TAUCHI – Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction Finnish Graduate Schools - Competition and Cooperation in Ph.D. Education Poika Isokoski and Kari-Jouko.

TAUCHI – Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction

Finnish Graduate Schools - Competition and Cooperation in

Ph.D. Education

Poika Isokoski and Kari-Jouko Räihä

Graduate School on User Centered Information Technology,Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction,

and Department of Computer Sciences University of Tampere, Finland

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Contents

• The Finnish Graduate School System• UCIT

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The Finnish “Graduate Schools”

Gymnasium

Univ. Of Applied Sciences(higher vocational training)

University

12 yearsin school

Bachelor’s degree(3 years)

Master’s degree (2 years)

Doctoral degree (4 years)

Graduate School

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Pre-Graduate School Ph.D. Education

• Graduate students supervised by professors

• Students worked as research or teaching assistants in universities– Often short-term appointments– Some five-year assistantships with

teaching inclination available in most departments.

• Many students working in companies– Progress in studies and thesis work often

slow

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Reform needed?

• There was political pressure in the 80’s and 90’s for more efficient Ph.D. ”production”.

• Work in committees and ministries led to Graduate schools added on top of the old system– The old system remains operational– The five-year assistant positions have

gradually been discontinued in most universities.

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Graduate Schools

• A government funding scheme.• Funding for the first 722 positions in

1995.• In 2010 paid positions for 1600

doctoral students in about 110 graduate schools.

• Graduate schools offer funding for 4-year full-time doctoral studies

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Graduate Schools

• Organize Ph.D. education for their members.

• Are similar to research projects in the university administration. – Receive funding and spend it to achieve their goals.– May emerge or be discontinued according to the

wishes of the funding source (Academy of Finland), discontinuation rare.

– May involve many departments in many universities.

• Do not award degrees – faculties do.

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Goals

• Shorter duration of Doctoral education• Higher quality of Doctors• Better national and international

networks for faculty and graduates• More doctoral degrees

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Paid and Unpaid students

• In addition to students with salary funding Graduate Schools may involve other doctoral students– Graduate school has the opportunity to

involve all Finnish doctoral students in its discipline.

• Unpaid students typically work as researchers or research assistants in universities or other research institutes.

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Competition

• Graduate schools are evaluated every 2 years – the best are funded– Evaluation is done by a panel of experts.– Evaluation based on:

• plan for future operation• statistics on past performance• self-evaluation.

• Positions in graduate schools are given to the most promising applicants.– A large portion of Ph.D. work remains

outside graduate schools.

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More Competition

• The graduate student ”owns” the funding once granted – can shop for the best supervisor– can also shop for the best department – can shop for the best university in the

graduate school– In practice shopping is rare.

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Cooperation

• Graduate schools are cooperation organizations of university departments– Competition for students and research

funding.– Cooperation in the graduate school– Cooperation makes sense because the

graduate school funding is otherwise unavailable.

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Professor’s View

• Plusses:– Money for hiring doctoral students.– Some of the visitor/seminar/course load

can be shared between professors.– Graduate schools offer peer support for

professors and students.• Minuses:

– Complexity: many schools and students outside schools

– Must participate in the administration of graduate schools.

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Student’s View• Plusses:

– Four years of funding– Few distractions - can concentrate on the

Ph.D. work– Peers in one’s own sub-discipline can be

found in the graduate school.• Minuses:

– The salary is not competitive.– Possible to remain detached from the real

world -> poor job prospects.

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UCIT

University of Tampere- Dept. of Computer Sciences (TAUCHI)- Dept. of Social Research- Tampere School of Public Health

Tampere University of Technology- Dept. of Electronics- Dept. of Software Systems

(IHTE)- Center for Safety Management

and Engineering

Aalto University, Helsinki- Helsinki Institute for Information Technology- Dept. of Media Technology- Dept. Of Computer Science and

Engineering (Stratus)- Center for Knowledge and

Innovation Research- School of Design

University of Helsinki- Dept. of Psychology- Helsinki Institute for

Information Technology

Nokia Research Center

VTT

UCIT – Graduate School on User Centered Information

Technology

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What does UCIT Do?

• Courses:– Research methods– Scientific writing– Annual UCIT research seminar

• Funding for research visits by students• Funding for student-organized events• Summer schools• Visiting lecturers• Joint events with domestic and foreign

peer organizations.

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Practical Challenges

• ”Take the money and run” strategy.– Some prefer staying in their offices instead

of joining the educational program.– The graduate schools do not have much

power over universities or individuals in them.

• Recruiting international students.– Paid positions available only periodically.– Result of an application unsure. Long wait

for the results and for the next opportunity.

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More Practical Challenges• Operating graduates schools is

complicated– Network of independent organizations is

difficult to steer.– Sometimes difficult to fit together the

needs of the multiple fields of science.• Different practices in different

disciplines– E.g. the four-year doctoral program is not

universally ideal.– Some departments make the students

work harder than others.

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UCIT – What Works Well• HCI is a marginal area in many departments– UCIT brings the otherwise marginalized

students (and teir supervisors) together.• Ph.D. education in HCI in different

disciplines is compared in UCIT.– Leads to harmonized requirements.

• Graduates know the key people in Finland.

• ”Outside” position allowed significant investment in HCI researcher training without painful politics inside universities.

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Results

• Shorter duration of doctoral education– Graduation faster in graduate schools. (Is this due

to student selection or good work in the schools?)

• Higher quality of graduates– Difficult to measure

• Better national and international networks for faculty and graduates– Most likely true.

• More doctoral degrees– Yes

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iSchool/UCIT/Future?• Universities in Finland are under reform– Some universities are merging– Several cross-university

faculty/department splits and mergers are underway.

– Ministry of education is encouraging the universities to take the lead in shaping the graduate schools

– It is a good time to change things.• How should we set up our doctoral

programs?• What can we learn from iSchools?

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Further Information

• UCIT: http://www.cs.uta.fi/ucit• Academy of Finland: http://www.aka.fi