The Master´s Degree Programme in Futures Studies is a two year programme that trains students to become foresight experts. The students will graduate with a Master of Arts and are ready to seek employment in the public and private sectors as well as work as consultants and researchers. We interviewed two students who begun their studies in Autumn 2011. The interviews took place via e-mail in September 2011. Sara Moqaddamerad from Iran and Maryna Sasunkevich from Belarus told us why they decided to come to our Master´s Degree programme, how do they feel now that they are in Turku and what they hope to achieve during the two years master´s programme.
Students of Futures Studies with their professors Sirkka Heinonen and Markku Wilenius.
Sara has a background in languages, teaching and translating and wishes to move her career to a new direction. The direction she has chosen is that of business and entrepreunership and she is confident that learning foresight and the ability to analyze change will steer her in the right direction. After graduating with a Master of Arts Sara will put everything she has learned into practice and work in companies, do research and even possibly continue on to do a PhD. Eventually Sara is planning “to be her own boss” and run a business using all of the knowledge she has acquired during her studies and work experience.
Maryna has studied in the Belarus State Economic University where she focused on insurance. Maryna chose to look for a degree programme in Finland because of the high quality of Finnish education and Futures studies she chose because she wanted to learn foresight and to develop a futures oriented state of mind. She feels she can combine her previous economic studies with Futures Studies while learning more about the world of business and economics. Maryna is looking forward to studying with people from different backgrounds and learn futures thinking as well as obtaining a more critical state of mind. She wants to continue learning about the world and how to adjust herself to it.
Both Sara and Maryna seem to be happy with Turku as a place to study. In the first days there were many obstacles to overcome, but the reception to the university has been good and they are beginning to feel at home. Maryna is happy to notice that students are well taken care of and there are a lot of facilities designed to help students such as the libraries, student discounts and cheap lunches on campus. Direct contact with the professors and other staff of the university and department is also something the students enjoy. Sara says she is happy with the life and scenery of Turku and is looking forward to getting to know new people and new ways of studying.
If you are interested in the Master´s Degree Programme in Futures Studies, the application period for the autumn 2012 intake is 1.12.2011 – 31.1.2012.
For details on the programme and application procedure, please visit our website at: http://www.tse.fi/EN/units/mastersprogrammes/fs/Pages/default.aspx