The emphasis is on pioneering research into not only technologies and their development, but also the methods and approaches that underpin them. Another priority is their ethical and responsible application for the benefit of humanity and the environment.
Our expertise spans multiple disciplines and arises at the point where the natural, life and human sciences intersect. Our innovative rsearch is backed by strong infrastructure.
Our areas of particular expertise include AI and machine learning research, including ethical an regulatory aspects, nanomaterials and nanotechnology, mathematics and imaging, quantum technologies, space research, biotechnology, and the digital humanities.
The Research Council of Finland is among the key research funders in Finland. The Council grants funding broadly in all fields on the basis of open competition and independent assessment. Success in its funding calls is evidence of distinguished scholarly efforts.
The Flagships funded by the Council combine world-class research and a diverse range of collaboration with businesses and the wider society. In contrast, profile-building areas funded by the Council must be strategically significant elements of research conducted at the University to be further advanced. The Centres of Excellence funded by the Council bring together the best research groups in specific fields, representing the top internationally.
Our top research area future technologies is a prominent part of both the University’s profile-building areas and Centres of Excellence.
The Finnish Flagships successfully combine close collaboration with businesses and society, adaptability, and a strong commitment from host organisations. All Flagships are composed of researchers and research groups from several Finnish universities.
Flagships seek solutions to future societal and economic challenges, for example, through new technologies. Quantum technology may make it possible to increase computing power, while artificial intelligence must be developed to work more compatibly with people. Mathematical modelling can be used in medicine and other fields where invasive measures cannot or are chosen not to be taken. Gene and nanotherapies can help alleviate suffering in people with chronic diseases.
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Profile-building areas can constitute a research field or a research module focused on a specific theme. Some profile-building areas continue their operations after the actual Council funding period ends.
Profile-building areas at the University of Helsinki have tackled research problems in the humanities and social sciences using digital methods, advanced solutions to data analysis issues, and developed new safe ways of producing food and pharmaceuticals.
The overarching goal of
Understanding the Human Brain profile-building area promotes research-based innovations for the prevention and treatment of brain disorders.
The high standards required in terms of quality, safety, acceptability and sustainability, and the advent of emerging technologies such as the alteration of an organism’s genome for agri-food and pharmaceutical applications are just some of these common challenges. By ensuring access to healthier, more secure food and medications, Systems of Food and Drug Security profile-building area is very close to everyone’s everyday life.
Sustainable Wellbeing Across Lifespan (SWAN) profile-building area is aiming to reorient from managing chronic diseases to promoting “chronic health” and enhance healthy years in the population.
The aim of the Research Council of Finland's Centres of Excellence is to carry out innovative research, develop creative research environments and train new talented researchers, responding to society’s needs.
Future technologies is at the centre of the following Centres of Excellence.
Many problems in mathematics and its multifarious applications lead to strikingly similar - universal - questions pertaining to random structures.
The utilisation of the near-Earth space is undergoing a dramatic transformation: New forces driving this change are the exponentially expanding commercial use of space, regulation, geopolitics, and the demand for green and digital transitions that rely on satellite technologies. The Centre of Excellence in Space Resilience tries to model the workings of near-Earth space in order to be better prepared for e.g space weather storms.
Academy Professors are internationally recognised leaders in their fields. Academy Professors are expected to produce significant research results and advance research in their field. The Research Council of Finland appoints new Academy Professors each year for a fixed term of five years.
Jukka Jernvall is a professor of quantitative evolutionary phenomics. Jernvall studies the development and formation of teeth.
Minna Palmroth is Professor in Computational Space Physics and her research interests range from fundamental plasma physics and space weather to high performance computing and supercomputer technologies.
Hanna Vehkamäki is Professor of Computational Aerosol Physics Hanna Vehkamäki’s research group investigates atmospheric new particle formation.
The European Research Council (ERC) is among the most respected research funders. With a multidisciplinary approach, it promotes top-level research by awarding long-term research grants. The European Union also directly supports research through various funding schemes.
Description of the projects can be found on our ERC pages.
Funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the doctoral education pilot aims to ensure the completion of doctoral theses over a three-year term of employment. To begin with, the new doctoral researchers will study both researcher and career skills. Another goal of the doctoral education pilot is to increase doctoral graduates’ diverse employment in various sectors of society.
Launched in 2024 at the University of Helsinki, the doctoral education pilot offered 236 positions in 11 programmes.