Veli Mäkinen and Valtteri Niemi, new Deputy Heads of the Department at the University of Helsinki

Veli Mäkinen and Valtteri Niemi, new Deputy Heads of the Department at the University of Helsinki

The Head of the Department at the University of Helsinki Sasu Tarkoma has appointed Professor Veli Mäkinen to be 1st deputy head and Professor Valtteri Niemi to be 2nd deputy head of the department. Congratulations all around!

See below for the comments of the new appointees about their new duties.

Veli Mäkinen:

“I'm in charge of teaching.  My most significant job is to participate in the Big Wheel project to implement new education programmes. We are planning several inter-departmental programmes, and there will be a host of challenges, from planning the contents to marketing the product. The most burning question is probably making the resources suffice: who will reserve the teaching facilities for Master's programme X in the new administrative organisation, who will instruct course Y, etc? Still, the new structure of education programmes seems very promising, so I'm really looking forward to the new dynamics it will bring."

Valtteri Niemi:

"I, in my turn, am responsible for research and especially collaboration. In the present difficult financial situation, the procurement of external financing gains more importance. We will try to find new models for research collaborations with e.g. the corporate world. In this context, we should also take into consideration the educational aspect.