Innovative teaching

The Finnish Higher Education Council re-elected the department as a national centre of excellence in higher education, this time for the years 2010-2012. The status of centre of excellence is a significant achievement. It was only conferred on 10 units in Finland this time, and the department was one of two units that were selected for their second period.

The centre of excellence status is the result of long-term, consistent development of teaching and learning, such measures as creating learning-goal matrices for courses in connection with the new syllabus, removing some bottlenecks in degree progress, and supporting student-centred activities - both the multifaceted activities of the student union TKO-äly to support learning and the course organised by the new Lambda society - were taken during the past year.

The new sub-programme structure and degree requirements of the department were designed during the winter and spring, and came into force from the beginning of autumn 2008. There are now three sub-programmes at the department: algorithms and machine learning, distributed systems and data communications, and software systems. Now the teaching at the department is grouped more logically than before, and the new sub-programmes correlate more clearly with the focuses of research at the department. One of the principles while renewing the degree was, indeed, to further base the MSc-level teaching on the strengths in research at the department. The Department of Computer Science also has two international Master's programmes, in bioinformatics (MBI) and information and communications technology (CBU-ICT).

Here are some good details from the report(whole report can be downloaded from the link at the bottom of the page):

 

Teaching

The teaching/educational programme of the department clearly rests on a very solid pedagogical basis. -- Research and teaching are very well integrated and support each other. 

 

Curriculum and course design

The development and the design of the curriculum is well-structured. -- The staff are very committed. The bachelor’s level curriculum has a strong profile as well as the three lines of master’s programmes provided by the department. The students participate in the course design. -- Project studies facilitate exposure to real life situations. -- The balance between lectures, group work and project works is good.

 

Development of teaching

The discipline is in a state of continuous development and change, and the department has acted systematically in development work. The staff are highly committed to continuous development work.

 

Studing and students

The atmosphere of the unit is very supportive and motivating. Students and staff cooperate closely both formally and informally.-- The department seems to be highly attractive at the international level and has a high number of international graduate and postgraduate students.

 

Orientoivissa opinnoissa tehdään pelin henki selväksi

 


Laitoksen opetuksen kehittämisessä vahvasti vaikuttaneelle lehtori Heikki Lokille myönnettiin 26.3.2009 Eino Kaila –palkinto ansiokkaasta toiminnasta yliopisto-opettajana.

Year 2007 a large survey of computer science research was made. This survey also noted our department high quality students:

The Department attracts outstanding students and has excellent international network of collaborations and exchange visits.2

 

 

[1] The Finnish Higher Education Council: Centres of Excellence in Finnish University Education 2010–2012 (report 03:2009), p. 68-69.

[2] Academy of Finland: Computer Science Research in Finland 2000–2006: International Evaluation (Publication of the Academy of Finland 8/07), s. 43-44.

Created date

05.02.2010 - 11:03

Cold Aisle Containment in our server room

On Thursday 10 March 2011, we installed a so-called Cold Aisle Containment in the server room shared by the Department of Computer Science and HIIT. This is a rustic contraption made from transparent PE plastic, air-conditioning tubes, and a great deal of duct tape. It cuts back on the need to cool the server room very efficiently, as the air-tight plastic stops the intake and exhaust air from the servers from mixing.

HIIT study: Servers run well around zero degrees

Lots of energy can be saved by using outside air directly for cooling in data centers in the north. In a study by researchers of Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT and the University of Helsinki, computers functioned correctly over extended periods of time when run in harsh winter temperatures. Commercial, off-the-shelf computers ran well even when the outside temperature was -22C (-8F).

Master's degree studies in computer science popular among international applicants

Master's degree programmes in computer science at the University of Helsinki were very popular among international applicants in spring 2010. This academic year the department of computer science at the University of Helsinki decided to offer two of its Master's degree sub-programmes, namely the programme on Algorithms and Machine Learning and the programme on Networking and Services, completely in English from the beginning of Autumn term 2010.

Esko Ukkonen’s birthday coffee

The head of the department, Esko Ukkonen, celebrated his 60th birthday. The celebration was held in Exactum at the end of January. The party was attended by employees of the Department of Computer Science and invited guests. The programme included both congratulatory speeches and songs, with a quartet from Wiipurilaisen Osakunnan Laulajat (the Viipuri students’ association singers) singing a song for a former active member. Esko was inspector in Kymenlaakson Osakunta (the Kymenlaakso students’ association) for over ten years.