Two new Team Finland Knowledge projects strengthen the university’s international education cooperation

The projects will create new partnerships, develop educational content and provide students with practical international learning opportunities in Ukraine, Brazil and Finland.

The Team Finland Knowledge programme aims to establish and strengthen cooperation between Finnish higher education institutions and institutions in the programme’s target regions and countries, as well as to identify new forms of collaboration. The funded projects support educational development, knowledge sharing and the creation of long-term international networks.

BIOSAR: building expertise for the sustainable restoration of Ukraine’s agricultural environments

Biological and Social Interactions in Agroecology and Restoration (BIOSAR), coordinated by the University of Oulu, is implemented in cooperation with the University of Jyväskylä and nine Ukrainian universities. The project responds to disruptions in laboratory and field teaching caused by the war by developing the expertise needed for the sustainable restoration of Ukraine’s agricultural landscapes.

The project will create a multidisciplinary teaching package covering topics such as ecological modelling, agroforestry, agricultural biodiversity, diversified cropping systems, microbial ecology, symbioses and the societal dimensions of sustainability. The courses will be delivered in hybrid format during the winter, spring and autumn semesters of 2027. Ukrainian and Finnish students will also be offered laboratory and field teaching at the University of Oulu.

Eight Ukrainian master’s and doctoral students will take part in a two-month mobility period in Oulu, where they will complete studies and advance work related to their theses or dissertations. Teaching at the partner universities will also be supported with soil sensors and basic equipment, while approximately 95 recorded teaching sessions will make the materials available to a wider audience.

Researcher Pavlo Ardanov from the Ecology and Genetics Research Unit tells that a website is to be launched in October 2026. It will bring together the project’s educational opportunities, news, activities and materials. Through online teaching, practical training, student mobility and capacity building in higher education institutions, BIOSAR will establish a lasting Finnish–Ukrainian education network and lay the foundation for a future Ukrainian doctoral programme in agroecology.

COURSE-6G: integrating satellite and aerial communications into 6G education

COoperative UniveRsity Education on Satellite and non-tErrestrial 6G: from Arctic resilience to equatorial connectivity (COURSE-6G) is a Finnish–Brazilian education project focusing on satellite communications and other non-terrestrial networks. These also include aerial communication solutions, which are becoming a key component of future 6G systems.

Industry demand for professionals with expertise in non-terrestrial networks is growing, but these topics are not yet taught systematically in degree programmes in either country. In Brazil, the technology is needed to improve connectivity across a large and unevenly populated country. In Finland, it supports reliable and secure communications in sparsely populated areas and during disruptions and emergencies.

The project is coordinated by the Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC) at the University of Oulu. The Brazilian partners are the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFSC) and the SENAI/SC University Center (UniSENAI), with the SENAI Innovation Institute contributing an applied perspective. Together, the partners will develop teaching modules on non-terrestrial networks for integration into existing programmes from bachelor’s to doctoral level.

Associate professor Konstantin Mikhaylov from Networks, Systems and Vertical Ecosystems Unit states that the key element of the teaching is practical work in the 6G Test Network (6GTN) environment. Students will analyse simulated satellite connections and solve practical challenges through activities such as hackathon-style projects. Mobility for Finnish and Brazilian students and staff will support thesis work, research, joint teaching and supervision. The collaboration will also incorporate perspectives from environmental engineering and business and innovation research, and the project will culminate in an open workshop bringing together higher education institutions, companies and other stakeholders from Finland and Brazil.

Further information about the funded Team Finland Knowledge projects is available on the Finnish National Agency for Education website.