Decrease in university staff reported

The number of researchers in Finland’s universities decreased between 2013 and 2014, a report has found.

The Association of Finnish Independent Education Employers (Afiee) published a report on personnel and salary changes on 13 February. The report found that the number of research and teaching staff in universities decreased by 2.1 per cent between October 2013 and September 2014.

There was a fall in staff numbers in eight out of 14 universities, the association found. The largest decrease occurred at Aalto University in Helsinki, where the number of research staff reduced by about 7 per cent. This was followed by Tampere University of Technology and Vaasa University, which both recorded a 6.5 per cent decrease, the report found.