Tampere Adult Education Foundation donates half a million euros to establish professorships in vocational education

The university of Tampere and Tampere university of applied sciences TAMK will establish a joint professorship of practice, and in addition, a dedicated professorship in vocational education will be created at the university. Through this donation decision, the Tampere Adult Education Foundation is contributing to launching a nationally unique and significant research entity.

– We consider it important that research in vocational education is concentrated within the Tampere higher education community, where pioneering and impactful work in vocational education research and vocational teacher education has been carried out for decades, says Jarno Tuimala, Rector of TAKK and CEO of the foundation.

– Through these professorships, we will gain research-based knowledge to support the development of vocational education. For us, it is essential to bring the perspective and development needs of adult vocational education into vocational education research. 

Research-based knowledge supports development

Education policy and regional reforms are increasing the need for research-based development and foresight in vocational education. As a result of these reforms, providers of vocational education have gained more autonomy. Research-based knowledge supports institutions in developing their operations and decision-making.

– Finland’s future growth is built on competence, the ability to renew and to apply new knowledge in a rapidly changing environment. Digitalisation, the green transition and changes in working life continually increase the need to develop vocational education on a research-based foundation. That is why it is important to strengthen vocational education research and produce new knowledge to develop education, working life and lifelong learning. We are extremely pleased and grateful that TAKK wants to support this whole. The Tampere higher education community has a strong and long-standing tradition in vocational education research and vocational teacher education, and this donation creates excellent conditions to strengthen the impact of research both regionally and nationally, says Keijo Hämäläinen, President of Tampere University.

– The emerging competence cluster for vocational education in Tampere combines research, working life and educational development in a way that has few comparisons in Finland. TAMK’s strengths in this whole are both applied research and vocational teacher education. When research, teacher education and working life are closely interconnected, research-based knowledge is quickly transferred into practice through new teachers. In this way, the impact of research extends widely across the entire Finnish education and working life system,” says Mika Hannula, President of Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

The Tampere Adult Education Foundation has previously contributed to funding a professorship of practice in foundry engineering. The three-year professorship was established at Tampere University in 2023, with the goal of preserving university-level foundry engineering education in Finland.