Future of university as a hub of creativity, heritage, and innovation

Join us for a panel discussion featuring our new honorary doctors, who are very familiar with universities:

Jacob Buur, Professor, Director, Design Research Environment, University of Southern Denmark
Kari Korkman, Director, Helsinki Design Week
Marja Makarow, Director, Biocenter Finland
Jukka Mäkelä, Mayor, City of Espoo
Gerfried Stocker, Artistic and Managing Director, Ars Electronica

Professor, Conferrer Lily Díaz-Kommonen will chair the panel.

All Honorary Doctorates in Arts and in Technology 2019 are presented on the following pages:

Honorary Doctors in Arts 2019

Honorary Doctors in Technology 2019

The Otaniemi campus of the Aalto University has seen magnificent changes in the past few years, such as the relocation of the Aalto schools to the same neighbourhood. Furthermore, the new metro station, the A Bloc shopping center, and the Väre building have turned Otaniemi into a vibrant nucleus. Our campus with its heritage modernist architecture as well as the many beautiful trees, park areas, and the nearby Baltic Sea is an exotic place for foreign students and visitors, and can be an ideal place for creativity and innovation.

However, at the same time, powerful smart phones, laptop computers, and the omnipresent wireless Internet make remote work and studying easier than ever. Occasionally, it is recommended to work elsewhere for a change, rather than coming to the university daily. Video conferences are a common way to arrange meetings without traveling.

What sort of place will the University Campus be in the future? Will the university campus remain as the prime location to meet fellow students and researchers? How will the convergence of media technologies affect the University work practices and spaces? Will students of tomorrow be interested in participating traditional ceremonies taking place at the University?

How ready is the University to meet future developments in telepresence and virtual reality? How might the climate change and other global challenges affect the attitudes towards our University?

Welcome!