The University of Helsinki was granted €14,7 million to strengthen its research profile

The Academy of Finland has granted the funding to the University of Helsinki to strengthen the quality and impact of research. The areas supported in this fifth round of profiling funding are 1) Thriving Species, 2) FinPharma and 3) Mind and Matter.

The University of Helsinki has received €14.7 million of funding from the Academy of Finland for the period 2019–2023 intended to support the research profiles of universities. A total of €50 million was granted to 11 Finnish universities in the fifth PROFI funding round. In total, the University has received €63,2 million in the five application rounds for profiling funding.

The €14,7 million received in this round is intended to fund 18 tenure track positions and complementary measures for the following research profiling areas:

  • Thriving Species – Towards Future Healthy Ecosystems
  • FinPharma – Finnish Platform for Pharmaceutical Research
  • Mind and Matter – Foundations of Information, Intelligence and Consciousness

“The chosen profiling areas are at the core of our 2017–2020 Strategic Plan, fully aligned with the strategic research areas as well as with the ongoing profiling developments (PROFI 1–4). Interdisciplinarity is key in the profiling areas, benefiting from the nationally unique breadth of disciplines covered by our university,” explains Vice-Rector Paula Eerola, who led the preparation of the application.

Previous PROFI calls

In the PROFI 1 call, the University of Helsinki received €9 million for three profiling areas: HiLIFE, Physics and ICT, and Statistics.

In PROFI 2, the University of Helsinki was granted €10.5 million for five profiling areas: Helsinki Centre for Digital Humanities (HELDIG), Learning in the Digital World, Interdisciplinary Russian Studies, Behavioural Life Science, and Global Law.

In PROFI 3, the University of Helsinki received €15 million for three profiling areas: Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), Helsinki Centre for Data Science (HiDATA), and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS).

In the PROFI 4 call, €14 million was granted to the University of Helsinki for three profiling areas: Matter and Materials, Helsinki Inequality Initiative (INEQ), and Helsinki One Health (HOH).