University of Oulu - Raahe Unit

ABOUT US

The Raahe functional Unit of the University of Oulu is the academic district unit of Oulu which coordinates academic education, study and development in the region of Raahe. The function of the unit is directed by a executive group appointed by the headmaster of the University of Oulu and by the operative management team that has been collected of the members of the executive group.  The business idea of the Raahe Unit is the development of the economic life by training experts especially to the needs of information and metal industry.The task of Raahe functional Unit is to develop and to carry out cooperation practices which produce the multidisciplinary study, education and development of the international level in chosen focus areas. The Most important cooperative partners in education are:

• Department of Electrical and Information Engineering (STO),  University of Oulu
• Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Oulu
• Department of Information Processing Science (TOL), University of Oulu
• Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (TATK), University of Oulu 
• Learning and Research Services (KOTU), University of Oulu
• Town of Raahe
• Raahe Institute of Technology and Business
• Summer university of North Ostrobothnia
• Softpolis and Steelpolis companies

The research activities have been organised as part of a wider umbrella type  regional cooperation consortium, the Pehr Brahe Software Laboratory to which VTT Electronics and Oulu Polytechnic belong in addition to the University of Oulu. The most important cooperation partners in research activities are:

• University of Oulu
• VTT Electronics
• Oulu Polytechnic
• PPO and Finnet Oy 
• Softpolis and Steelpolis companies

By carrying out with conversion education and master's programmes the University of Oulu has responded especially to the regional needs of northern Finland. The DI-conversion education of electrical engineering and information technology and the Master's education in the computer sciences are carried out as ESR financed projects and as a apart one of Oulu University's information industry conversion education project's one admission at a time. Also the town of Raahe has financed the function of Raahe Unit during the whole operation and has this way secured continuing of education and development of research activities.

From the point of view of carrying out Softpolis vision the Raahe functional Unit's education (Electrical and Information engineering DI-conversion education, present and future Master's programmes, the postgraduate seminars of information engineering as researcher education) significance is seen as the core of the operation by the companies and the region. Still growing share of university graduates from Raahe are placed in Softpolis. The objective is to strengthen Raahe functional Unit so that it will support Softpolis and Steelpolis development and linking to the Multipolis network and the Oulu Region Centre of Expertise even more than before. The Operation of ProMetal (in Raahe Steelpolis) will affect the educational supply of the university in the future.