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Physics education in Finnish universities has considerable overlap at the basic and intermediate levels, but course selection diverges in advanced studies, where courses are offered based on each university’s research specialization. The result is that not all advanced courses are offered at every university, and the number of participants tends to be small. 

Now the Ministry of Education and Culture has granted funding to nine Finnish universities who offer physics education to set up the Finnish Physics Education Network, or FysNet for short. The project’s aim is to develop materials and courses as part of a shared, national range of physics courses. For basic studies, this means sharing materials between universities. For advanced studies, it involves offering online and hybrid courses that students from all participating universities can access.

’The development work focuses on high-quality, flexible online and hybrid teaching, which increases the range of courses we can offer to students and improves cost-effectiveness. Network members will also share best pedagogical practices, recycle materials and utilize the universities’ strengths in developing new content,’ says Petri Salo, senior university lecturer and FysNet contact person at Aalto University.

FysNet, which set to run until the end of 2026, also makes use of existing education collaboration between its member universities, which is the result of previous doctoral pilots and flagship programmes.

The project is coordinated by the University of Jyväskylä and includes Aalto University, Åbo Akademi, LUT University and the universities of Eastern Finland, Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere and Turku.