The Board of the University of Eastern Finland has elected the Vice Dean of the Philosophical Faculty, Professor of Educational Sciences, DEd Laura Hirsto to the post of Vice Rector for Education.
The UEF Board elected the Vice Rector for Education at its meeting of 13 June 2024. The Board made its decision based on the overall assessment and comparison of the applicants. Hirsto's extensive experience and competence in the development of learning environments, in research in university pedagogy and in national development activities, as well as her diverse knowledge of higher education and science policy were emphasised in the selection.
Laura Hirsto is Professor of Educational Sciences and Vice Dean for education at the Philosophical Faculty. She has led a project funded by Business Finland, which is related to learning analytics and learning analytics pedagogy and has studied the learning of basic education students, university students and vocational education students with the help of diverse learning analytics data.
Hirsto's research has focused on the study of learning environments from the perspectives of learning processes, teaching and pedagogy.
Hirsto has worked at the University of Eastern Finland since 2015 and, before that, as a university lecturer at the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Theology and Faculty of Education. She holds the title of docent in educational psychology at the University of Helsinki.
– I would like to thank the UEF Board for their trust. It is an honour to serve and support the university community extensively in developing education. The University of Eastern Finland is a strong actor at a national level in both research and education, and its activities are characterised by continuous improvement. I will start as the Vice Rector for Education of the University of Eastern Finland with great motivation, continuing to develop UEF’s multidisciplinary and internationally high-quality education, says Hirsto.
With the election of the Vice Rector for Education, the recruitment of the new Rectors of the University of Eastern Finland has been completed. The new Rectors will start their five-year term of office at the beginning of 2025. The UEF Board already elected Academic Rector, LLD Tapio Määttä as the new Rector of the University of Eastern Finland and the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, MD Jussi Pihlajamäki as the Vice Rector for Research.
Further information:
Chair of the UEF Board Lea Ryynänen-Karjalainen, tel. +358 50 337 8712
Vice Dean of the Philosophical Faculty, Professor Laura Hirsto, +358 50 380 4674. Vice Rector for Education as of 1 January 2025.
