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University of Turku

The University of Turku (Finnish: Turun yliopisto, in Swedish: Åbo universitet, shortened UTU) is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo and Själö.

For the university founded in 1640, see The Royal Academy of Turku. For the current Swedish-speaking university in Turku, see Åbo Akademi. For the vocational university, see Turku University of Applied Sciences.

Motto

Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle[1]

The gift of a free nation to free science

1920

3,412

20,768[2]

Urban

Established in 1920, the university is the third largest in the country as measured by student enrollment, after the University of Helsinki and Tampere University. It is a member of the Coimbra Group and the European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U).[3]

Enrollment[edit]

The university has approximately 22,000 degree students. Bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees are offered both in Finnish and in English. The largest faculties are the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Science and Technology.


The University is a home for The University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS) which consists of doctoral programmes covering all disciplines. The graduate school has approximately 2,000 doctoral candidates pursuing a PhD.

University rankings

301–400 (2023)

=315 (2024)

301–350 (2024)

=342 (2023)

Faculty of Humanities

Faculty of Education

Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Science

Faculty of Law

Faculty of Social Sciences

Turku School of Economics

Faculty of Technology

There are altogether eight faculties in the University of Turku


In addition to the faculties, the research and learning activities at the university take place in five independent units: Brahea Centre of the University of Turku, Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Turku PET Centre, Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO and Turku Bioscience Centre.

Campus area[edit]

The University of Turku shares a campus with Åbo Akademi University and elements of Turku Science Park. The area also encompasses Turku University Hospital (TYKS) and the Student Village. The Main Building and the surrounding complex was built in the fifties on what became known as the University Hill. The campus is constantly expanding, the latest example is the Medisiina D building which houses the facilities of the Faculty of Medicine. The university also owns the Botanic Garden at Ruissalo as well as the research station at the Island of Seili. In addition to the campus area in Turku, the university also has campus areas in the nearby cities of Pori and Rauma.

Research[edit]

As defined in its strategy 2030,[14] the university's multidisciplinary research is profiled through six thematic areas which are biodiversity and sustainability; future technologies and digital society; cultural memory and social change; children, young people and learning; health, diagnostics and drug development; and sea and maritime studies.


The University of Turku has been involved in many research projects in the Peruvian Amazon. With the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana – IIAP), based in Iquitos, has been studying the Amazon in the BIODAMAZ Project.

[15] – 12th President of Finland

Sauli Niinistö

[15] – 9th President of Finland

Mauno Koivisto

[15] – Prime Minister of Finland

Petteri Orpo

– Member of Parliament, Minister of Finance

Riikka Purra

[15] – Member of Parliament, Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services

Krista Kiuru

– Member of Parliament, Minister of Health and Social Services

Liisa Hyssälä

– Member of Parliament, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development

Paula Lehtomäki

[15] – diplomat and Secretary of State

Matti Anttonen

– Member of Parliament, physician

Pekka Puska

– Member of the European Parliament

Ville Niinistö

– Professor of Moral Philosophy

Timo Airaksinen

– diplomat, Secretary General of the Presidential Office

Jarmo Viinanen

– poet

Heli Laaksonen

– mathematician and SASTRA Ramanujan Prize winner

Kaisa Matomäki

List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)

The University of Turku

Turku Centre for Computer Science (TUCS)