The ceremonial conferments of the three universities have been postponed for a second time this year. The universities of Turku, Oulu and Eastern Finland aim to organise their ceremonial conferments in the spring 2021.
All three universities were planning to celebrate their Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees this spring. Due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in the early spring, each university decided to move their conferment ceremonies from May to September.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the universities have concluded that the different events of the Ceremonial Conferment cannot be carried out in September without risking the spread of the virus.
– Ensuring the health and safety of our participants and guests is our top priority. We cannot predict with certainty how the coronavirus situation develops over the following months, but in the current situation we can’t guarantee a safe event for hundreds of attendees, says the Chair of the Ceremonial Conferment Committee Anne Kovalainen from the University of Turku.
For this reason, the three universities have made a joint decision to postpone their ceremonial conferment of doctoral degrees once more. All three aim to organise the event in the spring 2021.
– We value our academic traditions and keeping up the traditional conferment ceremony is important to us. We very much hope that we get to celebrate our doctors and honorary doctors next spring. In addition, we are prepared to revise and reshape some of our traditions if needed, Kovalainen adds.
Each university will announce the new dates for their Ceremonial Conferment later on.
All the participants have been contacted personally regarding the registrations and the refunds for the event fees.
https://www.uef.fi/en/conferment-ceremonies