Societal interaction
A group of some 20 representatives from Russian universities came to learn about developing online teaching in October. International delegations from Australia , South Africa and Japan also visited the department.
The Department of Computer Science actively interacts with the general public, both through research and teaching. Through its many and varied research collaborations the skills and knowledge of the department is disseminated through society - to the private and public sectors as well as to other academic fields. Graduates from the department's Master's programmes are employed in challenging positions in companies and other organisations.
Each year, different companies fund a considerable number of research projects, both directly and through Tekes. Another venue for research collaboration with private enterprises is EU project funding.
The applications born of research attract international attention. In October, Google bought Jaiku, which utilizes the ContextPhone technology developed at the department. A service for mobile phones and the Internet, Jaiku allows its users to announce where they are and what they are doing to other Jaiku users.
For over seven years, the department has cooperated with upper-secondary schools in the Greater Helsinki area in science education and computer science teaching. The department currently has a collaboration contract with 13 schools. After passing the entrance exam, pupils from the contract schools may participate in the basic courses in computer science. The programme also motivates pupils to study computer science after matriculating from school.
The department is actively involved in the standardization of the Internet through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other major organisations in this field (such as World Wide Web Consortium, W3C).