– The University of Helsinki and the Nottbeck Foundation want to together promote the development of the Tvärminne Zoological Station into a leading national and international centre of expertise on Baltic ecology and an attractive environment for top research and learning," says Rector Jukka Kola.
– The professorship in Baltic Sea research has been central for the Tvärminne Station, and Professor Alf Norkko has been successful in his efforts to significantly develop the operation of the station. For this reason both the Nottbeck Foundation and the University of Helsinki want to continue working together and funding the professorship – from the beginning of 2017, the professorship will be funded jointly by the Foundation and the University,” states Dean Jari Niemelä from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences.
The focus of the research funding granted by the Nottbeck Foundation is on the biodiversity, biogeochemistry and long-term changes relating to eutrophication and climate change. A key component of the research is modelling and creating overall surveys of the ecosystem in the Baltic Sea, based on long-term monitoring and integrating the structure and function of food networks.
– The robust framework of the research conducted in Tvärminne has proven that we now have our hands full and need help, while the Nottbeck Foundation wants to move its cooperation with the University of Helsinki in an increasingly strategic and coordinated direction. For these reasons, the Foundation has decided to fund both the existing professorship and the first five years of the new tenure track professorship to be established at Tvärminne," says Georg Ehrnrooth, chair of the Foundation.
In addition to research and community engagement, the new tenure track professor will also develop teaching relating to the Baltic Sea together with researchers and teachers working in Viikki.
On the photo: from the left, dean Jari Niemelä, Rector Jukka Kola, Chair of the Foundation Georg Ehrnrooth, Administrative director Esa Hämäläinen ja Vice-chairman of the Foundation Henrik Mattson.
Established in 1970, the Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation primarily supports research at the Tvärminne Zoological Station, seeking to understand the function and structure of complex marine ecosystems. In order to realise this aim, the University and the Foundation concluded an agreement in 2001 which enabled the establishment of a professorship in Baltic Sea research at the Tvärminne Zoological Station with funding from the Foundation. Since 2008, the funding for the professorship has come from the Nottbeck Foundation, the Finnish Environment Institute and the University of Helsinki.
Further information:
Dean Jari Niemelä jari.niemelä@helsinki.fi
Chair of the Foundation Georg Ehrnrooth georg.ehrnrooth@kolumbus.fi
Links:
The Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation http://www.nottbeck.org/
Tvärminne Zoological Station http://saari-web.it.helsinki.fi/