Research Professionals will organise a session at the Spring Forum for International Affairs on Wednesday, 14 May 2025 at 10.30-11.30.
Scientific, research, and academic work is international and so are the scientific community, higher education institutions, and other research organisations. Internationality also has an impact on language choices: on the one hand, multilingualism and the parallel use of languages are common, while on the other hand, so is the use of English alone as the unitive lingua franca. Not all impacts of internationality on language choices are always recognised or known, and they can be approached with reservations. These issues relate to both foreign-language speakers and their possibilities to manage in Finland, as well as the capacity or possibilities for Finns to utilise languages other than Finland’s domestic languages.
The Union of Research Professionals (Tieteentekijät) has composed recommendations to strengthen language awareness and multilingual practices. The recommendations are written to support different workplaces and are especially fitting to the higher education sector.
In this session we present and discuss issues around language awareness and multilingual practices in different academic contexts and situations. A short presentation of the Research Professionals’ recommendations by Senior Adviser Miia Ijäs-Idrobo is followed by a discussion on different practical experiences with Project Manager Melissa Plath (University of Helsinki) and Academy Research Fellow Derek Ruez (Tampere University).
The event is aimed at people working with international affairs in higher education institutions. In 2025, University of Helsinki is responsible for the arrangements in cooperation with EDUFI.