Around-the-Members

Matti Klinge

The official History of the University of Helsinki by Professor Emeritus Matti Klinge, a leading historian in Finland, has just been extended translated into English to mark the university’s 350th Anniversary of the foundation. It was originally  published in Finnish and Swedish in 1990. The book traces the story of the University from its origins as the oldest  in Finland, 1640 to the year 2010 -  370 years of learning - producing several Presidents including Tarja Halonen and Urbo Kekkohen.

Political activist and champion of the peaceful liberation of Palestinian territories, Hanan Ashrawi delivered the second annual Freedom Lecture held at Pieterskerk, Leiden last month. Initiated in 2010 with an inaugural lecture by Salmon Rushdie, the Freedom Lecture was conceived of by Leiden University, the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Municipality of Leiden, to celebrate Leiden's historic association with the concept of freedom.

For the tenth year in a row, Oxford has come top of The Times Good University Guide league table. The Times looked at criteria such as staff-student ratios, graduate employment and bursaries in ranking higher education institutions. Oxford’s superior staffing levels, larger proportion of top degrees, higher spending on student facilities and high degree of student satisfaction ensured that it sealed a full decade at the top of the table.

Many Europaeum friends - including Professor Michael Freeden (Oxford)  and Professor Jan Zielonka (Oxford) - took part in the impressive conference based within the European Studies Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford, last March 4th-5th. The event brought together experts from a wide range of academic and professional fields in order to explore the implications of changing media relations on politics, and the complexities of political interaction with the public through media, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

Krakow has emerged as a leading supplier of outsourcing skills - which reflects well on the Jagiellonian University, our partner in Poland, in terms of the qualities produced in its graduates. In the annual ranking of the top 50 sp-called emerging global outsourcing cities, Krakow has risen to Number  1.  Its superior position in the ECE region is shown by referencing the fact that Prague is placed 12th in the table, which is produced annually by the out-sourcing consultancies, Global Services and Tholonsplace.

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – our partner in France - is busy marking its 40th anniversary this month. The original University of Paris was founded back in the 12th Century, with the Sorbonne establishing itself as its most prestigious college by the 13th century – one of the great medieval centres of learning.

Leiden Rector and Europaeum Council Member, Professor Paul van der Heijden is currently concluding talks with the University of Xiamen in China to establish academic links between the two institutions, intensifying research and teaching co-operation. The Leiden University has a long history of international collaboration, and these initial agreements focussed on IT studies are just the first step towards establishing deeper connections with Chinese counterparts.

Charles Wyplosz, Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, who gave a distinguished Europaeum Lecture in Oxford on Fiscal Discipline in the Monetary Union: Rules or Institutions?, has just published an insightful brief with the Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE) on European Debt Crisis: What is the Way Out?

Kerem Oktem - an expert on modern Turkish history from St Antony's College, Oxford - recently released his latest book on Angry Nation - Turkey since 1989, published by Zed Books Inc. Kerem Oktem charts the contemporary history of Turkey, exploring such key issues as the relationship between religion and the state, Kurdish separatism, Turkey's relationship with Israel and the ongoing controversy over Turkey's entry into the EU. This is the definitive book on the country's erratic transformation from a military dictatorship to a maturing, if still troubled, democracy. Click here for more information

The South East European Studies Centre at Oxford University (SEESOX) recently published a new book online book on From Crisis to Recovery: Sustainable Growth in South East Europe, edited by Othon Anastasakis, Jens Bastian and Max Watson. In light of the recent global economic recession, this volume challenges previous assumptions about the capacity of countries in South East Europe to react to economic crises, and the direction they need to take to facilitate their transition.

The Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development Studies  in Geneva  is revising its doctoral programmes so that they respond better to student expectations and to a growing demands for specialisation options. The Multidisciplinary PhD in Development Studies has now been replaced with three new programmes: a PhD in Development Economics; and an MA and a PhD in Anthropology and Sociology of Development. A new fast-track Master-PhD has also been introduced which can now be completed in 5 instead of 6 years.

Dr Katya Kocourek, a British historian with Czech ancestry, who helped set up our successful 2003 Europaeum Summer School Old and New Ideas on European Federalism, was back in Prague last month to launch the Czech edition of her latest book about Rudolf Medek (published by leading Czech publisher Mladá fronta:  Čechoslovakista Rudolf Medek. Politický životopis).

The University of Paris - Sorbonne - which via Paris 1 Sorbonne-Pantheon is linked to our association - officially opened an Abu Dhabi campus last month with French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, President of the Crown Prince Court, in attendance. The campus - the first French institution in a Gulf state - is intended to advance university  access in the region, by offering academic student majors in Humanities and Law, with plans to add more degree options in the years to come.

The University of Helsinki has recently been highly rated in the Webometrics ranking system, which ranks the world's universities based on open online publication activities. Helsinki was ranked 7th in Europe - and 62nd worldwide. As online capabilities and digital resources increase, the importance of providing open access to online publications is paramount to staying ahead and at the cutting edge of research.