Shared objectives of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the universities and the polytechnics in

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1 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OULU FOR As provided in Section 48(1) of the Universities Act (558/2009), the Ministry of Education and Culture and the university have concluded the following agreement on the quantitative and qualitative objectives set for the operation of the university. JOINT OBJECTIVES OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM Target for 2020 In 2020, the Finnish higher education system will deliver higher quality and impact, and be more international and more efficient than today. In the operation of higher education institutions, the task of providing education, corporate social responsibility, principles of sustainable development and ethical operating methods will be highlighted. Finnish universities and polytechnics are key actors in the European higher education and research area. The higher education system consists of universities and polytechnics of a high standard, each profiled in their core areas. The higher education institutions respond to the needs of society, culture and working life on multiple fronts. The universities are responsible for research in science and arts and for teaching that draws on this research. The polytechnics' tasks include working life oriented teaching and regional impact, as well as research and development to support these goals. Education, research and innovation form an entity where the various elements are mutually complementary and work closely together. The higher education institutions promote lifelong learning, social and economic renewal, entrepreneurship and wide-scale exploitation of research results, including commercialisation and exportation of expertise. Shared objectives of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the universities and the polytechnics in The universities and polytechnics will implement the objectives defined in the Government Programme and the development plan Education and Research , as well as strive for other strategic goals set by the Parliament and the Government. In order to reach the goals, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the universities and the polytechnics will implement the following development measures: Strong units of higher education as the foundation of expertise The Ministry will grant strategy funding to support the measures of the universities and polytechnics, in particular to promote structural development, the extending of careers, internationalisation and focus areas of research, exploitation of research results and competence, and artistic activity. The Ministry, the universities and the polytechnics will continue to implement structural development measures in order to improve quality and impact and to generate competence clusters. Administrative cooperation structures between higher education institutions will be reformed. An arts university will begin operating, and provision will be made for its financial

2 operating conditions. The offer of education will be revised based on foresight exercises to support the changing needs of working life and society. As a result of a reduction in the polytechnics' intake by 2,030 places, the polytechnics will have sharper profiles and they will deliver better quality. The polytechnics reform will be rolled out gradually, so that the funding model, educational responsibilities and operating licences will have been reformed by The polytechnics and the parties operating them will reform their administration and management structures to support the objectives of the reform and to strengthen their links with working life. Higher education institutions and the Ministry will develop and maintain the compatibility of information systems, commensurability of data and concepts, and national information exchange to support the higher education institutions' operation and the Ministry's guidance. Based on their strategic objectives, the higher education institutions will decide which information systems they will produce together or separately. Faster transition to working life from high-quality education The higher education institutions will improve the quality of teaching and provide an environment that promotes learning. The quality of teaching and student feedback will also play a role for the funding of higher education institutions. The institutions' regulations on educational responsibility and degrees will be reformed to increase the institutions' autonomy regarding the modes of organising education. The universities and polytechnics will ensure that the education provided by them is composed of entities that facilitate the students in finding a place in education, promote the progress of studies and give students additional possibilities to benefit from teaching in different fields. The higher education institutions will develop their guidance processes, student services and recognition of prior learning and provide incentives, ensuring that the study arrangements and contents support the completion of studies and the students' commitment to their studies. The universities will continue reforming and improving the efficiency of doctoral education structures and processes. The universities and polytechnics will plan their offer of education as a whole, ensuring that degree programmes and other education deliver a consistent system that meets working life needs and supports lifelong learning. The higher education institutions will develop their postgraduate education to support workplace renewal, renewal of sectors, specialisation of higher education graduates and the extension of their competence. The Ministry and the higher education institutions will prepare targets for the development and quality assurance of specialist education. The universities and polytechnics will renew their student admissions procedure by setting aside a separate quota for those applying for their first place in higher education. Its introduction and size will be at the discretion of each higher education institution. The objective is to considerably increase the share of candidates applying for their first place in the intake of higher education institutions. In the second phase, the application system will be reformed further, and only candidates applying for their first place will be admitted through the joint application system. Separate application and admission channels will be introduced to admit other candidates. The higher education institutions and the Ministry will work together to reform the student admission processes and structures of higher education studies during the agreement period. The higher education institutions will ensure the compatibility of their information systems used for the application and admission services with the electronic application

3 system to higher education institutions used for the joint application process. The higher education institutions will work to promote equality in education. The objective is to promote nondiscrimination and gender equality, dismantle segregation, and reduce the impact of socio-economic background in interest in and access to education. The universities will introduce a national student feedback system, ensuring that the funding model for universities can draw on it from 2015 on. The student feedback system of the polytechnics will be reformed. Competitiveness, well-being and effectiveness through research and innovation The universities will focus on the fields of research indicated by their strategies and create high-quality research environments. The preconditions for leading edge research will be improved, and prerequisites will be created for developing emerging fields. The share of international research funding will be increased and international scientific cooperation will be stepped up, keeping the great challenges of the future in mind. The universities will ensure a high standard of doctoral education. In researcher training, the universities will step up cooperation with research institutes as well as businesses and industry, and they will maintain appropriate national and international networks. The universities will discharge their duties deriving from the decisions on doctoral programmes made by the Academy of Finland until the expiry of the programme periods. In particular, the universities will promote post-doctoral careers. The number of publications in peer-reviewed scientific publications of a high standard will be increased. The universities will create preconditions for in-depth and extensive exploitation of ICT and encourage researchers in its use across the boundaries of disciplines and organisations. The polytechnics will support the viability of their regions, in particular by developing demand and user driven innovations, and take part in developing wellbeing services. The universities and polytechnics will build up their cooperation with various innovation system actors and assume an active role as producers of new knowledge and developers in competence clusters. Mutually complementary universities, polytechnics and research institutions will form attractive clusters in their areas of scientific focus. Joint research projects and infrastructures will create new opportunities for international cooperation between basic and applied research and companies' research and development activities. Internationalisation safeguards quality The universities and polytechnics, the Academy of Finland, CIMO and the Ministry will strengthen their mutual cooperation aiming to promote international networking and mobility. The universities and polytechnics will build international strategic partnerships to reinforce their focus areas by developing joint educational offer, including double and joint degrees, and by engaging in closer cooperation in research and innovation. The higher education institutions will also step up their cooperation and presence in emerging economies, in particular China, India, Brazil and Russia. The higher education institutions will work together to provide teaching in the national languages and cultures of Finland and other services that support integration in Finland and the higher education community for foreign-language students and staff. The higher education institutions will provide more teaching in the languages and cultures of significant partner

4 countries. The higher education institutions will include content that supports internationalisation in their degrees. The higher education institutions will develop their HR policy and researcher career systems by stepping up their international recruitments. Development of the higher education community Higher education institutions will be competitive, equal, accessible and interesting working and learning environments. The higher education institutions will continue their action to mainstream equality and to implement non-discrimination. The wellbeing and ability to work and study of personnel and students will be methodically promoted. MISSION, PROFILE AND FOCUS AREA OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OULU Mission and profile The is a multidisciplinary and international science university. The university is a significant multidisciplinary expert of northern issues. It works closely together with businesses and research institutions and is the most significant innovation actor in its region. Focus areas The university has specified the following as its key focus areas: 1) Health and biosciences, 2) Information technology, 3) Cultural identity and interaction, and 4) environment, natural resources and materials, including the development areas of steel research and mining. The University will increase its intake in the field of medicine by 22 places in 2014, with the intake being at least 149 from 2014 on. Targets Targets in on average Post-graduate degrees 1,545 Humanities 185 Pedagogy 250 Health sciences 45 Economics and business administration 185 Natural sciences 315 Science and technology 385 Medicine 130 Dentistry 50 Targets per university Doctorates 158 Bachelor's degrees 1,280 Number of foreign degree students 600 Number of inbound or outbound exchange students (duration of the exchange period 900 over 3 months)

5 Targets for key figures Actual figures in 2011 Uni vers i University sector Target 2016 Uni vers i Doctorates / doctoral career phase IV Share of students having completed at minimum 55 credits Scientific publications / teaching and R&D personnel Research funding subject to competition / total funding Postgraduate degrees / teaching and R&D personnel International mobility of teachers and researchers (at minimum 1 week) KEY DEVELOPMENT TARGETS 1) The university will build up its international research cooperation with universities that are optimal partners for developing its focus areas, drawing on the results of the overall evaluation of research to be carried out in. 2) The university will take more effective action to obtain international research funding that is subject to competition. 3) The university will take more effective action to improve the completion rates of education. 4) The university will reform its student admission processes. FUNDING Under Section 49 of the Universities Act (558/2009), Sections 5, 6 and 7 of Government Decree on Universities (770/2009), and Ministry of Education Decree on the calculation criteria for core funding of universities (182/2012), the Ministry of Education and Culture grants the university core funding amounting to a total of EUR 160,018,000 under budget item as follows: EUR 143,443,000 of core funding determined on the basis of the calculation criteria. As the University's national tasks have been taken into consideration the Sámi language and culture, Kajaani University Consortium (incl. CEMIS, AIKOPA), Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (incl. space research) and the teacher training school. The core funding annually amounts to EUR 10,115,000 in total ( funding level) based on the national tasks in -2016, of which the share reserved for the operation of the teacher training school is EUR 6,500,000. The university received a central government grant allocated to the operation of Biocenter Finland for In cooperation with other universities having received similar funding, the university undertakes to secure the establishment of Biocenter Finland's operation. Strategy funding has been allocated to the promotion of development measures in line with the strategy, including the extension of medical doctor education, costs of the natural science collection and the costs of moving Kajaani Teacher Education Unit, which were EUR 14,000,000/year in and EUR 13,500,000/year in Central government funding for the university in also includes EUR 3,820,000 of funding referred to in the Universities Act (558/2009) external to the core funding determined on the basis of calculations. The University's government funding in also includes the value added tax included in the cost incurred by the

6 universities for the provision of educational services referred to in Sections 39 and 40 of the Value Added Tax Act (1501/1993) and for procurements and facilities rents relating to research other than commercial research (including the teacher training school) amounting to EUR 12,755,000 in total. An estimate of the VAT compensation is EUR 11,873,000 for. The adjustment of the difference between VAT compensation allocated to reimbursement for 2011 and the actual figures, or EUR 882,000. The University will submit annual reports on progress made with the development targets referred to in the agreement and measures taken to implement the strategy. Indicators for strategy monitoring Key monitoring indicators defined by the University and their target levels in the monitoring of strategy implementation are: Monitoring indicator Actual figures Target in 1) Resources for the recruitment programme of researchers of a high EUR 0 EUR 2.5 million international standard 2) The share of foreign doctoral students in all doctoral students 3) Median for the accumulated credits during the first full academic year of new students that studied for the full year (excluding those with zero credits and those who changed programmes) 4) Number of business projects 13.5% 49 cr EUR 7.8 million 20% 55 cr EUR 9.0 million SIGNATORIES Anita Lehikoinen Director General Hans Söderlund Board Chairman Ari Saarinen Counsellor of Higher Education Lauri Lajunen President APPENDICES Targets for the University's teacher education in agreement period -2016