Best Practices of International Double Master's Degree Programmes: Comparative Study on Finnish and Russian Universities

The purpose of this report is to disseminate the best practices of double degree programmes’ organization, implementation and development between Russian and European universities. The findings reveal good developments in the field of double degree cooperation between Russian and European universities and a high motivation from both parties. The report depicts different models of building a joint curriculum and organizing academic mobility. Foreign language skills improvement for students and university staff, involvement of international companies, and joint strategy and actions in marketing and quality assurance are some redevelopments points recommended in the report.

Best practices of international double degree programmes. Case of Russian and European universities

The purpose of the Master’s thesis research is to study and disseminate the best practices of international double Master’s degree programmes organization, implementation and development. The given research is focused on two main areas: motivation of higher education institutions to start double degree programmes and best practices of double degree programme design and implementation from the perspective of building joint curriculum and organizing balanced mobility and development of existing programmes in terms of increasing their quality and attractiveness. This is a case study of the double degree programmes between Russian and European universities. The study findings reveal good developments in the field of double degree cooperation between Russian and European universities and a high motivation from both parties. The research depicts different models of building a joint curriculum and organizing academic mobility. The following areas could be outlined as development points for double degree programmes: - Personal interest and commitment of organizers of double degree programmes; - Comprehensive agreement between partners on different aspects and practicalities of the double degree programme implementation; - Promotion towards more balanced student participation and two-way mobility; - Foreign language skills improvement for students and university staff; - Joint strategy and actions in marketing and quality assurance; - Involvement of international companies; - Wider usage of e-learning technology.

The ETH Zurich DOI Desk: DOIs as standard persistent identifier and best practice in Swiss Open Access repositories

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Launch communications best practices: Online newspaper paywall context

The goal of the thesis is to identify the best practices of marketing communications in the context of online newspaper paywall launch. Theoretical point of views emphasize the value for the customer as an antecedent for a workable value proposition and marketing communications. Value-based communications contribute to the customer loyalty. The empirical evidence for this benchmark study was collected in seven company interviews. These firms represented several kinds of Finnish newspaper companies which had recently gone through the paywall launch and launch communications process. The results imply that there are multiple factors influencing on launch communications choices. However, recommendations can be drawn based on the common practices. The main managerial results were that the companies should utilize the online newspaper content and usage value as the core of the launch message, target both new and current readers and use multiple online and offline communications channels to reach the target audience. The launch communications message should be started with the emotional appeal, complemented with the more informative message later.

The Concept of Betterness and Sport Competitions

It is common that people disagree on a question which athlete or team was the best in a particular sport competition. This thesis attempts to clarify these disputes by analysing the concept of betterness in the context of sport competitions. Betterness can be interpersonal, intrapersonal or a combination of the two. I focus on interpersonal betterness, that is, on superiority. For example, interpersonal betterness may be contested in a football match between the national teams of Germany and Argentina. My aim is to provide a philosophical account of interpersonal betterness. The account has two functions: descriptive and normative. It describes the shapes and forms in which superiority is instantiated in sport competitions. It also provides a consistent and accurate way to discuss superiority. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part, I introduce, elaborate and illustrate my account, which in turn consists of three elements: (1) relations of superiority, (2) standards for the relations of superiority and (3) types of competition. I also discuss my account’s relevance to issues of sport ethics through the example of gender equity and women’s ski jumping. I conclude that this account will not end the disputes over which team or athlete was better in a particular competition. Instead, it provides tools for a more consistent discussion of the disputed issues. The second part of the thesis includes five reprinted original articles. The account presented in the first part is based on these publications.

Transformation of carbon dioxide to diethyl carbonate over ceria and ceria-supported catalysts

Carbon dioxide is regarded, nowadays, as a primary anthropogenic greenhouse gas leading to global warming. Hence, chemical fixation of CO2 has attracted much attention as a possible way to manufacture useful chemicals. One of the most interesting approaches of CO2 transformations is the synthesis of organic carbonates. Since conventional production technologies of these compounds involve poisonous phosgene and carbon monoxide, there is a need to develop novel synthetic methods that would better match the principles of "Green Chemistry" towards protection of the environment and human health. Over the years, synthesis of dimethyl carbonate was under intensive investigation in the academia and industry. Therefore, this study was entirely directed towards equally important homologue of carbonic esters family namely diethyl carbonate (DEC). Novel synthesis method of DEC starting from ethanol and CO2 over heterogeneous catalysts based on ceria (CeO2) was studied in the batch reactor. However, the plausible drawback of the reaction is thermodynamic limitations. The calculated values revealed that the reaction is exothermic (ΔrHØ298K = ─ 16.6 J/ ) and does not occur spontaneously at rooms temperature (ΔrGØ 298K = 35.85 kJ/mol). Moreover, co-produced water easily shifts the reaction equilibrium towards reactants excluding achievement of high yields of the carbonate. Therefore, in-situ dehydration has been applied using butylene oxide as a chemical water trap. A 9-fold enhancement in the amount of DEC was observed upon introduction of butylene oxide to the reaction media in comparison to the synthetic method without any water removal. This result confirms that reaction equilibrium was shifted in favour of the desired product and thermodynamic boundaries of the reaction were suppressed by using butylene oxide as a water scavenger. In order to obtain insight into the reaction network, the kinetic experiments were performed over commercial cerium oxide. On the basis of the selectivity/conversion profile it could be concluded that the one-pot synthesis of diethyl carbonate from ethanol, CO2 and butylene oxide occurs via a consecutive route involving cyclic carbonate as an intermediate. Since commercial cerium oxide suffers from the deactivation problems already after first reaction cycle, in-house CeO2 was prepared applying room temperature precipitation technique. Variation of the synthesis parameters such as synthesis time, calcination temperature and pH of the reaction solution turned to have considerable influence on the physico-chemical and catalytic properties of CeO2. The increase of the synthesis time resulted in high specific surface area of cerium oxide and catalyst prepared within 50 h exhibited the highest amount of basic sites on its surface. Furthermore, synthesis under pH 11 yielded cerium oxide with the highest specific surface area, 139 m2/g, among all prepared catalysts. Moreover, CeO2─pH11 catalyst demonstrated the best catalytic activity and 2 mmol of DEC was produced at 180 oC and 9 MPa of the final reaction pressure. In addition, ceria-supported onto high specific surface area silicas MCM-41, SBA-15 and silica gel were synthesized and tested for the first time as catalysts in the synthesis of DEC. Deposition of cerium oxide on MCM-41 and SiO2 supports resulted in a substantial increase of the alkalinity of the carrier materials. Hexagonal SBA-15 modified with 20 wt % of ceria exhibited the second highest basicity in the series of supported catalysts. Evaluation of the catalytic activity of ceria-supported catalysts showed that reaction carried out over 20 wt % CeO2-SBA-15 generated the highest amount of DEC.

A new & accurate map of the North Pole with all the countries hitherto discovered situated near or adjacent to it as well as some others more remote. Drawn from the latest and best authorities and regulated by astronom.l observat.ns by Eman. Bowen.

0-meridiaani: Lontoo. - Koordinaattiasteikko: N90°-55°[50°].

The best practices in the formation phase of Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China: For Finnish software companies

This study discusses the formation phase of Chinese-Finnish joint ventures in China. The purpose of this thesis is to create best practices for Finnish software companies in forming a joint venture with a local Chinese company in China. Therefore, the main research question, in what are the best practices for forming Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China for Finnish software firms, is examined through four different themes within the joint venture formation phase; the motives, the partner se- lection, the choice of a joint venture type and joint venture negotiations. The theoretical background of the study consists of literature relating to the establishment process of Sino-Western joint ventures in China. The empirical research conducted for this study is based on the expert interviews. The empirical data was gathered via nine semi-structured interviews with both Chinese and Finnish experts in software and technology industry, who have experience or knowledge in establishing Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China. Thematic analysis was used to cat- egorize and interpret the interview data. In addition, a thematic network was built to act as a basis of the analysis. According to the main findings, the main motives for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China are lack of skills or experience, little resources to enter on their own, and China’s large market. The main motives for Chinese companies are to gain new technology or man- agerial skills, and expand internationally. The intellectual property rights (IPR) have recently im- proved a lot in China, but the Finnish companies’ knowledge on IPR is inadequate. The Finnish software companies should conduct a market and industry research in order to understand their po- sition in the market and to find a suitable location and potential joint venture partners. It is essential to define partner selection criteria and partner attributes. In addition, it is important to build the joint venture around complementary motives and a win-win situation between the joint venture partners. The Finnish companies should be prepared that the joint venture negotiations will be challenging and they will take a long time. The challenges can be overcome by gaining understanding about the Chinese culture and business environment. The findings of this study enhance understanding of the joint venture formation phase in China. This study provides guidelines for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China. In addition, this study brings new insights to the Sino-Western joint venture literature with its soft- ware industry context. Future research is, however, necessary in order to gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of a joint venture as an entry mode into China for Finnish soft- ware companies

”The Best is Yet to Be” – Ensimmäisen maailmansodan perustelu ja tarkoitus pastori William Edward Sellersin teoksissa (1915, 1917)

Tutkielma tarkastelee millä tavoin pastori William Edward Sellers perustelee ensimmäistä maailmansotaa kahdessa sodan aikana julkaisemassa teoksessaan. Sellersin tekstit selventävät Britannian nonkomformististen kirkkojen kantaa sotaan. Lisäksi ne toimivat esimerkkinä siitä minkälaisten teemojen ympärillä keskustelua käytiin sodan ajan Britannian kotirintamalla. Tutkielma perustuu Sellersin teoksiin With our Fighting Men (1915) ja With our Heroes in Khaki (1917). Sellersin teokset ovat monin tavoin konventionaalisia käsitellessään sotaa ja sen tapahtumia, hänen teoksistaan on kuitenkin löydettävissä selkeä tarkoitus. Sellersin teosten sanoma on, että sota oli traaginen tapahtuma, jolla oli tärkeä tarkoitus. Sota oli Jumalan tahto ja kristillisen maailman puolustamista. Sodan perustelu ja tarkoituksellisuus nivoutuvat Sellersillä muutoksen ajatukseen. Hänen mukaansa sodassa keskeistä oli sotilaiden laajamittainen kristillinen herääminen ja sen seuraukset. Sota loi uudenlaisia ”oikeita” ja parempia kristittyjä ja uudisti myös kristinuskoa ekumenian kautta. Sodassa tapahtuvat muutokset olivat Sellersin mukaan edellytys sodan voittamiselle, mutta myös tie uuteen maailmaan. Miehen ja uskon uudistuminen oli tärkeää ja tulisi Sellersin mukaan muokkaamaan sodan kautta koko Britannian yhteiskuntaa. Sota oli osa Jumalan suunnitelmaa ja keino Britannian uskonnolliseen uudistumiseen. Sodassa kaatuneet sotilaat olivat välttämätön uhraus tämän uuden maailman puolesta. Tutkielmassa tulee esille, kuinka Sellersin tekstit perustelevat sotaa luoden sille uskonnollisia, fatalistisia ja apokalyptisiä merkityksiä. Tutkielma vahvistaa väitettä konservatiivisten kristillisten tahojen patrioottisesta tematiikasta ja nonkomformistien toiveista laajan uskonnollisen heräämisen suhteen. Se toimii esimerkkinä siitä, millä tavoin konservatiiviset kristilliset tahot toivoivat sodan tuovan muutoksen modernisoituvaan ja maallistuvaan Britanniaan.

A new and exact map of Sweden and Norway corrected from the best observations communicated to the Royal Society at London & the Royal Academy at Paris &c.

Kartta leikattu karttakuvaa reunastavan kehyksen ulkorajaa pitkin.

An accurate map of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, from the best authorities by Thos. Bowen

Engraved for Middleton's complete system of geography.

The best practices in the formation phase of Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China: For Finnish software companies

This study discusses the formation phase of Chinese-Finnish joint ventures in China. The purpose of this thesis is to create best practices for Finnish software companies in forming a joint venture with a local Chinese company in China. Therefore, the main research question, in what are the best practices for forming Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China for Finnish software firms, is examined through four different themes within the joint venture formation phase; the motives, the partner se-lection, the choice of a joint venture type and joint venture negotiations. The theoretical background of the study consists of literature relating to the establishment process of Sino-Western joint ventures in China. The empirical research conducted for this study is based on the expert interviews. The empirical data was gathered via nine semi-structured interviews with both Chinese and Finnish experts in software and technology industry, who have experience or knowledge in establishing Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China. Thematic analysis was used to cat-egorize and interpret the interview data. In addition, a thematic network was built to act as a basis of the analysis. According to the main findings, the main motives for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China are lack of skills or experience, little resources to enter on their own, and China’s large market. The main motives for Chinese companies are to gain new technology or man-agerial skills, and expand internationally. The intellectual property rights (IPR) have recently im-proved a lot in China, but the Finnish companies’ knowledge on IPR is inadequate. The Finnish software companies should conduct a market and industry research in order to understand their po-sition in the market and to find a suitable location and potential joint venture partners. It is essential to define partner selection criteria and partner attributes. In addition, it is important to build the joint venture around complementary motives and a win-win situation between the joint venture partners. The Finnish companies should be prepared that the joint venture negotiations will be challenging and they will take a long time. The challenges can be overcome by gaining understanding about the Chinese culture and business environment. The findings of this study enhance understanding of the joint venture formation phase in China. This study provides guidelines for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China. In addition, this study brings new insights to the Sino-Western joint venture literature with its soft-ware industry context. Future research is, however, necessary in order to gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of a joint venture as an entry mode into China for Finnish soft-ware companies.