President’s overview: Striving to become the best university of applied sciences in Finland

The four focus areas of the strategy – being a multidisciplinary university for working life, pioneering in education export, responding to changing competence needs of working life, and utilising competitive advantages provided by the HEI community – guide our development in the coming years, in conjunction with the agreement between the Ministry of Education and Culture and TAMK for 2025–2028.

The implementation of the strategy was especially evident in the boost given to our research, development and innovation (RDI) activities. TAMK is an excellent, reputable university of applied sciences providing high-quality education, and now is the time to cement its position as a more impactful RDI actor. Our goal is to triple our RDI activities by 2030. 

Updates to RDI activities

Complementing one another, education and RDI activities are the two core functions stipulated in legislation regarding universities of applied sciences. RDI activities produce new expertise which is then implemented in our education offering and in the cooperation with our partners. Active dialogue and applied research with our partners also provide a great opportunity for our community members working in teaching-focused duties to update their skills. As we gradually enhance cooperation with our partners, we can ensure that our teaching content remains up-to-date, helping our students in the process.

In 2025, we defined the areas of strength for TAMK’s RDI activities and established research groups. Simultaneously, we prepared a significant structural change; at the start of 2026, RDI activities and performance accountability were transferred to five faculties. The role of RDI services will be clarified as an expert and support service that helps faculties with their RDI work. At the end of the year, we also founded seven research groups and implemented a career path model for those working in research-focused tasks. The model aims to provide our personnel better opportunities to grow into established experts in their field. 

Highly appealing study place

In education, student numbers remained strong, and in 2025 the number of Bachelor's degree graduates increased by a further 10%. Although we did not yet reach the target levels set in the performance agreement made with the Ministry of Education and Culture, we exceeded our own internal goals. At the same time, improving student well-being remained an important focus area, and one action we took was to develop support services provided to international students in cooperation with Tampere University and the City of Tampere. TAMK had an extremely high appeal as a study place: in the spring joint application, we had more applicants per place than any other university of applied sciences.

We took major steps forward in international cooperation. TAMK participated in the Uninovis alliance for the second year. The alliance, formed by seven European higher education institutions, makes efforts to develop education focused on data expertise in particular. In 2025, the alliance focused on building shared structures, preparing for double degrees, and starting a personnel exchange programme. 

Entire community behind our development

During the year, we also updated TAMK’s principles of good governance. The board approved them in the summer of 2025 after extensive preparations that covered the entire community. These principles guide our decision-making and everyday operations and ensure that we operate openly, responsibly and fairly.

TAMK’s improvement endeavours are a collaborative effort. I would like to warmly thank our students, personnel and partners for the past year and the commitment to our shared goal of building an even more impactful and more international higher education institution in Tampere.