The University of Tampere Scholarships for International Students in Finland 2020

About the Scholarship/ and University
The University of Tampere was established on 1 January 2019 from the merger of University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology, and now it is called as Tampere University. This university is also the major shareholder of Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Both Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences offer a number of scholarships for fee-paying students in order to provide excellent international students with high-quality yet affordable, education. Scholarships are not available for students in tailored degree education provided for a third party.

Requirements
To be considered for the Tampere University global student award for academic excellence scholarship or the Tampere University tuition fee scholarship, you must apply for the scholarship on your application for admission. To apply a scholarship, you must describe your academic qualification and motivation on the application form in writing (a maximum of 3500 characters allowed). The scholarship applications are processed by the Faculties and a University scholarship council.

The decision on the granted scholarship will be communicated to you together with information on admission. The early bird scholarship is available to all fee-paying students without a separate application.

Awards/ Grants
The programme consists of the following scholarships awarded at admission:

• Tampere University global student award for academic excellence scholarships include a €7,000 annual scholarship to cover the student’s living expenses during the first year of the Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programme as well as a tuition fee scholarship covering 100% of the tuition fees in a three-year Bachelor’s or a two-year Master’s degree programme or both if the study right granted leads from Bachelor’s degree to a Master’s degree.
• Tampere University tuition fee scholarships cover 100% of the tuition fees in a three-year Bachelor’s or a two-year Master’s degree programme or both if the study right granted leads from Bachelor’s degree to a Master’s degree.
• Early bird scholarships covering 50% of the tuition fee during the first year of studies, available to all fee-paying students.

Application Process
Applicants have to take admission in the degree program at the University. To apply this opportunity an applicant must have a completed university-level Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in the field of the desired program or in a closely related subject. University accepts the following tests as proof of a good command of English. Please be notified that the application deadline is on 15 January 2020, and for further information, it is strongly advised to visit this Scholarship Link.

Global Temperature Increasing Fears Scientists

Global Warming and Climate Change (Image Credited to NASA)

Even if we stop pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and limit global warming to 2 centigrade, a cascade of tipping points may result in warming of 4 or 5 degree of Celsius, warns a group of 16 climate scientists. With that would come additional sea level rise of between 10 and 60 metre.

For most of the past half billion years, the Earth has been much hotter than today, with no permanent ice at the poles; the hothouse Earth state. Three million years ago, as carbon dioxide levels fell, it began oscillating between two cooler states: ice ages with great ice sheets covering much land in the northern hemisphere and interglacial periods like the present.

If Will Steffen at Stockholm University in Sweden and his colleagues are correct, we might be on the brink of pushing the planet out of the present interglacial state and into the hothouse Earth state. This means that even if all our greenhouse gas emissions ceased and we managed to limit warming to 2 Celsius by 2100 – we are currently on course for 3 or 4 Celsius by then – warming would continue over the next few centuries. The group also argues that existing models underestimate warming by at least 0.5 Celsius, because they don’t include all feedbacks, such as less carbon being stored in oceans or forest dieback. As Earth warms, more will be triggered. The team stresses it is pointing out a risk that needs studying, not something that is certain to happen. Some climate scientists expressed scepticism at the claim, although others thought it was reasonable.

The misunderstanding of interpretation about industrial revolution 4.0

SDGs as the guidelines of global empowerment

As an Indonesian, we live in a multicultural society with different process of perspectives. With the current developing stages, people particularly within in well-educated group must be able to integrate the context of scientific thoughts into the behavior, so that it can be implemented throughout academic-based solutions either in policies or fixed technical aspects. To achieve these solutions, a good understanding is a must as it is needed to transform them based on philosophical principles. However, it seems that misunderstanding in defining the term itself has pushed us away from the basis.

The philosophical approach of the industrial revolution 4.0

According to the historical aspect, the beginning of industrial evolution was conducted in western society. It was the United Kingdom’s (UK) communities who had started the revolution throughout their transformations by changing the biological energy into machinery. This event has changed the views of people in conducting the social activities which lead to certain social conflicts. We cannot avoid that during the first stage of revolution, many social issues have been emerged among societies, and all of them have been connected to the way we live.

One of the most significant impacts that have been becoming the global issues is the environmental problems. Global warming and climatic change have been affected the global-related activities, for instance the food and agriculture, industrial sectors, and economic growth. People involving to these sectors have been trying to get out from these problematic issues. To solve these problems by analyzing the problems, doing research, and implementing the solutions based on the research. However, only certain communities have succeeded to manifest these solutions.

So, what is the industrial revolution 4.0? As it is explained primarily that the first stage of industrial revolution in the UK resulted environmental problems, the next phases of the revolutions have been considered to be produced certain-related problems. In the next revolutions, large scale productions supported by high demands of energy with the integration of automatic computerization systems have been conducted ever since the presence of technological advancements. However, these systems still produce the same issue which is the unfriendly environmental.

Therefore, the industrial revolution 4.0 is pointed out to design systems which our suitable to our biological factors. The biocompatibility reasons must be becoming the basis of policies or solutions, and this approach is popular with the name of sustainable.

Moving on from MDGs to SDGs

The declaration of the United Nations in September 2000 produced the program called as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which has been becoming the pioneer of global movements. However, the MDGs project was published to solve certain social issues such as child mortality and maternal health as well as the eradicating of poverty and global hunger. It seems that these policies were not completely success for global as in January 2016, the UNDP issued the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). So, what are they?

When the MDG achievements, such as the decreasing of mortality, had been conducted, the environmental problems are getting higher and higher. The increasing of global temperatures in certain parts of the world has been considering as the grand issue. As a result, the SDGs project which is started with the term “No Poverty” is interconnected to other specific problems such as hunger, health, education, equality, energy and legal. The 17 global projects must be able to be transformed into practical projects, such as what Ethiopians have been doing in the last decade.

To be concluded, with the rising of tension during the political year of Indonesia, the misunderstanding in defining the industrial revolution 4.0 is the key for developing the nation. With the support of cultural and religion factors, the vision of the future Indonesia indicated by the long-term solutions guided by the UN will become the holistically solutions. And what are they?

The Nitrogen Pollution 300 Times Faster in Increasing The Risk of Climate Change

Nitrogen Pollution Increases The Population of Algae in Freshwater (image is credited to http://www.msrivercollab.org)

It has been arguably statement that Nitrogen could be affected the climate change as it is demanded importantly for our food preservation. However, the data could not be avoided that Nitrogen could cause more damage to the environment. Subsequently, we need to think deeper about how we use the fertilizers particularly those which related to nitrogen-integrated ecosystem.

Nitrogen (N2) is one of the inert gases which is needed for certain activities and those are including in farming sector. The agriculture aspect demands the gas for the growth of plants, such as vegetables. However, the more nitrogen we demand, the higher risk will be gotten. Nitrogen itself could be improving the growth of blue-green algae which is considered as toxic plant impacting the ecosystem. According to the recent events, the problems associated to nitrogen produce lots of greenhouse gasses resulting to ammonia, nitrogen oxide, and nitrous oxide, which contribute to acid rain or matter. Therefore, to counter this problem, scientists and farmers must reform the way of growing plants by using fertilizers.

Compared to the carbon dioxide pollution, chemical compounds based on nitrogen is far higher in impacting the climate change. As we mentioned previously, the leakage of nitrogen affects the ecosystem life in freshwater such as in river, basin and lake. In the United States (US) itself, the effects contribute up to 24 percent of contamination in Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin, while in the Europe itself it is estimated that more than 70 billion Euros of costs in preventing the pollution. How it happens?

The causes of compounds based on nitrogen
The beginning of the nitrogen pollution is started by the burning of fossil fuels in large-scale such as coal and oil. In petroleum industries, the nitrogen is used to prevent the process of ignition while at the same time it can reduce the corrosion in a vessel/tank. On the other hand, the discovery of Haber-Bosch process which allows the N2 to become inert contributes to the presence of ammonia in synthesizing valuable and cheaper fertilizers, which are needed to supply the global demands. As a result, either Nitric Oxide (NO) or Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and some acidic compounds are produced. The question is how are we going to reduce the contamination of nitrogen?

In addition to reduce the nitrogen pollution, we must avoid exaggeration use of nitrogen based compounds, such as in large scale use of nitrogen fertilizers. On the other hand, the declining utilization of fossil fuels in combustion process must be avoided particularly in providing the electricity.

The brief introduction of Biotechnology

Tempeh is one of food that is made from biotechnological aspect

One of the best solution in preventing the world hunger is by implementing the biotechnology in the world of wood preservation. Actually, biotechnology has been used for a long time ago since the humanity knew about how to preserve the food. The traditional activities in making dairy products like cheese and curd, beverage such as wine and beer are the part of biotechnology.

In biotechnology, the involvement of microorganism plays important role. Genetic changes of organisms during the process of making or preserving the food or beverages are essential process. For instance, in the process of fermentation, the preparation and manufacturing are started by providing the microorganisms with glucose which can be obtained from alcohol, wine, milk, vinegar. However, in the world of biotechnology, the process of fermentation which is similar with the previous explanation is called as traditional biotechnology. Although it can be considered that the fermentation process involved the yeast or bacteria as the working organism, still the method is traditional.

Regarding to the modern biotechnology, the process of making food or preserving food actually is similar with the traditional biotechnology. The difference lies only on the method, the others things including the use of living organisms are the same.

What is the definition of Biotechnology
If we translate it literally, the biotechnology comes from two words which are biology and technology. Literally speaking, we might have understood that the meaning of biotechnology is the use of technology based on biological aspect. However, it sounds to general. Therefore, according to high qualified institution, the biotechnology is defined as the process of controlling living things or organisms or biological agents to produce biological components that can be utilized for any aspects of life. And one of those utilization is the food preservation.

The history has been informing us about the use of biotechnology. In ancient times, the biotechnology is used to produce herbs for medicine, making bread, wine, and beer. And sometimes the biotechnology is used to preserve the food like in the production of yogurt and cheese which was used to save the rest of uneaten milk.

Ancient Indus people who lived in the Indus river, now in India, used the biotechnology to prepare fermented foods, beverages, and medicines. For the ancient civilization of Egypt and Sumeria, they used the biotechnology to brew wine by using yeast and to bake bread. On the other hand, the utilization and functionalization of bacteria in addition to produce vinegar had been used by the People in Mesopotamia. Today, for instance, the Indonesian people use yeast to produce Tempeh from soy bean and also to produce Tapeh from the rice, cassava and many more.

People in Medan must be educated to understand the traffic signs in early time

Traffic signs in Medan are not understood by the citizens properly

It has not been neglected that the traffic congestion happening daily in Medan was caused by the misbehavior conducted by the traffic users. On the other hand, the traffic facilities and infrastructure installed by the local government indicate that some of the students do not aware at all. This implies to the daily congestion which can actually be prevented by implementing certain solutions. But, what are the solutions?

As it is mentioned earlier, one of the cause-effect situation is the awareness of citizens in using the road. The first thing the government should have done is to educate and motivate the future users in using the roads which means the children itself. For instance, students from primary school, secondary schools which are junior and senior high school must be taught and trained correctly and properly in using or understanding the traffic signs in the road either by vehicles or walking. Social services must be also implemented by the government to raise the awareness of road safety to the students.

This solution actually can improve to reduce the numbers of traffic congestion which are caused by the misbehaving. However, what is the association of traffic signs with the solution mentioned previously?

Traffic signs help the user to understand how to use the road efficiently and effectively. On the one hand, the signs will guide the users about the road itself, for instance, the contour of the road which can provide safety for the users. The traffic signs also are designed to warn the users about the possibility of dangerous aspects of the road when using the road. However, the problems occurring among the users are not only about the presence of the traffic signs, which is the understanding of the users itself. I beg your pardon?

Well, mostly the traffic signs are not understood properly. In Indonesia particularly in Medan, the knowledge of traffic signs is merely taught to the people every time they want to take driving license test. Apparently, the education aspect of traffic signs is considered important only for adult people which is not suitable on the aspect of educating and motivating. Therefore, early education about traffic signs and regulation must be educated from early age so in the future their awareness related to traffic regulations will be higher than previous generation.

Consequently, the traffic congestion which is mentioned previously, caused by the lack of integrity of the road users in obeying the regulations, was occurred because of the low understanding. An illustration of this is the traffic congestion which happen daily nearby the educational institution. The education of traffic regulations is not taught by the schools or universities, while the related governmental institutions do not educate the society optimally. As a result, traffic congestion will be happening in the future in more numbers if the society is not educated well.

In conclusion, the traffic congestion happened in Medan are caused by the lack of knowledge of the traffic users particularly about the traffic signs. Furthermore, education and promotion to the society is the better method to improve the knowledge.

Reducing traffic congestion in Medan

Impatient of citizens of Medan becomes the key factor of traffic congestion too

As one of the biggest city in Indonesia, Medan still tries to improve the facilities and infrastructure to support the economic activities. One of those is the improvement of road to reduce the traffic which always happened particularly in the weekdays. However, the restoration of the roads is only used to avoid damaged on the road so it can affect the transportation system. Do the traffic congestion can be reduced by improving the road?

Similar to many cities in developing countries, the condition of big cities is the traffic congestion occurring in the rush hours. Normally, these hours are started in the morning after dawn and in the afternoon around 4 to 7 pm. If these are not organized well, the traffic congestion could be happening for the next four or five hours. This phenomenon must be solved quickly and thoroughly, but we must elaborate the issue firstly.

Traffic congestion in big city, for instance capital cities, is occurred because of the overcrowding in certain times. Due to the demands of life, many people working in big cities are originated from suburb areas. When the workhours are started, massif people move collectively from different areas to central region creating stacking which leads to traffic congestion. The overcrowding is the cause of traffic congestion because the many people use vehicles to go from house to the workplaces. Therefore, to reduce the traffic congestion, it is simply just to reduce the amount of vehicles. But, how can we do that? There are three things which can be elaborated to address this issue.

The first thing that the government can do is by providing the Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) system. This MRT system could have transported many people from their houses to the workplaces. In Medan, this capital city is surrounded by many suburb areas such as Binjai, Tembung, Marelan, and Simalingkar areas which are respectively from North, South, East, and West. However, one of the MRT which is train is not operated except from Binjai creating congestion in the direction of Medan-Binjai. On the other hand, the others suburb areas generate heavy congestion as the society use cars and motorcycles to work.

Another thing is about the time of activities. The traffic congestion happens when people move from suburb areas to the central area which implies to the temporal over-population. To reduce the temporal over-crowding, the government must distribute the location of workplaces into several areas. Interestingly, schools and universities which are distributed in several areas in Medan cause the traffic congestion too as the students either are transported by their parents with vehicles or using private vehicles. The solution of this is by providing schools based transportation system organized by the government is promising while alternating the time schedule looks promising too.

However, the last thing we should have been aware is the increasing numbers of vehicles. These numbers were influenced by the ease of purchasing the vehicles throughout the monthly-credit system provided by insurance companies. An illustration of this is in one family which consists five people has five different vehicles because there is no expected transportation system.

Overall, the willingness of using transportation system in Medan is very low because the facilities and infrastructure cannot be expected in term of safety and comfortable. Therefore, in order to reduce the traffic congestion, creating Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) is considered as best solution while promising options such as redeployment of workplaces and changing of working and school time can be implemented.

Reference:

[1] Image is downloaded from www.jurnalasia.com