Helsingin Yliopiston Väitöskirjatutkijat (HYVÄT)
University of Helsinki PhD students | Doktorander vid Helsingfors Universitet
In the Autumn General meeting on Mon 30th of November 2020, members of HYVÄT elected the board to handle the association’s actions in 2021.
Chairperson: Tommi Mäklin
Other board members (roles to be decided later):
Karina Barreiro
Cecilia Berardo
Ville Jantunen
Huini Li
Christopher Petrie
Matilda Mela
Salla Eeva
You can reach the HYVÄT board via email at phd-board’@`helsinki.fi
HYVÄT has issued a joint statement with the The Helsinki University Association of Researchers and Teachers, HUART ry about the University of Helsinki’s decision to charge grant-funded researchers rent for office spaces during the state of emergency when the offices are unavailable. HYVÄT and HUART demand that rent charged for the period when the offices were unavailable should be returned to the researchers or — even better — the practice of charging rent abolished altogether.
Read more about the situation in a blog post by Julia von Boguslawski and Kersti Tainio on the HUART webpage or directly from the joint statement (in Finnish).
During the exceptional circumstances of spring 2020, there were enormous changes introduced to the everyday work and studies at the University of Helsinki due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to understand both the immediate and long-term effects of these changes on the doctoral candidates at the University of Helsinki, the PhD student association HYVÄT conducted a survey focusing on the wellbeing of the doctoral candidates and how it can be improved during these exceptional times.
The survey was conducted between 7 and 19 April with questions available in Finnish and in English. In total, there were received more than 500 answers from all of the four doctoral schools, including at least one answer from each doctoral programme. While the survey was performed during the early phase of the epidemic and some of the identified issues have already been resolved, many of them remain relevant and require attention by the University administration when moving forward with considering the consequences of the epidemic. Chief among these issues are the concerns about the continuation of funding to finish doctoral studies that have been delayed because of the situation, and the major negative effects on the mental wellbeing of the students. Many answers expressed a clear need for increased flexibility and support from the University, which we expect the doctoral schools will keep in mind when drafting measures to help their students. It is our hope that this survey will aid in communicating the concerns of the students about the situation to the relevant parties, and that appropriate action to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be taken based on both the suggestions presented by the students and our analysis of the results.
A report describing the findings from the survey in more detail is available for download at https://blogs.helsinki.fi/phd-association/files/2020/05/HYVÄT_COVID_survey_results.pdf.
HYVÄT held a (virtual) seminar on 4 June 2020 at 17.00, where the results of the survey were briefly presented and the participants had a chance to ask questions from the HYVÄT representatives. Presentation slides from the seminar are available here https://blogs.helsinki.fi/phd-association/files/2020/06/hyvat_covid_slides.pdf.
HYVÄT is conducting a survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctoral studies. The purpose of the survey is to identify problems and issues affecting doctoral studies that may have arisen due to the emergency situation, and communicate them to the University administration.
The survey can be found here: https://forms.gle/nQdwghLwvAnYT9cD7. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to complete the survey by 19 April (the end of next week). Completing the survey should take about 10 minutes and the questionnaire is available in both English and Finnish. Naturally, the survey is anonymous and the results will be analyzed by the HYVÄT board and officers.
If you have any other concerns about the situation and it’s effect on your studies, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the HYVÄT board through the contact form on this site, or the PhD representatives in your doctoral programme and school (https://blogs.helsinki.fi/phd-association/phd-reps-2020-2021/).
Aika: 23.3.2020 klo 17.00
Paikka: Viisi Penniä, Mannerheimintie 55
Esityslista
University of Helsinki