8.9.2022
The new academic year commenced at Åbo Akademi University 2022
The 2022–2023 academic year has officially opened at Åbo Akademi University.
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the academic year at Åbo Akademi University opened with staff and students in attendance. On Wednesday, September 7, the new academic year was inaugurated in Vaasa with a service in the Holy Trinity Church, followed by a procession, and programme in the Academy Hall.
In Turku, the opening ceremony was celebrated on Thursday, September 8 with a traditional service in the Turku cathedral followed by a ceremony in the Solemnity Hall of the Academy building. The programme began with an academic procession, followed by the inscription speech by Rector Mikael Lindfelt and the Student Union’s greeting by Chairperson of The Board, Veera Granroth. This year’s recipients of the Elving Legacy were announced.
In his speech, Rector expressed his joy that the students and staff of ÅAU can finally gather for enrolment again. He also emphasised the role of Finland’s universities in making the country appealing.
– Finland is international because of our universities. Development and innovation can increasingly take place in collaboration with universities and our experts, which is something decision-makers at various levels have begun to realise. Knowledge intensity and research are key factors in our country’s appeal. But universities must be given the conditions to be part of and contribute to this change with the best we have to offer; relevant, high-quality, and problem-oriented education and research, Rector said.
In August, ÅAU received a long-awaited announcement when the National Centre for Educational Evaluation (NCU) published the results of the evaluation process the university had undergone.
– The audit report is a pleasure to read, and I am most pleased with the recognition that we are a development-oriented university! We are steadily evolving, anything else is unthinkable, really.
Åbo Akademi University is a new member of the European university alliance CHARM-EU. This cooperation will offer great development opportunities for student exchange, learning, and research collaboration, Rector noted.
In his speech, he also highlighted the important role of universities in a world characterised by constant change and major challenges. Sustainable development is not an add-on to the university’s existence, but a necessity, naturally at the heart of what we need to understand and learn for the world of the future.
– As a university, we must focus above all on equipping our young people with the skills needed in a world of increasing digitalisation and transition to a multifaceted sustainable society, ecologically, economically, socially.
Read a summary of Rector Mikael Lindfelt’s inaugural address.
Click here for the laureates of the inscription.
Pictures from the inauguration.
For more information, please contact:
Rector Mikael Lindfelt
Åbo Akademi University
050 544 2628
mikael.lindfelt@abo.fi