tasty. Minced elk soup, pumpkin soup and rhubarb pie for lunch and flamed salmon freshly from the fire, salads, fresh bread, selfmade buns and pancakes for dinner. A very  special thank you goes to Ms Arja Luiro who made the effort to cook the delicious food for everyone - "the best salmon I ever ate", as someone said.

The participants with Leila Kakko, Arja Luiro and dog Rolle

All in all it was a nice and relaxing afternoon in the nature and gave everyone a bit of new strength to keep working on their group projects and the big final presentation on Friday.

Text & Photos: Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services

Cigarette-project

The three day anti-smoking event working under the CDS-project (To Care To Dare To Share) started eagerly in February 2 at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Interesting meters or maybe the sweets gathered people around and the students as well as the staff wanted to test their lungs. The FVC-meter indicated the lung capacity in liters and the PEF-meter indicated the peak expiratory flow. Everybody got proper figures or even better than expected and the young smokers were happy about their (so far) healthy lungs. Still they got some friendly advice about the lungs getting weaker among the age and smoking years.

The idea of the project was to tell about the new smoking area behind the Q-wing and to move the smokers there from the main entrance. Of course we also tried to wake smokers to think about the health issues of smoking and possibly quit.

We interviewed twentyfive smokers and asked their opinion about reducing smoking. Answerers’ average age was 25 years and eighteen of them were men and seven of them were women. Over a half of the answerers were studying technical studies. There were eleven people who had been smoking over seven years and one had been smoking less than a year. The rest have been smoking from two to six years. Sixteen of the answerers were smoking as a habit for example on recess and eleven people said they were smoking more when stressed. The biggest reasons in starting to smoke were friends and upper secondary school or later studies. The positive thing is that eighteen of these people have tried to quit smoking and four of them have succeeded.

Other positive thing was how the smokers reacted on non-smoking. Only three people thought that the smoking law considering restaurants and stores was a bad thing when eleven people saw it as a good thing. Ten answerers thought that forbidding smoking in restaurants was good but hiding the cigarettes in stores is foolish.

Also propositions about reducing smoking came up and the most popular choice was the electric cigarettes. Only two of the interviewed people thought that smoking is everybody’s own decision and it doesn´t have to be reduced. Of course everybody makes their own decisions but also the non-smokers should have a choice about having to breathe smoke on the street waiting to get in to a bar. Seems that if you bow in one direction you´ll be showing your bottom to the other. Let´s still remember To Care To Dare To Share.

Thanks of these rewarding days for all of the participants!

Annemari Humaloja

Over Five Hundred Participants in West Finland HEInet Outgoing Orientation Day 2011

SAMK, SeAMK, TAMK, TUT and UTA (commonly known as West Finland HEInet - West Finland Higher Education net) organized their joint Outgoing Orientation Day 2011 at Tampere University of Technology (TUT) campus on 15th of April 2011.

The aim of the event was to offer vital information for exchange students and people who are going to do their practical training abroad. Additionally, the idea was train them to deal with situations which may arise during the exchange period

The event attracted over 500 attendants, so we can honestly say that the event was a success. There weren’t too many free seats in the Auditorium.














The whole programme started with distributing the information folders accompanied with free sandwiches and coffee for everybody.

One of the highlights of the day was a presentation by Mr. Teemu Palosaari, a Research Fellow from Tampere Peace Research Institute. This was his third time performing in this joint orientation day. One of his messages was that the media is giving a slanted view on some countries, because bad news is interesting for the masses. He pointed out, that it is completely possible to spend a safe night in about any country. Additionally, there is a possibility that you can get robbed in your good old and safe home town. Mr. Palosaari even told us that he had been robbed in New Zealand, which should be one of the safest countries in the world. He also described that a common man should first get to know the practicalities in their target country i.e. Where to get drinking water. Mr. Palosaari also hinted that the best sources for this kind of information are Ministry for Foreign Affairs and CIA Factbook.

Mr Teemu Palosaari

The programme also included lectures about culture shock by Mr. John Shepherd (from TUT) about health issues by Ms. Tarja Järvinen (from FSHS) and about being a Finn abroad by Ms. Irja Pietilä (from TAMK).

After the lectures the students were taken to country or area specific groups. There they had the chance to meet students (known as “veterans”) who already have completed their exchange period. These two hour sessions were full of questions and discussions. Judging from the feedback, the country groups were the best part of the day.

We at TAMK International Services would like to thank everybody who participated to this wonderful event. Special thanks to the veterans who were there to give answers to their fellow students. You were a big part of this day.

More pictures can be found from TAMK Flickr.

Text: Elias Suominen
Photos: Elias Suominen

TAMK photo contest: The early bird catches the worm

Last autumn TAMK photo contest was looking for the best picture of TAMK feeling. Now we are looking for pictures of your morning.

How was your morning? Capture your feelings or thoughts about morning and share them with us. The best capture of morning will be rewarded with Giganti's 50 euros voucher. The second and third places will be rewarded with Finnkino movie tickets.

Upload your best morning on the competition event page on Facebook. You can upload photos until March 14th 2011. And if you don't have a Facebook account, no problem, send your pic(s) to Siru.Maatta(atsign)tamk.fi.

Voting is simple; just click “Like” on the picture of your choice. You can vote until March 21st 2011. The winner will be selected in collaboration of Facebook voting and TAMK's own jury.

If you want to, you can participate with several photos. So grab your camera and snap the winner shot of those early birds, late risers or of anything the morning represents you!

Photo contest event page
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TAMK Applicant's Guide 2011 now online

Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) Applicant's Guide for degree programmes run in English is now available.

The application time is January 3 to February 15 2011.

Learn all details about application and download the guide

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Tourism most attractive in TAMK

Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) had 1018 primary applicants to its English degree programmes starting in the autumn 2010. There were 8.1 primary applicants per study place. TAMK was the third most popular university of applied sciences in Finland. The closing date for applications was Friday 12 February.

Degree Programme in Tourism was the most popular English degree programme in TAMK. It had 230 primary applicants (11.5 applicants/study place). Degree Programme in Media had 181 primary applicants (9.1 applicants/study place), International Business 335 primary applicants (8.4 applicants/study place), Nursing 115 primary applicants (7.2 applicants/study place) and Environmental Engineering 157 primary applicants (5.2 applicants/study place).

In all, there were 2571 applicants to TAMK´s five degree programmes conducted in English. The number of open study places is 126.

TAMK had more Finnish applicants than other universities of applied sciences according to the national statistics.

The joint application data are based on the Finnish National Board of Education´s current statistics.

Happy Holidays!

The blog wishes everybody easy and happy holiday season!

On January 1st Tampere University of Applied Sciences will be bigger and cover more fields of study due to the merger of TAMK and PIRAMK. (More about that beginning of next year.)

Most TAMK lecturers will begin the new working year on Thursday, January 7. The students begin the spring semester on Monday January 11 with the exception of the new exchange students, who have their orientation January 7-8.

The application period for the international degree programmes also starts on January 11.

tamkadmissions.fi

Photo: Tampere Christmas Market

Orientation course for exchange students and trainees held for the 3rd time

Course N-KV596-2006, which is mandatory for those who wish to go on exchange or do their practical training abroad, started on Tuesday 27th of October for the third time. The first lecture gathered together around 50 students from many different degree programs in TAMK.

The course is mostly moodle-based, but it also includes four contact lectures. It is designed to prepare students on cultural and practical matters before going abroad. This way the student will commit to his or her overseas period and understand its overall purpose on personal and professional growth.

Photo: Matti Pietilä telling students how important it is to be well prepared before going abroad.

The Admissions Pages for the New TAMK Have Been Launched

The English admission pages for the new TAMK have been launched.

The pages mainly serve foreign applicants, so they focus on marketing the English degree programmes and giving information about TAMK and Finland. The application period for the English degree programmes is 11.1. – 12.2.2010.

TAMK’s and PIRAMK’s current English webpages remain as they are until the end of 2009. After the 1st of January, both the Finnish and English admissions pages are modified into TAMK’s official webpages.

Both the Finnish and the English admissions pages have been produced by a project team, consisting of the following people: Teija Pekkarinen, Katja Jouttela, Marianna Leikomaa and Minna Honkanen. The production work also got input from several experts, especially from the Admissions Office, Student Services and International Office.

The English admission pages for the new TAMK

Markku Lahtinen to Lead New TAMK

Markku Lahtinen (50) is elected president of the new TAMK University of Applied Sciences as TAMK and PIRAMK UAS merge on 1 January 2010. He has been the president of TAMK University of Applied Sciences since 1997.

President Markku Lahtinen will lead the third largest Finnish university of applied sciences with approximately 9000 students. The new TAMK will have campuses in Tampere, Ikaalinen, Mänttä-Vilppula and Virrat. The number of staff will be approximately 850.

Education and related research and development of the multidisciplinary TAMK will focus on technology, wellbeing services, business administration, tourism and culture. The new TAMK provides degree-awarding education in more than 40 degree programmes in seven fields of study: Culture, Natural sciences, Natural resources and the environment, Tourism, catering and domestic services, Social services, health and sports, Technology, communication and transport, Social sciences, business and administration. In addition, TAMK provides vocational teacher education and diverse further and continuing education possibilities.

Read more

Visitors from Esslingen, Germany

Beate Maleska, Head of International Office and Stefani Maier, Vice President for International Affairs and Marketing from Hochschule Esslingen, Germany, visited TAMK from 10th to 11th of September. The aim of the visit was to discuss about student and staff exchanges and co-operation possibilities between the universities in general (R&D etc.). The guests schedule at TAMK was very busy with introduction to the Teiskontie and Finlayson campus as well as different kinds of meetings and presentations. The program also included Tampere city sight seeing tour and dinner. During their trip to Finland Beate and Stefani also visited other universities such as Tampere University of Technology, Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences and Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences.

This was their 1st visit to Finland, and when asked what Beate Maleska has taught of the country so far, she assured that the expectation she had prior to the trip were met. “I’ve head many good things about Finland and have wanted to come here for a long time. I especially like the fact that here the nature is all around. I hope come here soon for a holiday and just enjoy what nature has to offer. I’d just love to listen to the endless silence and relax.” She also mentioned that Finnish people are very open, friendly and helpful and they like to take the opportunity to speak to foreigners. “One old man helped me with my bags at the train station even though he didn’t talk much English. Not everyone in Germany would do the same thing.”

When asked about her impressions of TAMK, she mentioned that the facilities set up for students are very good. She thinks that good facilities and services make studying easier and probably also causes less pressure on the students, when for example it is easy to borrow the books you need or have many computers to work with. She also said that Finnish school food is a little better compared to the food served in German schools. “In Germany the quality varies and it is a little more expensive. For example salads and drinks cost extra. But our school is located near the city centre so the students can go out and get a cheap lunch from the numerous Asian or other ethnic restaurants.” Finnish food in general Maleska described as fresh and creative with a good variety of ingredients.

Photo: Visitors from Germany in the middle, joined by the staff from the International Office of TAMK and other guests from Spain.

The Exchange Students Came, Welcome New Year

The new academic year of TAMK University of Applied Sciences has begun. The lecturers and other staff members have worked hard to have everything prepared. The most exciting this year is the merger of TAMK and PIRAMK UAS on January 1st. Last week the staff members of both merging universities gathered to a joint staff meeting, and had a massive get-together party in the evening. New friends and lots of fun.

This week the fresh first year students of many degree programmes have started with orientation. Also the exchange students started their orientation yesterday.

This autumn TAMK hosts 87 exchange students from 19 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA.

Next Monday the students of second and upper years of most degree programmes return. The new students of our degree programmes run in English, the Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering, the Degree Programme in Interational Business and our new Dgree Programme in Media start with three orientation days next Wednesday.

Pictured: One of the exchange student groups starting the TAMK tour at our international office. Photographer: Juhani Karjalainen

TAMK Considered the Most Interesting and International UAS

TAMK UAS is the most interesting study place among the Finnish universities of applied sciences; this is the result of the imago research made by Taloustutkimus market research company.

The most approving assessments TAMK got for location (= Tampere), reputation as a study place, diversity of study fields and the appreciation by working life. "We can be most satisfied with the result, because these are exactly the factors that affect most the choice of the study place", says Ms. Aura Loikkanen, Development Director at TAMK. TAMK got also more often a positive than a negative assessment in the five additional imago factors.

The general estimate of TAMK was the second best, only the Police College of Finland got better scores. Taloustutkimus has done the UAS imago research annually since 2002, and every year TAMK has been first or second among the 28 UAS.

TAMK was number one in attractivity of study place and internationality and in the top ten in all categories.

Taloustutkimus interviewed 1504 persons in the age of 17 to 29 years in February 2009 for this report.

TAMK is the most popular UAS among secondary school students

T-Media Oy interviewed 5709 upper secondary school students about their attitudes on studies and working life. The most popular UAS was TAMK.

In the joint online application of Finnish universities of applied sciences this year the most attractive universities were Pirkanmaa UAS (PIRAMK) and TAMK. The both universities merge beginning of next year, so everything looks really good.

Want to study in one of the best UAS in Finland?

Application to Finnish universities of applied sciences happens trough a system joint online application. So if you want to apply for one of the six international degree programmes run in English of merged PIRAMK/TAMK in August 2010, you should fill in your online application between mid-January and mid-February next year. The exact dates will be set by the Finish Board of Education later.

The application website will be launched in September, so stay tuned, we will report everything and publish links in this blog.

Read more about the TAMK/PIRAMK merger
TAMK in English
PIRAMK in English

TAMK celebrates its graduates

The entertainment was provided by Petteri Jakobsson

TAMK held its graduation ceremonies on Saturday the 6th of June. 382 degrees were completed at TAMK during the spring 2009. This was the last graduation ceremony held at TAMK as it is today, because TAMK merges with PIRAMK on the 1st of January 2009.


Managing Director Sari Rämö from SCA Packaging Finland represented the working life. “A degree from a university of applied sciences gives excellent prerequisites for interesting tasks. As the years go by, you might find yourself in surprising places. A person with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering might find themselves in sales tasks or being a personnel manager.”

TAMK president Markku Lahtinen was happy to announce that over 90 % of TAMK’s Bachelor’s and Master’s theses are carried out to meet the demands of the working life. “These theses are of high quality, which has been demonstrated by e.g. having a student graduating from TAMK degree programme of electrical engineering receive the national Thesis award in May 2009.”



Graduating students naturally gave speeches at the ceremony as well. Brazilian Vanessa Dos Santos-Juusela, who graduated from Environmental engineering, praised the support she had received from TAMK staff: “There was never a problem which the Head of our Degree Programme could not solve.”

TAMK and PIRAMK Merge

TAMK University of Applied Sciences and PIRAMK University of Applied Sciences will merge at the beginning of 2010.

The name of the new university will be TAMK University of Applied Sciences. In addition to the city of Tampere, the new TAMK will operate in Ikaalinen, Mänttä-Vilppula and Virrat. The merged UAS will have almost 9000 students.

The most popular UAS in Finland

In the joint application of spring 2009, TAMK and PIRAMK were the two most popular among the Finnish universities of applied sciences. In the joint application to youth education, TAMK had on average 4.8 primary applicants and PIRAMK 5.2 primary applicants per study place. The Finnish average was 3.3 primary applicants per study place.

The new TAMK offers degree programmes in seven out of eight different Finnish fields of stydy:

• Culture
• Natural Sciences
• Social Sciences, Business and Administration
• Technology, Communications and Transport
• Natural Resources and the Environment
• Social Services, Health and Sports
• Tourism, Catering and Domestic Services

In addition, TAMK offers vocational teacher education and diverse further and continuing education possibilities.

In practice, the both universities are already working together in many areas, like research and development. A joint web site to support the application period for degree programmes run in English will be launched in September. The application period starts in January.

The Bachelor's programmes run in English are

• Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering
• Degree Programme in International Business
• Degree Programme in Media
• Degree Programme in Nursing
• Degree Programme in Social Services
• Degree Programme in Tourism

The main campuses of TAMK and PIRAMK are next to each other, on both sides of the same street. The new TAMK main campus area will be the biggest UAS campus area in Finland.

Photo: It takes two to TAMK is a newsletter reporting about the preparations of the merger.

1112 students graduated from TAMK

The graduation ceremony took place on the 23r of January 2008. The programme included speeches, music and a break-dance performance “Breakin’ Gentlemen”.

1112 students graduated from TAMK in 2008. Out of these, 844 completed a UAS degree and 268 got their pedagogical teacher qualifications. 17 graduates got their Master’s Degrees.

The new graduates come from different degree programmes and 56 students earned their Bachelor’s Degrees from the international degree programmes of International Business or Environmental Engineering.

”It is significant to see the number of students who graduated from the degree programmes of Business Administration and International Business than was greater than expected”, says the Director of the Degree Programmes Reijo Rasmus.

TAMK has circa 5000 students, out of which circa 900 are adult students.

Three Good Reasons to Study in Tampere

The Environmental Engineering programme provides training and education on a wide range of issues in environmental technology and management. Special emphasis is given to monitoring and assessing the state of the environment.

The programme is designed to provide advanced training and education in environmental analysis and management, thus offering the student the skills and knowledge needed for a holistic and sustainable understanding of environmental technology and management.

The TAMK BBA in International Business offers an internationally respected Bachelor degree. The programme provides students not only with first-rate theoretical skills, but also with flexible problem-solving and social skills in a truly international environment.

The objective is to prepare under-graduates for tasks demanding business expertise and entry-level managerial positions worldwide. Graduates from the TAMK BBA programme face exciting professional opportunities e.g. as sales, product and marketing assistants, as logistics coordinators or as consultants or entrepreneurs.

The BA Degree Programme in Media is about interactive media content design and production. The students learn about current digital media issues and gain deep insight into one of the three specialisation options: visual design, interaction design or project management.

The areas of application include web design and services, games, mobile media, multimedia, cross media and interactive installations.

Environmental Engineering
International Business
Media

Tampere - the Focal Point of Northern Europe

Where is Tampere? At the edge of the tundra? Why should one bother to move to Tampere to study or to do business?

Tampere is actually the central spot of Northern Europe. If you want to draw a circle with a radious of 1000 km, including the Baltic sea, Scandinavia, Finland, and northern Russia, your circle will hit the Russian capital Moscow, the Polish capital Warsaw, Rostock in Germany and Hammerfest in northern Norway. And there it is, the centre of this circle, Tampere in Finland.

This 1000 km circle includes capitals like Copenhagen (distance from Tampere 913 km), Oslo (726 km), Stockholm (394 km), Helsinki (160 km), Tallin (235 km), Riga (505 km), Vilnius (762 km) and Minsk (873 km). St. Petersburg (396 km) is really close.

Tampere is really accessible: Direct flights from Riga, Milan, Bremen, Frankfurt, London, Dublin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki, train from St. Petersburg and Helsinki, ferry + train from Tallin, Stockholm, Gdynia, Travemünde and Rostock.

Tampere is an attractive and international centre for students, 200 000 inhabitants and 40 000 students of higher education in five universities. The cultural life is rich, and the city is surrounded by beautiful lakes and forests.

Read about the Bachelor's Degree Programmes in English at TAMK University of Applied Sciences