The first EDUCA Consortium Meeting strengthened team spirit
Thursday's event at the Minerva Plaza of the University of Helsinki was opened by Auli Toom, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences.
The EDUCA Kick Off event was already held in April at the University of Jyväskylä, but at that time the research community was much smaller, as, for example, EDUCA-Doc doctoral researchers had not yet started their doctoral work.
Now, a group of researchers, professors and stakeholder representatives from different disciplines at very different stages of their careers met in Helsinki, united by the EDUCA Flagship, which is unique in its setting and scope, even internationally.
Doctoral researchers and post docs talked about their research topics in a relaxed atmosphere, and stakeholder representatives heard about current research being launched at EDUCA.
In the "Speech dating" session, each researcher presented their research topic to a new person in a short time ("elevator pitch").
During the consortium meeting, three research collegiums were set up to combine theoretical and multidisciplinary expertise in educational science, psychology, learning analytics, sociology and economics:
- EDUCA Postdoctoral Collegium
- EDUCA Doctoral Researcher Collegium
- EDUCA-Doc Supervisors Collegium
Professor Andrew J. Martin from the University of New South Wales in Australia gave Thursday's Keynote speech. He introduced EDUCA's key concept of learning variability.
Friday's keynote speaker, Professor Barbara Schneider from Michigan State University, USA, described EDUCA's goals as unique and urged young researchers to enjoy the years ahead working with an important research topic.
Thursday's programme was closed by Anita Lehikoinen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture. She spoke about the future challenges facing the Finnish education system as the demographic structure changes.
A warm thank you to all the participants for creating a successful event! The next meeting with such a large group will be in Turku in May 2025.