Quality management at Tampere University

At Tampere University, quality management refers to continuous knowledge-based improvement of operations according to the so-called quality circle (Plan–Do–Check–Act, PDCA).

The quality of operations and its development is the responsibility of everyone, in accordance with their roles and tasks in the University community. The President oversees the quality management system as a whole and its functionality. Quality management activities are steered by the University’s management group. Deans and directors of service units oversee the quality and continuous improvement of operations in the faculties and units they lead. Students participate in the development of quality management as members of administrative bodies, degree programme committees and various working groups, among others.

Tampere University is committed to national and international quality management principles and guidelines. In Finland, universities are obliged to evaluate their education, research, and artistic activities. Legislation also states that universities must regularly participate in external evaluations. The results of the evaluations, internal and external, are to be published.

FINEEC quality audit

The new Tampere University was founded in 2019 through a university merger. Tampere University passed the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) 3rd cycle quality audit on 25 August 2023. The University and its predecessors have now passed all 3 cycles of national quality audits. The predecessor universities of Tampere University passed obligatory national audits of their quality management systems in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The FINEEC quality label is valid until 25 August 2029.

FINEEC is listed in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), which is the list of trustworthy quality assurance agencies in the European Higher Education Area. FINEEC is also a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).

HR Excellence in Research

The new Tampere University was granted the award on 2021. The predecessor universities received the HR Excellence in Research labels awarded by the European Commission in 2014 and 2015. The first Action Plan of the new university is largely based on the development targets that emerged during the merger process.

Read more about HRS4R quality work at our university

Responsible science and research

Quality management in Finnish higher education degree education is based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in European Higher Education Area (ESG). For further information on quality assurance in Finnish higher education, please see the European Commission run EURYDICE database.

Finnish higher education degrees are portable as Finland is part of the European Higher Education Area, adheres to the Bologna Process, and employs the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System which helps students move between countries and have their academic qualifications recognised across Europe and elsewhere.

Tampere University is committed to national and international principles of responsible science. The University complies with the open science alignment adopted by the University’s Academic Board and carries it out according to a separate action plan. The University is committed to the guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity. As a signatory of the international DORA Declaration (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment), the University is committed to improving the ways in which the output of scientific research is evaluated to make such assessments more open and transparent.

Read more about responsible science and research

Tampere University conducts an international assessment of all its research at regular intervals. With the help of the assessments, the University gets comprehensive information on the quality and impact of its research relative to the world level.

The latest research assessment exercises conducted at the predecessor universities, in 2014 at the University of Tampere (UTA) and in 2017 at Tampere University of Technology (TUT), pinpointed several world-class research groups, and research communities with high potential. The results of the evaluations and information gathered for it have been utilised in strategic planning, profiling and decision-making of both universities as well as in the planning of the new Tampere University.

For more details, see the Final Reports of the assessments:

TAU RAE 2022

The new Tampere University’s first research assessment exercise (TAU RAE 2022) was conducted in 2022 as an international peer-review in two phases. The first phase focused on research conducted at the University’s units. Assessment was carried out by three panels (technology, health and society). The second phase focused on the University as an enabler of high-quality influential research and as a creator of research environments.

The assessment produced experts’ perspectives into how Tampere University should be developed in the future. The University uses the assessment results to develop research.

Inquiries:
Development Manager Leena Ahrio, leena.ahrio [at] tuni.fi (leena[dot]ahrio[at]tuni[dot]fi), +358 40 190 1535