Greetings of Teuvo Pohjolainen, PhD, Vice Rector of the University of Joensuu
Speech at the Reception of the Third International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, Joensuu, Finland
June 8, 2009
Dear participants of The Conference, Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the University of Joensuu I have the great pleasure and honour to wish you all warmly welcome to North Karelia to the University of Joensuu and to the Third International Conference of Orthodox Church Music organized by Department of Orthodox Theology, Faculty of Theology at the University of Joensuu in co-operation with The International Society for Orthodox Church Music.
The teaching and the study of orthodox theology is a very special task of The University of Joensuu. This is the only university in Finland which has a department of orthodox theology. Therefore we are proud of it. I am sure that the future university of Eastern Finland will also take good care of it.
The university of Joensuu is – in Finnish scale – a middle sized university. We have over 8500 students. Every year approximately 1500 new students are admitted. The staff comprises about 1400 people. Almost 600 international students annually study at the University of Joensuu.
There are at the moment strong demands to develop the structure of the university system in Finland. As a part of this structural development we are together with the University of Kuopio merging and the new University of Eastern Finland will start on the 1st January 2010.
The slogan of it will be: University of Eastern Finland - The Future University Today.
UEF is an international and multi-disciplinary university with a firm status among the leading universities in Finland. The new university will be formed of the main campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio, and there will also be a campus in Savonlinna.
The core of the University of Eastern Finland is built around its areas of expertise in research and education. The goal is to create an operational entity that is efficient from the viewpoint of research, education and societal impact.
The project for the University of Eastern Finland is one of the Ministry of Education spearhead projects in the structural development of higher education institutions.
The University of Eastern Finland is defining its profile as a multidisciplinary and strongly networked research and teaching university that is internationally recognized in its areas of strength and expertise. Furthermore, new fields of research are expected to emerge at the interfaces of disciplines at the new university. The University of Eastern Finland seeks to reach the top three most significant universities in Finland and be among the leading 200 universities in the world.
The four faculties of the University of Eastern Finland will be the Philosophical Faculty, the Faculty of Science and Forestry, the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business.
The Philosophical Faculty will be based in Joensuu and it will comprise the School of Humanities, the School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, and the School of Theology. The School of Theology will comprise Western Theology and Orthodox Theology.
The Faculty of Health Sciences will be based in Kuopio and it will comprise the A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, the School of Pharmacy, the Department of Nursing Science, the School of Medicine, and the Laboratory Animal Centre as an independent institute.
The Faculty of Science and Forestry will be based on two campuses and it will comprise seven departments or schools. The Department of Physics and Mathematics and the School of Computing will be based both on the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses. The Department of Biology, the Department of Chemistry and the School of Forest Sciences will be based on the Joensuu campus. The Department of Biosciences and the Department of Environmental Science, on the other hand, will be based on the Kuopio campus.
The Faculty of Social Sciences and Business will be based both on the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses, and it will have five departments and two research centres. The departments to operate on two campuses are the Department of Business and the Department of Social Sciences. The Department of Law and the Department of Geographical and Historical Studies will be based on the Joensuu campus, whereas the Department of Social and Health Management will be based on the Kuopio campus. The Karelian Institute and the Centre for Tourism Studies will continue their operations on the Joensuu campus.
Key figures of the UEF: Students 14 557 , Degrees admitted per year 2 543 Of which 139 are doctoral degrees.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have had an honour to bring the University opening words to every international conferences of the orthodox church music which have been organized here in Joensuu. This is the third time.
Every time I have had a pleasure to say that looking the program of the conference I have found that the honourable speakers of the conference are experts of the highest level. Therefore I am sure, that there will be fruitful and constructive performances and discussions on the theme.
Ladies and gentleman, I hope that you enjoy your stay in Joensuu!
I wish all of you the best conference time.