Project: "Flexible Wireless Communication Systems 2007-2011". Development of future wireless communication systems requires multidisciplinary fundamental research covering all the relevant layers of the Open System Interface (OSI) model as well as related technologies, like radio channels, transceiver techniques, transmission techniques, medium access control, radio resource management and internet protocol (IP) over wireless systems. The goal of the research is to develop technology in the areas of decentralized and self-organizing network topologies and operatorless radio access network concepts. An important enabling technology is based on opportunistic communications. It utilizes the frequency spectrum efficiently and flexibly using reconfigurabile software defined radio (SDR) platforms. The main focus of the research is on cognitive radio technologies. The applications of the technologies include broadband wireless access solutions, like mobile phones and laptop computers, as well as short range communication devices down to the body area networks with, e.g., medical applications.

Finnish host organisation: The Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC) of University of Oulu is the leading academic wireless communications research centre in Finland and renowned by the world-wide research community. CWC's mission is to carry out research in an academic environment with the objective of supporting users and developers of wireless communication technology in the surrounding community in their R&D and application projects. CWC employs about 90 persons, one fourth of which come from abroad.

Finnish project leader: Professor Matti Latva-aho, tel. +358 40 588 9655 matti.latva-aho@ee.oulu.fi

Funding period: 1/2007-12/2012

Project: "Green Chemistry of Wood and Wood Components 2007-2010". One of the main obstacles that has seriously hampered the development of the science and technology of wood has been its insolubility. If one could selectively solubilize wood and its components, then a totally whole new way of approaching its utility will emerge. This is because the complete or selective solubilization of wood offers tremendous new opportunities to fractionation of its components, its reactive chemical & biochemical modification, as well as its processing.  The large variety of research opportunities, challenges and application areas created by this discovery, inherently imply that a focused research program needs to be created with excellent collaborative links.

Finnish host organisation: University of Helsinki, Department of Chemistry. The department is a community of 300 teachers and researchers. The department of chemistry hosts several graduate schools, and participates in several national and international centers of excellence.

Finnish project leaders: Professor Markku Räsänen, markku.rasanen@helsinki.fi, tel. +358 9 1915 0281 and Professor Ilkka Kilpeläinen, ilkka.kilpeläinen@helsinki.fi, tel. +358 9 1915 0359

Funding period: 1/2007-8/2009

Research project: The advanced concepts and techniques developed in the field of statistical physics have in recent years been turned into powerful tools for the modelling and analysis of large, distributed systems also outside of the traditional domains of physics, for example in the study of information and communication networks and the models of systems biology. The research project brings together top researchers and research units to advance this fertile and highly active area spanning computer science, physics and computational aspects of biology. 

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Pekka Orponen, Aalto University, School of Science and Technology, pekka.orponen(at)tkk.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research project: The MIPCOM project will establish a research team led by Professor Averbuch at the Department of Mathematical Information Technology at the University of Jyväskylä. The aim is to develop and apply for industrial-use stable methods for data mining, processing of multiple data and results visualisation. The project will span five years.

Finnish host: University of Jyväskylä, Tapani Ristaniemi

Funding period: 1/2008-12/2012

Research Project: Governance of innovations in productivity improvement of publicly-funded services

According to the well-known ‘Baumol’s Disease’ hypothesis, the productivity of service sectors is either unchanged or grows only very slowly when compared with the scope for innovation in the manufacturing sector (e.g. by adopting new technology). This project will demonstrate the falsity of that hypothesis in the increasingly ‘unbundled’ service economy and illustrate the considerable potential for productivity increases in public services through good governance of service economy innovations. 
The fundamental idea of the project is to evaluate and explain how alternative governance arrangements of service economy innovations affect preconditions of productivity and service improvements in publicly-funded services. Connections between adaptation of modern governance tools and mechanisms and transformation of different publicly-funded service sectors will be clarified and illustrated. Feasible and well-grounded suggestions for regulatory reforms of publicly-funded service sectors will be presented and analysed.
The project is an extensive research enterprise aiming to provide evidence of how service governance systems may enable or hamper productivity and service improvements in publicly-funded services in generally and local government funded services in particular. It is also a knowledge transfer programme, refining international research findings and service reform experiences into smaller contextualised and generic blocks suitable for Finnish stakeholders of developing service industries.

Contact person and host organization: University of Tampere, Department of Economics and Accounting, Professor Pekka Valkama

Funding period: 4/2011-11/2014 

Research project: The project will address language diversity and multilingualism in Finnish society on both the micro and macro level of social practices and processes. The study of the micro level involves, for instance, an analysis of the ways in which language users employ multilingual resources (including new technologies) in their ever-day lives and social functions. On the macro level, the research focuses on the functioning of multilingualism in society and language ideologies, and considers its implications for language, education and immigration policies.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Sirpa Leppänen, University of Jyväskylä, tel. +358 14 260 1210, sleppane@cc.jyu.fi

Funding period: 2007-2010

Research Project:  Mobile Value Services with Soft Computing Methods

The aim of the project is to develop new mobile services for which we use the name mobile value services. This new generation of services is more developed than now existing mobile services. The mobile value services will adapt with their use environment and with their user and they will be born right before the usage. These MVS-services will be built from modules, which will be identified and controlled with a fuzzy ontology; the MVS-services use the best modules for the context and for the user and the composition of modules will be done with approximate reasoning (AR) methods.  Fuzzy ontology and AR-methods are part of the IAMSR’s soft computing research program. In the project we try new ways of services and will show that they could diversify user’s service experiences so that their daily routines will change with mobile value services.  We will also develop new business models and study how we could develop an umbrella ecosystem around mobile value services. The results of the project will build a basis for mobile services development programs for the companies involved in the project. Projects research work will be done in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä and with several Finnish companies and with the Tivit ICT SHOK program.

Contact person and host organization: Åbo Akademi, Institute for Advanced Management Systems Research, Professor Christer Carlsson

Funding period: 9/2011-8/2015 

Research project: Development of novel ground and space based environmental remote sensing systems and technologies

The project is focusing on development of new ground and space based environmental monitoring methods and technologies. One of the main objectives of the appointment is to establish a world-class radar technology and application group in Finland. The appointment of Prof. Chandrasekar strengthens capabilities of University of Helsinki, Finnish Meteorological Institute and Aalto University in radar technology and weather radar related applications. It will reinforce collaboration between the institutes, universities and industry, and advance international recognition of Finnish research and industry partners. The project is closely linked to energy and environment strategic centre for science, technology and innovation CLEEN Ltd's program area. Prof. V. Chandrasekar will conduct research at Finnish Meteorological Institute and University of Helsinki, Department of Physics. The project will be carried out in a close collaboration with Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Department of Radio Science and Engineering,

Contact person and host organisation: Finnish Meteorological Institute, Professor Jarkko Koskinen, Tel. +358-9-19294174, email. jarkko.koskinen(at)fmi.fi

Funding period: 5/2010-4/2014

Research project: The research project is concerned to develop the evaluation of cancer screenings. The research aims to combine world-class screening data with cutting-edge methodological expertise to create a unique research environment for research excellence. Finland is a leading country in cancer screening. Nationwide mass screening programmes for cervical and breast cancer have been running for decades and produced unique data.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Anssi Auvinen, University of Tampere, tel. +358 3 3551 6883, anssi.auvinen@uta.fi

Funding period: 2007-2009

Research project: The FiDiPro research project combines the research traditions of interactional linguistics, functional-typological linguistics and cognitive linguistics. The project focuses on the syntax and pragmatics of clause combining in written and spoken language. The goal is to better understand the linkages between the form of the clause and the actions that it performs in the situation of language use in both conversation and written text.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Ritva Laury, University of Helsinki, ritva.laury(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2009-2013

Research project: Designing textured materials and environments for motor learning in physical activity and sports

The purpose of the project is to design representative motor learning environments, based on current technological developments, which exploit key theoretical ideas from neuroscientific and motor behaviour research. These learning contexts will cross the lifespan including, for example, preschools, schools, sport clubs, elderly care homes, as well as high performance talent development programmes for elite athletes. The effectiveness of these environments and technological solutions will be analyzed by multidisciplinary research paradigms and methods. These approaches consist of the research traditions of motor control, motor learning, sport psychology, sport pedagogy, and cognitive neurosciences. The empirical findings on the effectiveness of the designed environments and methods will be used in developing learning technologies to be used with different target groups and institutions. Based on the outcomes of this multidisciplinary research project on motor learning, new environments and technological solutions will underpin the design of educational programs for the use of such tools.

Host organization and contact person:  University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences, Professor Jarmo Liukkonen

Research project: The steel research programme aims to strengthen and coordinated research, teaching and post-graduate studies in steels. Another aim is to develop stronger, tailored steels. Studying and understanding the connections between steel microstructures and qualities and the controlled production of microstructures using process technologies will promote the steel industry’s competitiveness and success into the future.

Finnish host: University of Oulu, Centre for Advanced Steels Research, Professor Pentti Karjalainen, pentti.karjalainen(at)oulu.fi

Funding period: 1/2008-12/2010

Research project: In the age of globalisation and competitiveness, problems in business as well as in engineering must be solved keeping in mind one or more goals or objectives. In most such scenarios, the underlying problem can be formulated as a multi-criterion optimisation and decision-making problem. The research project shall systematically develop hybrid evolutionary-cum-classical optimisation and decision-making tools so that the overall task is performed reliably and in a most satisfactory manner.
 
Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Jyrki Wallenius, Aalto University School of Economics, jyrki.wallenius(at)hse.fi

Funding period: 2006-2010

Research project: The goal of the project is gain significant advances in image and video/audio indexing and retrieval, scalable image and video compression and multimedia security. Particular focus is also on next generation mobile applications.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Jaakko Astola, Tampere University of Technology, tel. +358 3 3115 2923, jaakko.astola@tut.fi

Funding period: 2007-2010

Research project: The main goal of the project is to search for a universal description of nuclear properties in nuclei far from stability, focusing on systematic features of ground and low-lying excited states that differentiate between well- and weakly-bound nuclear systems.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Juha Äystö, University of Jyväskylä, tel. +358 14 260 2424, juha.aysto@phys.jyu.fi

Funding period: 2007-2011

FiDiPro project: Convex optimization in audio and image processing.
Convex optimization theory is now a mature field, but only in the last decade it has enjoyed the development of reliable computation methods, especially for classes of problems like semidefinite programming. Signal processing tends to become one of the main beneficiaries of these methods and researchers try to identify convexity in existing or new optimization problems. The current project aims to adapt convex optimization tools for obtaining efficient and nearly optimal solutions to problems belonging to the following topics: oversampled filter banks, sparse representations, multidimensional systems analysis and synthesis. It is desired to obtain theoretical advances leading to publication of articles in top research journals and algorithmic advances, improving on current solutions in terms of quality and computing performance. The main applicative goals are: Algorithms for the flexible design of filter banks for audio processing that ensure high quality of subband processing tasks like noise suppression and audio enhancement;  Design of sparse representation algorithms and associated overcomplete dictionaries, for audio and image coding; Methods for designing 2-D filter banks and wavelets, for image processing operations like denoising.

Finnish host organisation: Tampere University of Technology, Center for Signal Processing, professori Jaakko Astola

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2013 

FiDiPro project:  "Applied Electromagnetic Systems for Advances Future Wireless Electronics". In the future, wireless features is expected in many products such as intelligent packages, house hold guidance and in several medical applications. However, the wireless part of the product is not allowed to be big and dominating thus further miniaturization is required. At the same time the requirements of low cost and high volume is strong. Practically this can be satisfied only with new methods of manufacturing such as printable electronics. The final goal of the FiDiPro project is to have tools and applicable results of electromagnetic behaviour of new production materials for miniaturized low power high efficiency wireless sensors and systems. Finally the results of research work will be demonstrated in real products.

Finnish host: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics, Ph.D., Professor Lauri Sydänheimo

Funding period: 5/2009-10/2011

Research project:  User-Driven Service Innovation and Co-creation Management

NOMAD-project is part of the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme - FiDiPro. The focus of the research is on user-driven service innovation process and co-creation management. Creation, commercialization and capitalization of services intangible value are central themes throughout the project. The aim is to bring new insights and novel perspectives to the service innovation debate. Nomad-project advances new perspectives that have potential to renew service innovation research and take it closer to the leading edge mainline innovation debate. Together with the international experts NOMAD-project objective is to build up Finnish service innovation research to a higher, internationally excelling level.

Host organization and contact person: Lappeenranta University of Technology, Director Jari Kuusisto

Research project: The project’s main research field is optical physics. Advancements in optics and photonics are key drivers for technological innovations of the 21st century. In particular optical phenomena, components and devices in micro- and nano-scale dimensions will play an ever more important role. One of the goals is to make Finland stand as one of the leading centres of micro- and nano-optics research in Northern Europe. The research project is run jointly by the University of Joensuu and Helsinki University of Technology.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Academy Professor Jari Turunen, University of Eastern Finland, tel. +358 13 251 3209, jari.turunen(at)uef.fi and Professor Matti Kaivola, Aalto University, School of Science and Technology, tel. +358 9 451 3151, matti.kaivola(at)tkk.fi

Funding period: 2007-2012

Research project: The FiDiPro project belongs to an international, rapidly developing field of synchrotron radiation and free-electron laser excited atomic, molecular and cluster physics. The research is concerned to develop, for instance, new theoretical tools for describing and analysing resonant electron emission. The research is closely linked to the development of new spectroscopic instruments and technologies.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Helena Aksela, University of Oulu, helena.aksela(at)oulu.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research project: The project headed by Professor Fullér seeks to strengthen research into fuzzy optimisation and fuzzy ontology. Fuzzy optimisation and ontology can be used to solve complex industrial problems related to activities such as logistics and exploration for market information or other relevant information to support decision-making.

Finnish host: Åbo Akademi University, Institute for Advanced Management Systems Research, Professor Christer Carlsson, phone: +358 2 215 4196, christer.carlsson(at)abo.fi

Funding period: 11/2007-12/2011

Research project: The main research objectives of the project are water complexes of atmospheric interest, new directions in noble-gas chemistry, ices and chemical reactions on ice surfaces and in ice media, and conformational transition dynamics of biological molecules. Computational chemistry combined with spectroscopic studies is an excellent tool to investigate energetics and reactivity of water complexes. The project will study the stability of novel noble-gas compounds experimentally and theoretically, with emphasis on the temperature effects on their lifetimes.

Finnish host and university: Professor Lauri Halonen, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Computational Molecular Science, University of Helsinki, tel. +358 9 1915 0280, lauri.halonen(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

Research project: The current research of Prof. Gilbert focuses on the development and evolution of turtles, and his research is helping to make turtles one of the new key models in evolutionary developmental biology. The FiDiPro research project will explore the extent to which turtle shells share developmental genetic programmes associated with other vertebrate structures and test whether the diversity of the turtle shell may stem from similar developmental mechanisms as the diversity of organs such as hairs, scales and teeth. Concomitantly, the research should help to uncover why specific molecular pathways appear to be involved in diseases and regeneration related to bones and epithelial organs.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Irma Thesleff, University of Helsinki, irma.thesleff(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2008-2014

Project: A universal fatigue crack growth model for high strength steel

Analytical and numerical studies necessary for the determination of required data influencing the fatigue crack growth under a variety of combinations of the maximum stress intensity factor, Kmax, and the stress intensity range, DK. The two parameter crack growth model will be used for predicting the fatigue crack growth rate induced by variable amplitude cyclic loading and welding residual stresses. The intention is to account for both the effective stress intensity range and the effective maximum stress intensity factor. Such an approach will require of elasto-plastic analysis of stresses and strains near the crack tip and calculation of stress intensity factors including the effect of highly non-linear internal stresses. The development of theoretical basis and validation of the proposed methodology will be the main theme of the project.

Contact person and host organisation: Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Department of Applied Mechanics, Professor Gary Marquis

Funding period: 5/2010-12/2013

Website: http://appmech.tkk.fi/en/

 
Research Project: Quantitative proteomics to identify biomarkers for disease prediction, diagnosis and monitoring

The objective of this study is to apply cutting-edge discovery-based, quantitative proteomics in the analysis of carefully selected informative samples from on-going studies with type-1 diabetes and epithelial ovarian cancer that are linked to comprehensive clinical data. With the integration of these data we aim to identify serum biomarkers that characterize the development of disease and aid in patient stratification and response to treatment. In both applications the discovery of disease related biomarkers would have a significant clinical impact and result in better diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
With this proposed collaboration and scientific exchange with Professor Goodlett of the University of Washington, we will apply his recently developed strategy that facilitates the quantification of multiple protein/peptide targets with minimal sample preparation.  These investigations will build on our research towards the pathology of type 1 diabetes. Similarly, the methodology will applied in the study of epithelial ovarian cancer where the data will be integrated with data from other clinical measurements. Overall, with the implementation and application of this technology, this will present a platform for diagnostics significant to research in Turku and Finland.
In common with the interests of the partners in this research, Hospital district of South-Western Finland and SALVE, the project is focused on medical diagnostics, biobanks and biomarker discovery.

Host organization and contact person:  University of Turku, Centre for Biotechnology, Director Professor Riitta Lahesmaa

Research project: The project explores the constant fluctuation between cooperation and conflict characterising transatlantic relations for decades before 9/11. The overall objective is to contribute to our understanding of the past, present and future of transatlantic relations.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Academy Professor Marjatta Hietala, University of Tampere, tel. +358 3 3551 6539 or +358 50 562 0839, marjatta.hietala@uta.fi

Funding period: 2007-2011

Project: "Innovative Forest Products Biorefinery 2007-2011". Research targets are at conversion of existing kraft pulp mills into integrated forest products biorefineries that produce, in addition to tailored cellulose pulps and energy, liquid transportation fuels and monomers for green polymer industry. The new products will raise the profitability of pulp mills. Tailoring of cellulose pulps will make it possible to produce lighter paper and board products which will increase the competitiveness of paper industry. The research will be carried out in collaboration between Helsinki University of Technology and University of Maine.

Finnish host organisation: Helsinki University of Technology. Professor van Heiningen’s research at Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) will include collaboration between the Departments of Chemical Technology, Forest Products Technology and Mechanical Engineering. In addition he will collaborate with VTT and other institutes in Finland.  Helsinki University of Technology, Finnish Pulp and Paper Research Institute (KCL) and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland form together world’s most comprehensive education and research centre in forest products technology. This centre has played a key role in the global success story of Finnish forest cluster industries.

Finnish project leader: Professor Tapani Vuorinen, Head of Department, Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), tapani.vuorinen@tkk.fi, phone +358 9 451 4236

Funding period: 1/2007-8/2011

FiDiPro project: Polysaccharide-Based Biomaterials. This project will produce new advanced knowledge overcoming the challenges of creation of tailored biopolymers to design a broad collection of high-added value biomaterials. Project is expected to have significant results in creation of new concepts for high-added value materials based on biomass, allowing development of new innovative products suitable for various value chains. The main challenge is to connect the functionalisation strategy of the biopolymers with the tailored assembly of materials at the nanoscale and also with the creation of stimuli-responsive properties, such as specific response to light and chemicals. Project will advance education of scientists with a new expertise combining tailoring of biomass based materials at the molecular level  to achieve macroscopic multi-functional properties.

Finnish host organisation: Åbo Akademi, Laboratory of Fibre and Cellulose Technology, professor Pedro Fardim

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2013

Research project:  Smart Spaces: Critical Software Enablers for Real-World Deployments

Smart Spaces refer to built environments such as apartments, offices, museums, hospitals, schools, malls, university campuses, and outdoor areas that are enabled for co-operation of smart objects and systems, and for ubiquitous interaction with frequent and sporadic visitors. The aim of Smart Spaces is to produce intelligent environments that facilitate everyday practices, are more efficient with respect to resource and costs, create richer user experiences, and enhance users’ awareness of the local opportunities.
This project will contribute to the Smart Spaces Thematic Action Line of EIT ICT Labs, where Aalto University and HIIT have a significant role together with other Finnish partners of EIT ICT Labs.

Host organization and contact person:  Aalto University, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Professor Marko Turpeinen

Research project: Integrated microactuators in analysis and diagnostic microfluidic systems

The goal is to build a strong research capability and an R&D network on sampling and fluidic handling in microfluidic systems applied in environmental monitoring, biotechnology, and medical analyses and diagnostics. One objective is to develop novel silicon based nanolitre fluidic handling systems from the world-record strong thermohydraulic metal based microlitre actuator technology of Hjort et al. Thereon, the objectives are to expand this know-how into unique IPR in other systems and mechanisms, and forwarding it into application specific projects, thereby increasing the competitiveness of Finnish industry in diagnostics, biochemical analyses and industrial biomaterials.

Contact person and host organisation: VTT, Microtechnologies and sensors, Professor Jussi Tuovinen

Funding period: 1/2011-12/2013

Research project: Chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus are diseases for which the scientific community has limited information concerning their pathogenesis. We also lack treatment that can prevent or revert the disease course. Mechanisms leading to destructive inflammation are to a large extent shared between these diseases. The project will use well-characterised animal models for inflammatory disease and powerful genetic tools to identify polymorphic genes selected by nature to control these pathways. The project will also involve in-depth studies on immune recognition and stability of target tissue and the fundamental mechanisms of interactions between inflammatory cells and the target tissue.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Sirpa Jalkanen, University of Turku, tel. +358 2 333 7007, sirjal@utu.fi

Funding period: 2007-2011

Project: "Photonic Integrated Circuits by Heterogeneous Integration for Telecommunication and Sensor Applications 2007-2011". The main goal of this project is to build a world-class research program on Photonic Integrated Circuits at Micronova. In particular, novel schemes will be developed to integrate photonic components based on different material systems. An additional key goal of this project is to form strong partnerships with Finnish companies and foreign universities and research institutes. It is expected that this project will result in a new class of integrated photonic “chips”, in which the advantages of different material systems will complement each other. These devices will have potential for greatly improved performance and reduced cost. They have a wide variety of applications, for example in the field of biosensors and in optical communications. Honkanen will also train several graduate students who will write their PhD dissertations based on their new results achieved in this project.

Finnish host organisation: Helsinki University of Technology, Micro and nanosciences, Micronova. Micronova is the leading research centre for micro and nanotechnology in Finland. Micronova is jointly run by VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland and Helsinki University of Technology, TKK. Over 300 researchers from VTT, TKK and several companies work there.

Finnish project leader: Professor Harri Lipsanen, harri.lipsanen@tkk.fi, tel. +358 9 451 3123

Funding period: 1/2007-12/2011

Research project: Infectious diseases are still the leading cause of death among young children worldwide, and the malfunctioning immune system can cause severe damage to the target tissue. Therefore it is necessary to develop new innovative ways to study immune response. The specific aim of the FiDiPro research project is to identify new genes involved in innate immune signalling. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is used as an efficient system to identify novel genes involved in immune response.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Olli Silvennoinen, Institute of Medical Technology, University of Tampere, olli.silvennoinen(at)uta.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research project: The research project focuses on mathematical analysis and its applications in mathematical physics and biology. Prof. Iwaniec’s work can be applied in mathematical models in material science, impedance tomography and mathematical theory of statistical physics, for instance. All these will also be topics of the FiDiPro research project.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Academy Professor Kari Astala, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Analysis and Dynamics Research, University of Helsinki, kari.astala(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research project: The research project is concerned to develop low-cost organic and hybrid devices for a wide range of applications. The devices can be used to produce flexible nanothick electronics, optoelectronics and sensors.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Risto Myllylä, University of Oulu, tel. +358 8 553 2671, risto.myllyla@ee.oulu.fi

Funding period: 2007-2011

Research project: The project, which belongs to the field of computational nanotechnology, is concerned to study nanometre-scale processing and synthesis that open new possibilities for electronics components and devices. New, functional materials can be applied not only as more efficient and versatile processing and memory circuits but also as various kinds of sensors and actuators.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Academy Professor Risto Nieminen, Helsinki University of Technology, tel. +358 50 3500 900, risto.nieminen@hut.fi

Funding period: 2007-2010

Research project: The project will develop the Virtual Value Space (VVS) concept to promote expertise in joint innovations made between companies. Furthermore, the project will empirically study immaterial rights in joint innovation processes. As a result it will generate new scientific data for the organisation and management of joint innovations. Professor Järvenpää is an expert in global virtual teams and group functioning.

Finnish host: Helsinki University of Technology, Riitta Smeds, riitta.smeds@tkk.fi

Funding period: 6/2008-12/2012

Research project: The project will analyse how the genes carried in mitochondrial DNA affect the disease-like characteristics of fruit fly mutants that are so-called models for human mitochondrial diseases. Such diseases include diverse and relatively rare neurological syndromes but also many cases of common conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, deafness and epilepsy. The project works to identify new genetic determinants and drug targets for understanding and treating mitochondrial diseases in humans.

Finnish host and university: Academy Professor Howard Jacobs, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research on Mitochondrial Disease and Ageing, University of Tampere, tel. +358 3 3551 7731, howard.t.jacobs(at)uta.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

FiDiPro project: "Modelling and Reverse Engineering of Delayed Stochastic Models of Genetic Regulatory Networks"
The subject of the FiDiPro research project is the development of delayed stochastic models of genetic regulatory networks. The project focuses on modelling the dynamics of genetic regulatory networks based on gene expression data at the single molecule level.

The expertise of Professor Kauffman in the fields of theoretical biology, complexity and systems biology and the competence of the research group led by Professor Olli Yli-Harja serve each other very well. The research results are expected to enhance our understanding of gene networks dynamics including in the case of diseases, namely cancer. The results can be utilised to better understand the appearance of cancer, its progression and predicting the effects of differentiation therapy on patients. The long term goal is the development of personalized medicine, where doctors can choose the best treatment for each patient.

Finnish host: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Signal Processing, Ph.D., Professor Olli Yli-Harja

Funding period: 1/2009-12/2012

FiDiPro project: COSYR. The aim of the project is to carry out research on complex systems especially techno-social and ICT-based ones, as well as to strengthen the expertise and its training in this respect. Using data mining, data analysis, and modelling techniques and tools the plan is to explore the properties of these techno-social network systems for novel application development. The focus will be on problems like community formation and identification, relation between link weights, network structure and functionality, evolution of networks, and the role of time scales. Specifically the plan is to investigate networks of communication technology and social ICT-based nets and their collective behaviour. The research results are expected to contribute to the understanding of complex networks and lead to several practical applications related to the well-being of the society by optimising communication networks, introducing information spreading strategies, managing risk or other related aspects of community or civil design, and by developing computational analysis and modelling tools for the use of policy makers and technology developers to harness social ICT and collective behaviour in them. In this, training researchers and experts is an important part of the project.

Finnish host organisation: Helsinki University of Technology (Aalto University), Centre of Excellence in Computational Complex Systems Research - COSY, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science - BECS, Professor Kimmo Kaski

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2013

Research project: The FiDiPro research project will call for further theoretical refinement, linking the significance of transnationalism and citizenship to multiculturalism. The project is primarily sociological, focusing on developments in advanced industrialised nations during the past 25 years. It is framed historically, compared and contrasted with the major migration waves of the later 19th and early 20th centuries.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Auvo Kostiainen, University of Turku, auvo.kostiainen(at)utu.fi

Funding period: 2008-2012

FiDiPro project: Translational research and personalized medicine. Professor Knowles' project aims to facilitate the translation of biomedical research discoveries towards clinical and industrial applications as well as the adaptation of personalized medicine. Personalized medicine refers to the selection and optimization of therapies according to the patient's genotype and the molecular characteristics of disease. This project aims to demonstrate how new and emerging technologies could already be applied in helping treatment decisions in oncology. Eventually personalized medicine could improve the efficacy of health care processes as well as generate new business opportunities. The project also aims to leverage the expertise and networks of professor Jonathan Knowles. To this end a forum of translational researchers and industry will be established, bringing together representatives from universities, sector research institutes, industry, public health care providers and government authorities.

Finnish host organization: University of Helsinki, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, director, professor Olli Kallioniemi

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2014

Research project: Enabling Future Wireless Healthcare System

The use of wireless technologies has a lot of potential in finding new home-care related solutions,  as well as in improving efficiency in hospitals. Number of applications is monifold both in medical and healthcare, e.g., a possibility of monitoring parameters at home and hospital. Self-care, selfmanagement and cost effectiveness will be the key factors towards the development of these new technological solutions. One example of utilizing wireless technologies leads to distributed hospital concept, in which measurement done at home are sent automatically to healthcare units database, and doctors or nursing staff obtain alarms when necessary. Wireless body area networks (WBAN) have been seen as a future implementation scheme of measuring human physiological parameters. Small and low power sensors installed on-body, or even in-body, are connected to each other and out-of-body using energy efficient wireless communication technique. Wireless connection will allow patients to move around, but still allowing the controlling capability of the nursing staff. The developed system can be transferred from hospitals to home due to the well defined interfaces between the WBAN and the access point of backbone network. In the project, suitable transceivers and network solutions for WBANs are investigated starting form channel models.

Contact person and host organisation: University of Oulu, Centre for Wireless Communications, Professor Jari Iinatti

Funding period: 1/2011-12/2013

Project: Urban Flows and Netwoks

The objective of this project is to utilize the data produced by Oulu's UPI (Urban Pervasive Infrastructure) and other sources for modeling and exploiting urban flows and networks. This data captures a rich subset of the everyday life and activities taking place in the City of Oulu.
As interactive communication technologies play an increasing role in our everyday lives, the infrastructure that supports these activities can be in important source of understanding the type, frequency and characteristics of citizen's activities. Crucially, a characteristic of these technologies is mobility, and increasingly mobility has become an important aspect of technology usage and user needs.  Hence, this project considers capturing and analysing various types of flows and networks of everyday life in the City of Oulu. By capturing and analysing these flows and networks, our project will develop services that better fulfill Oulu's stakeholders’.

Contact person and host organisation: University of Oulu, Media Team Oulu, Professor Timo Ojala

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2012

Website: http://www.mediateam.oulu.fi/?lang=en

FiDiPro project: Advanced Electromagnetic Modeling and Simulation for Engineering
The 20th century mathematics yields a new interpretation into classical fields of physics, such as electromagnetism, and suggests new engineering practices that are not easily recognized by the traditional view. The project starts from this mathematics and builds a bridge into electrical engineering and electromagnetic design and vice versa in order to improve methods and approaches employed in electromagnetic design. Together with software vendors and industrial end users we focus on developing software systems for the upcoming needs.

Finnish host organisation: Tampere University of Technology, Electromagnetics, professor Lauri Kettunen

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2013

Research project: Fungi associated with plants and forest trees play a fundamental role in the health of cultivated crops and boreal forests, affecting their vitality and productivity. Many of these fungi cause diseases to plants and forest trees, while others prevent diseases or enhance plant growth. Some fungi produce toxins dangerous to humans and domestic animals or spoil products in storage, while others (saprotrophs) cause problems by decaying construction wood and causing dry rot in buildings. However, fungi are also necessary as saprophytes for decaying organic matter and mineralisation of nutrients, and they play a key role in carbon cycling in nature. Comparisons at genomic and gene expression levels between three contrasting plant-fungus situations will help improve our understanding of key elements in the interactions and the evolution of these various forms. The project aims to develop a strong platform of theoretical expertise in fungal pathogenomics. The project combines two large areas of research: comparative fungal genomics and comparative pathobiology.

Finnish host and university: Professor Fred Asiegbu, Department of Forest Ecology, University of Helsinki, tel. +358 9 1915 8109, fred.asiegbu(at)helsinki.fi and Academy Professor Jari Valkonen, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, tel. +358 9 1915 8387, jari.valkonen(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

Research project:  BIO-H2: Hydrogen from Biomass using Thermo-chemical methods

Biohydrogen, i.e. hydrogen from biomass, can be produced via several process routes. In this research project biohydrogen refers to hydrogen which is produced via catalytic reforming processes from streams derived from various biomasses.Hydrogen is an essential element of the present and future energy systems. It is widely accepted as an attractive energy carrier to replace conventional fossil fuels and mainly seen as an energy carrier for vehicles powered with hydrogen fuel cells. EU has set targets to transform the entire energy system in Europe, and has approved the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), “Towards a low-carbon future”. According to the Impact Assessment of the SET-Plan hydrogen cars are included in Group 2, i.e. in the second wave along time horizon: Emerging technologies on the verge of mass market penetration. Hydrogen is also widely used in oil refineries and chemical industry in various processes. It is an essential reactant in processes which aim to improve the quality of traffic fuel components. Furthermore, large quantities of hydrogen are needed in the conversion of biomass based streams to fuels and chemicals. The objective of the project is to develop new process concepts to replace fossil fuel based hydrogen with biomass-based hydrogen. These process concepts utilize biomass, biomass-based intermediates and wastes, often formed in diluted water solutions, as raw materials. Aqueous-phase catalysis, micro(channel) reactors and (aqueous-phase) reforming are concepts to be combined in the research.

Contact person and host organisation: Aalto University, Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology, Professor Outi Krause

Funding period: 8/2011-7/2015 

FiDiPro project: Health care diagnostics using chemical sensors. The purpose of the project is to develop a novel, easy-to-use and economical device for genetic diagnostics. The method is an immunoassay to detect single disease in point-of-care formats. The device is a microfluidic chip, and the method is based on potentiometric monitoring of DNA hybridization. Potentiometry is a technique that offers a unique economical and easy-to-use approach with simple instrumentation. One of the practical applications is directed towards the validation of PCR amplification step in the detection of genetic alterations.

Finnish host: Åbo Akademi University, Process Chemistry Centre, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Professor Ari Ivaska

Funding period: 7/2009-6/2013

Research Project: Novel diagnostic tools for detection of clinically significant prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common male malignancy in Western industrial countries, including Finland. The main clinical problem is that substantial fraction of diagnosed prostate cancers are clinically insignificant, i.e. they are not potentially lethal.  To prevent overtreatment, it would be utmost important to find markers to reliable identify clinically significant cancer prior to the treatment. In the project novel biomarkers will be discovered and validated. Known biomarkers and genotype data will be combined for risk predictions. Non-coding RNAs will be tested as biomarkers.  And, new tools to detect and profiling circulating tumor cells (CTCs) will be developed.

Contact person and host organization: University of Tampere, Institute of Medical Technology, Professor Tapio Visakorpi

Funding period: 1/2011-12/2015 

FiDiPro project: The project will develop methods for ultra-low-field MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging ) in order to improve MR image resolution and shorten the measurement time to reach a level that will benefit brain research and allow new clinical applications. The device will allow one to measure the structure of the brain and cerebral activity virtually at the same time. The project will optimize existing methods for low-field applications such as massively parallel measurement and so-called compressed sensing and new methods, e.g., based on the use of a priori information will be developed. The project exploits and links to the ongoing major EU-funded project coordinated by the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science of the Helsinki University of Technology where a new kind of ultra-low-field MRI and a whole-head MEG-MRI device will be developed.

Finnish host organisation: Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, professor Risto Ilmoniemi

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2014

Research project: Combination of chemical sensors and packaging for new innovative sensor concepts

The proposed project aims at the development of portable sensors capable of detecting particle size, shape, composition and concentration of nanoparticles. Emphasis is laid upon study and implementation of novel sensor materials (mainly nanoparticles, nanowires and thin films) along with new innovative packaging solutions and experiments highlighting possible health effects by nanoparticles. Furthermore, the established novel gas and particle sensor technology is in excellent synergy with the strategies of the participating companies since it paves the road for creating business opportunities in several fields including nanoparticles production, sensors, packaging, gas purification and environmental monitoring.
Accordingly, the final result is not only a multifunctional sensor device but also a complete set of high-end technologies that enable an easy platform for future sensor development and manufacturing by the industrial partners. The innovation and established new technologies will to a large extent provide spin-off effects as well.

Contact person and host organisation: University of Oulu, Microelectronics and Materials Physics Laboratories, Professor Heli Jantunen

Funding period: 1/2011-12/2014

Research project: Enzymatic modification of plant fibres

The objective of this project is to create high-value and renewable materials from agricultural and forest fibre.  By building composite materials that exploit the strength properties of cellulose micro fibrils and reactivity of xylan polymers, our research can generate new market opportunities for both forest and agricultural industries.

Contact person and host organisation: Aalto University, Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology, Professor Matti Leisola

Funding period: 1/2011-12/2014

Research project: The research project is on the development of distributed communications networks. The aim is to develop information flow models to utilise the transport capacities of telecommunications networks more efficiently. Professor Matsumoto is one of the leading researchers in wireless communications in the world and therefore an important expert in a field that is still lacking top Finnish expertise.

Finnish host: University of Oulu, Centre for Wireless Communications, Professor Pentti Leppänen, phone +358 400 586 489, pentti.leppanen(at)ee.oulu.fi

Funding period: 1/2008-12/2012

Research project: Cloud Software Factory

Cloud Software Factory aims at producing an approach for systematic cloud software technology evaluation, which is packaged as an exploitable Experimentation Package and tried out in real-life context in several case trials. As a result, this enables the systematic built up of strategies for cloud computing (such as combining open source, open interfaces as well as commercial products in cloud software development) from the quality modeling viewpoint enabling companies to explicitly define service level agreements and targets, as an example. Additionally, the project contributes on the development of global Software Factory concept as well as empiricism therein.

Contact person and host organization: University of Helsinki, Department of Computer Science, Professor Pekka Abrahamsson

Funding period: 3/2011-12/2014

Research project: The project will focus efforts to unravel questions related to the dynamics and functions of crowded cells. Particular attention is paid to gene regulations, translocation phenomena across cell membranes, and diffusion of biomolecular complexes as they are central to the functions of biological cells. The research will provide a better understanding of the underlying principles by which cellular dynamics takes place under crowded conditions. The scientific breakthroughs will pave way to biotechnological innovations in, for example, drug and gene delivery, design of new drugs and antibodies, and development of treatment for diseases related to perturbations in the genetic code.

Finnish host and university: Professor Ilpo Vattulainen, Department of Physics, Tampere University of Technology, tel. +358 400 510 592, ilpo.vattulainen(at)tut.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

Research project:  User-Driven Service Innovation and Co-creation Management

NOMAD-project is part of the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme - FiDiPro. The focus of the research is on user-driven service innovation process and co-creation management. Creation, commercialization and capitalization of services intangible value are central themes throughout the project. The aim is to bring new insights and novel perspectives to the service innovation debate. Nomad-project advances new perspectives that have potential to renew service innovation research and take it closer to the leading edge mainline innovation debate. Together with the international experts NOMAD-project objective is to build up Finnish service innovation research to a higher, internationally excelling level.

Host organization and contact person: Lappeenranta University of Technology, Director Jari Kuusisto

Research project: Machine Learning for Future Music and Learning Technologies

The core of the project will comprise necessary further theoretical developments in machine learning for signal processing with respects to feature selection, feature generation, clustering, detection, and classification. These will underpin the proposed study of functional magnetic resonance imaging and music information retrieval. This will include its own developments in theoretical issues, experimental procedures (including the introduction of ecologically valid music stimuli and dual mode (EEG and fMRI) data collection), and signal processing, as well as help create understanding and global business opportunities. The cooperation partner in the research is the Academy of Finland’s "Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research”. Finally, results arising from theoretical researches will also underpin the proposed study of pronunciation of written words in English. Successful development of such a scheme will offer a teaching aid to help children enormously, resulting in significant social benefit in nurturing content and confident children. It will generally help all children, in particular all Finnish children, to become confident English speakers which will be of incalculable benefit to Finland, given the position of English as an international language. Also a successful development of such a scheme can bring enormous financial benefits to companies who can make a business out of this for the whole world, and not just Finland. Finally, a comparable solution for other alphabetic languages than English is likely to be less demanding and forthcoming. Indeed, there will be enormous business opportunities in the provision of learning a non-mother-tongue language.

Contact person and host organisation: University of Jyväskylä, Department of Mathematical Information Technology, Professor Tapani Ristaniemi

Funding period: 9/2010-8/2014

Research project: The focus of the project is on human-environment interactions, especially from the perspective of natural resource use and climate change. The project investigates how Northern communities cope or adapt to changes in the environment. A goal is to develop an innovative perspective to the assessment of human-environment interaction in the North.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Director, Docent Kari Laine, Thule Institute, University of Oulu, tel. +358 8 553 3550, kari.laine@oulu.fi

Funding period: 2007-2011

Research project: For the first time in medical history, the technical prerequisites exist for merging cascades of molecular data from biological samples with clinical and epidemiological information on lifestyle, disease and health. Over the coming years, new insights will be gained into the complex multifactorial mechanisms underlying human health, with consequences for prevention, early detection, treatment and cure. The FiDiPro Professorship affiliation with the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland will add expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics to the Institute’s major research themes (human genomics, medical systems biology, and translational research).

Finnish host and university: Professor Jaakko Kaprio, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, tel. +358 9 191 27595, jaakko.kaprio(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

Project: "Advanced Methods in Multidisciplinary Industrial Simulation and Design 2007-2010". The aim of this project is a network that collects national and international know-how of multidisciplinary computational simulation and model-based optimization. The project offers to the industry a possibility to learn new methods and compare different approaches before constructing their own productive simulation models. The activity of the network will be supported by series of seminars analyzing modeling process multidisciplinary, database of test problems and methods with relating seminars and courses, theme days directed to the industry and long-lasting familiarization programme. The most concrete product of the project will be a network environment in which is collected test problems of multidisciplinary simulation, simulation software and optimization tools suitable for multi-objective design. The environment offers a test and marketing forum for developers of the methods and a schooling and comparison environment for utilizers. Together with educational meetings and seminars, the network environment supports networking of modeling experts in industry and raises the level of knowledge.

Finnish host organisation: The Department of Mathematical Information Technology of the University of Jyväskylä and its predecessor, the group of scientific computing, has studied application-oriented research in numerical modeling and simulation since the beginning of 1980’s. The core of strategy is connecting strong basic research to diversified collaboration with application fields targeting to projects with enterprises. International publication and conference activities and other networking are active. The results of the group are applied in industry on several strategic fields (paper industry, metal industry). The group has also produced spin off companies.

Finnish project leader: Professor Pekka Neittaanmäki, tel. +358 14 260 2733, pn@mit.jyu.fi

Funding period: 1/2007-12/2010

Research project: The FiDiPro project is concerned to research the function of the gene product called AIRE. The AIRE (autoimmune regulator) protein controls the expression of hundreds of genes, representing a substantial subset of tissue-specific antigens that are presented to developing T cells in the thymus. However, the molecular mechanisms by which AIRE mediates its functions are still largely obscure. A special focus of the research is on mutations in AIRE, found in APECED patients, which is a congenial immunodeficiency that is rather common in Finland.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Kalle Saksela, University of Helsinki, kalle.saksela(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research project: The project explores key questions in systems neuroscience, such as how sensory features of objects are processed in parallel and combined across the senses to allow fast and effortless perception, and how the human brain can selectively attend certain objects over others. The project will make it possible to unravel mechanisms of neural plasticity underlying goal-directed multi-sensory perception and perceptual learning.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Academy Professor Mikko Sams, Aalto University, School of Science and Technology, tel. +358 9 451 4848, mikko.sams(at)tkk.fi

Funding period: 2007-2013

Research project:  Development of bioaerosol testing facility - Application for modeling and controlling of indoor air

The main goal of the proposed project is to develop a bioaerosol testing facility in Finland. Partnership network will be developed that through technology transfer from basic and applied bioaerosol sciences leads to product development and control of airborne microbiological risks in residential, occupational, industrial, accidental, and national safety applications. The facility will have multiple applications and be used by industry and research institutes for research and development that targets minimizing of microbial contamination in indoor air.

Host organization and contact person: University of Eastern Finland, Professor Pertti Pasanen

FiDiPro project: Value-added materials and functional structures from lignocellulosics. The general goal of this project is to use abundant renewable forest resources and by-products (cellulose and lignin) as precursors for the production of high performance materials and structures (and their functionalized versions) and also as substrates for a biologically inspired synthesis of catalysts for clean energy. The future economic viability of the forest cluster companies could be greatly enhanced by extending plant-based materials for new, high-value, high-volume products that can be effectively recycled.

Finnish host: Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Forest Products Technology, Professor Janne Laine

Funding period: 4/2009-12/2013

Research project: The project will investigate the cultural, linguistic and literary relations between the Near East and the West, specifically Ancient Greece, by applying the methods of several disciplines within the humanities. The project will elucidate the relations between East and West on the basis of Akkadian, Greek and Arabic sources, searching for the historical roots of dichotomies and controversies. A key part of the research concerns the analysis of the formation of cultural identities in a multicultural environment.

Finnish host and university: Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, Department of World Cultures, University of Helsinki, tel. +358 9 191 22092, jaakko.hameen-anttila(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

Project: "Harmonization of Hard Tissue Engineering: The Development of New Regenerative Products and Procedures 2007-2011". The goal is to harmonize the objectives in research between mesenchymal stem cell growth, scaffold preparation and the utilization of growth factors or bioactive substances to produce a new family of bone regeneration products and procedures in human and veterinarian clinical practice.

Finnish host organisation: Regea- Institute for Regenerative Medicine was founded in 2005 by Tampere University, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere University Hospital, Pirkanmaa polytechnic and Coxa – The Joint Replacement Hospital. The only clinical multi tissue bank of Finland and the only Tissue engineering Center in Finland are located in Regea.

Finnish project leader: Director of Regea Riitta Suuronen, Professor, riitta.suuronen@regea.fi, tel +358 3 3551 8497

Funding period: 1/2007-12/2011

Research project: The aim of the project is to deepen theoretical understanding of individual, social, and cultural formation of knowledge and skills. These approaches will be applied in analysing the challenges for new types of learning emerging in the global knowledge society. A further objective is to create a stronger theoretical and empirical basis for developing new learning environments that better meet the challenges of a changing society.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Erno Lehtinen, University of Turku, tel. +358 2 333 8824, erno.lehtinen@utu.fi

Funding period: 2007-2010

Research project: Multifunctional probes based on upconversion nanoparticles for diagnostic applications

The research project is focused on study of upconversion luminescence and luminescence lifetime-based multifunctional probes and their use in diagnostic applications and luminescence imaging. The project aims to development of upconversion reporter technology to be applied in immunoassays, nucleic acid hybridization assay and other ligand binding assays, and a quantitative optical biosensors for measurement of protease enzyme activity within whole blood. Upconversion photoluminescence and measurement based on luminescence lifetime are hypothesized to eliminate the problems originating from autofluorescence, absorption of excitation light and photobleaching of the sensor dyes in luminescence imaging and providing significant sensitivity advantage in diagnostic applications.

Contact person and host organization: University of Turku, Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, Professor Tero Soukka

Funding period: 7/2011-6/2014 

Research project: Professor Günter Steinmeyer is a top-class researcher with recognised expertise in extreme nonlinear optical phenomena and ultrafast laser sources. In particular, his work at MBI has lead to the demonstration of the shortest pulses ever generated with chirped mirrors (3.8 femtosecond) and has given rise to several novel design concepts for these chirped mirrors.  In the research project a new avenue for the generation of phase-stable and intense femtosecond pulses is proposed , consisting of a phase-stabilized 100 kHz laser system with subsequent compression stage. This source consists of a short-pulse oscillator that delivers 2.5-cycle pulses with nJ energies and an amplifier stage that allows to reach several microjoules of energy with similar pulse duration after compression. Both sources can be directly applied for experiments on nonlinear propagation in different types of fibers and photonic crystal structures.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Director Pekka Savolainen, Optoelectronics Research Center, Tampere University of Technology , pekka.savolainen(at)tut.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research project: The research project focuses on Europe as a specific polity arena and on how such a European polity relates to a broader cultural understanding of Europe. Further questions include: In what sense does ‘Europe’ have a political capacity to shape modernity? In what sense can Europe be seen as a political economy with a social dimension and to what extent can it be legitimised through debates in a European public sphere?

Finnish project leader and organisation: Docent Henrik Stenius, University of Helsinki, tel. +358 9 1912 3188, henrik.stenius@helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2007-2012

Research project: The general objective of the proposed FiDiPro-project is to create prerequisites for building up, and developing the technologies and knowledge on membrane mediated desalination and water reuse. One of the objectives is to create a viable technology transfer platform, where the frontline knowhow on water technologies will be transferred from Singapore to Finland.

Contact person and host organisation: VTT, Strategic research, Professor Anne-Christine Ritschkoff

Funding period: 9/2010-8/2013

Project: LUT GSEEE FiDiPro Fellowship in Permanent magnet machines

The goals of the project are to deepen the expertise of the Finnish industrial and academic sectors on electric drives and motors, especially permanent magnet machines and their new energy efficienct applications (especially, windmills, other distributed generation and mobile drives).  Research results provide essential knowledge for the electric industry for developing new products. Especially, the wind power is developing fast and there is a big need to improve the power density of permanent magnet generators. The most rugged solution is known as direct drive generator. As the power of the turbine increases the speed in rpm decreases and the torque of the electric machine must be extremely high. Such a demand leads to non-conventional solutions and totally new ideas are needed. The project is directly connected to the research are of CLEEN Ltd (Strategic centre for science, technology and innovation of the Finnish energy and environment cluster).

Contact person and host organisation: Lappeenranta University of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Professor Juha Pyrhönen.

Funding period: 8/2010-7/2014

Website:  http://www.lut.fi/en/technology/lutenergy/electrical_engineering/Pages/Default.aspx

Research project: The project involves development of statistical genetics methods to study multifactorial disease traits. Since national diseases, such as diabetes, migraine and obesity, are multifactorial diseases, computational modelling is very difficult. As genetic research methods have developed, it has become possible to use collected data to identify genes and understand their effects on the population.

Finnish project leader and organisation: Professor Aarno Palotie, University of Helsinki, aarno.palotie(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2007-2010

Research project: The major aims of the project are to establish a biogeochemical study of the Baltic from catchments to the open sea to investigate how inorganic and organic matter is released from terrestrial systems, transformed as it passes through freshwaters before being released to coastal waters. The project is concerned to investigate the effects of this matter on biological activity, composition of the food web and biomass of the standing stocks in the sea.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Leading Research Scientist Riitta Autio, Finnish Environment Institute, Marine Research Center, riitta.autio(at)ymparisto.fi

Funding period: 2008-2013

Research Project: Biophotonics technologies for novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications

The aim of this project is to develop novel approaches that can be used for non-invasive tissue diagnostics. These are different kinds of optical clearing agents to modify tissue optical properties, fabrication of new tissue-mimicking phantoms, as well as using of nanoparticles for tissue imaging. Simulations will be made to model light propagation in tissues, phantoms will be prepared and verified by comparing with tissue measurements in vitro.

Contact person and host organization: University of Oulu, Optoelectronics and Measurement Techniques Laboratory, Professor Risto Myllylä

Funding period: 7/2011-6/2014

Project: Applied Microbiology and Sustainable Biotechnology 2007-2009. The project seeks to develop novel bioprocesses for mining and metallurgy, biological production of hydrogen and ethanol energy carriers from renewable and waste materials, high-quality potable water services as well as molecular diagnostic tools for optimization and control of bioprocess performance and control of microbial hazards. The overall objectives in this research programme are to increase the understanding of the fundamentals underlying bioprocesses under extreme conditions (low/high temperature, high pressure, low nutrient availability, toxic chemicals) and to develop novel technology based on extremophilic microorganisms or their biomolecules.

Finnish host organisation: The Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology of the Tampere University of Technology (TUT). The environmental biotechnology research focuses on sustainable biotechnologies, bioremediation of contaminated environments and microbial ecology of extreme environments. TUT has nominated environmental biotechnology as one of the areas of research excellence.

Finnish project leader: Professor Jaakko Puhakka, Head, Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, Tampere University of Technology, jaakko.puhakka@tut.fi, tel +358 3 3115 2966

Funding period: 1/2007-12/2009

Research project: Computational analysis of brain images: towards a useful tool in clinical practice

Brain diseases account for 35% of the overall disease burden in Europe, and their cost to society is expected to increase considerably due to aging of the European population. Since therapies for brain diseases are becoming increasingly available, there is an urgent need for quantitative diagnosis,  treatment planning, and progress monitoring tools, as these will allow  patients to receive the most effective treatment starting from the earliest stages of their disease.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a routine clinical procedure that yields detailed three-dimensional images of the body's soft tissues, making it an ideal candidate for detecting and assessing brain disease in an accurate and quantitative fashion. At present, however, no computational tools exist that can analyze clinically acquired brain MRI scans automatically, forcing  clinicians to merely eyeball two-dimensional projections visually, or painstakingly delineate structures of interest using manual interaction.
Computational tools for analyzing the type of MRI scans used in basic neuroscientific studies have seen tremendous advances in recent years, but  these techniques are fundamentally inept at analyzing MRI scans acquired in routine clinical practice. The aim of this ambitious project is to develop  sophisticated computational modeling approaches and tools to enlarge the scope of quantitative brain MRI analysis from mere scientific studies of the human brain into real-world clinical applications.

Contact person and host organisation: Aalto University, Department of Information and Computer Science, Professor Erkki Oja

Funding period: 1/2011-12/2014

Project: "Microbial Interactions for Intestinal Health 2007-2011". Our intestinal tract is colonized since birth by a myriad of microbes that are involved in the processing of our diet, develop intimate interactions with our body, and have a major contribution to health and disease. One of the present day challenges is to understand and improve the intestinal processes based on the intestinal microbes and their expression products. This will be the focus of this research project that aims to establish an advanced competence platform for defining Intestinal Health by capitalizing the expertise of internationally networking Universities, including University of Helsinki, Turku University and Wageningen University, The Netherlands. The project will deliver microbe-based intestinal health biomarkers, address industrially relevant issues and interventions, and benchmark intestinal irregularities that are targets for food and pharma interventions. A large and balanced industry consortium including six large and medium-sized food and pharma companies has been established to guide and monitor the project. All partners are committed to participate in the project to drive further public-private interactions and innovations for intestinal health.

Finnish host organisation: Primarily Professor Willem M de Vos will work at the University of Helsinki in Professor Airi Palva’s research team, which is focusing on molecular biology of intestinal microbiota, on host-microbe interactions, on development of mucosal vaccine vectors and probiotics for prevention of intestinal infections as well as on developing high-throughput molecular methods for microbial diagnostics.  The other important research collaborators in the project will also include the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki and Functional Foods Forum of the University of Turku.

Finnish project leader: Professor Airi Palva, airi.palva@helsinki.fi, tel. + 358 9 1915 7058

Funding period: 1/2007-12/2011

Research project: The goal of the research project is to understand the response difference of C sink/source of the boreal forest and mire ecosystems to climate factors and managements strategies as well as to optimise the production of biofuels and timber in cost-efficient ways in order to provide effective management policies for the forest and mire ecosystems for multi-objective use, particularly in enhancing biofuel production and mitigating atmospheric CO2. Another goal is to identify environmental and socio-economic impacts of production of biofuels from forests and mires. The project is a joint effort of the Universities of Joensuu and Kuopio.

Finnish contact person and host organisation: Professor Seppo Kellomäki, University of Eastern Finland, seppo.kellomaki(at)uef.fi, Professor Pertti Martikainen, University of Eastern Finland, pertti.martikainen(at)uef.fi

Funding period: 2008-2012

Project: Modern tissue engineering - cell culture studies on digitally designed and manufactured 3D scaffolds

The development of tissue engineering and organ manufacturing faces many challenges. Modern additive manufacturing (AM) enables 3-D biomimetic structures with specially designed patterns, material compositions, and mechanical properties. AM also offers unique opportunity to precisely control the construct architecture (pore size, shape, orientation, and interconnectivity). The goals of this project are to find optimal 3-D cell culture conditions for AM’d tissue scaffolds, and to prepare scaffolds which may eventually be applied in tissue failure substitution as artificial bone, cartilage or other tissues.  Multidisciplinary novel biomanufacturing research combines competences from microbiology, biochemistry, medical disciplines from eventual application areas, materials and additive manufacturing research, complex computational tasks and 3-D tissue modeling. Results benefit Finnish scientific community and medical device, mechanical engineering, SW- and biotech industries through new scientific knowledge in tissue engineering and its optimal conditions, and directly applicable knowledge for developing AM techniques, 3-D modeling of tissues and tissue substitute materials.  Close cooperation with leading Finnish institutes, and with Tsinghua University enables effective dissemination of the scientific results and offers an attractive research arena for researchers. Collaboration with other Aalto University School of Science and Technology research units provides synergies. The expertise at Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science (BECS) and the The Laboratory of Polymer Technology (POTE) complement the work done at BIT Research Centre; this collaboration may lead to innovations and fast application by Finnish industry.

Contact person and host organisation:  Aalto University School of Science and Technology, BIT Research Centre, Professor Marja Toivonen

Funding period: 4/2010-3/2013

Website: http://www.bit.tkk.fi/Home/Home

FiDiPro project: "Innovative Timber Structures Technology – energy efficient and sustainable use of wood in building construction and the building stock – from materials to constructions". Energy saving goals and environmental aspects have made low-energy building interesting for industry and the construction sector. However, in Finland there is a lack of research for developing wooden low-energy houses in the sectors of technical specification, business concept development and standardization. TKK is inviting Professor Stefan Winter from TU München to bring know how of wooden low-energy wooden construction that is common in Central Europe.

Finnish host: Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Forest Products Technology, D.Sc., Professor Matti Kairi

Funding period: 10/2008-12/2012

Research project: The main objective of the project is to investigate the importance of aerosol particles on climate change and on human health, with a particular focus on the growth of freshly nucleated nm-sized atmospheric aerosols by condensation of organic vapours and the effect of aerosol formation in aerosol dynamics. Modern engine technologies have dramatically reduced overall aerosol emission levels while enhancing the production of nanoparticles, which have significant, undetermined health effects, as they are emitted in urban areas with large human exposure. The project brings together physical and chemical measurement expertise to investigate the fundamental interaction of molecules, clusters and aerosols, from nanometer to micrometer scales.

Finnish host and university: Professor Markku Kulmala, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Meteorology of Atmospheric Composition and Climate Change, University of Helsinki,  tel. +358 9 191 50756, markku.kulmala(at)helsinki.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

Research project: The project led by Professor Yamauchi will research novel multifunctional oxide materials that are at the heart of current research into inorganic materials. Novel materials are needed for applications such as high-temperature supra-conductors, fuel cell and battery electrodes, thermoelectric devices and the commercial utilisation of spintronics/magnetoelectronics. This research will help improve energy efficiency and achieve developments such as CO2-free production of electric energy from waste heat.

Finnish host: Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Chemical Technology, Professor Maarit Karppinen, phone: +358 9 451 2602, maarit.karppinen(at)tkk.fi

Funding period: 1/2008-12/2012

FiDiPro project: Wireless Body Area Networks for Health and Medical-care (WiBAN-HAM).
The subject of this research work is the design and development of novel solutions targeting wireless body area networks for health and medical-care applications to be used in the healthcare facility and home. The research focuses on realizing a number of areas including a channel model for tissue implanted device and onbody sensors for wireless body area networks. A central component of wireless body area networks is an antenna and there are several issues to consider when designing an antenna for WBAN's applications, including power consumption, size, frequency, biocompatibility and the unique RF transmission challenges posed by the human body.

Prior to any in-body or on-body data communications, the effect of the human body on the RF signal must be understood. Unlike the standard communication all the way through constant air, the various tissues and organs within the body have their own unique conductivity, dielectric constant, and characteristic impedance. Understanding the human body's effect on RF wave propagation is complicated by the fact that the body consists of components that each offer different degrees, and in some cases, different types of RF interaction. Therefore wireless body area networks should be treated as a special case of wireless communications with its unique channel model. In our vision of future healthcare we anticipate ubiquitous use of WBANs in health- and medical care.

Finnish host organisation: University of Oulu, Centre for Wireless Communications, director Ari Pouttu

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2014

Research project: The objective of the project is to establish an internationally significant research centre working on combinatorics on words. This is an extensive interdisciplinary project that will be working on a number of phenomena and research problems in the field. The project combines mathematics, computer science and physics.

Finnish host and university: Professor Juhani Karhumäki, Department of Mathematics, University of Turku, tel. +358 2 333 5613, karhumak(at)utu.fi

Funding period: 2010-2015

FiDiPro project: Systems Biology of Cancer: Mapping, Methods and Modeling for the Cancer Genome. The project is focused on applying systems biology tools to modern cancer research. We integrate multiple types of high-throughput measurement data and, by data mining medical archives for clinical data, associate clinical parameters with particular genetic events. Mathematical modeling and reverse engineering are applied to uncover the mechanisms of initiation and progression of the disease. The goal is to develop computational methods to process genomic data and to find new genomic markers. Also, in collaboration with Research Tissue Bank Finland, FinTiB, we aim to create a framework towards utilizing biobank resources in large scale. We expect to use the developed methods to study those cancers that are unusually common among the Finnish population. This project will advance the fields of computational cancer genomics, cancer research, and personalized medicine.

Finnish host organization: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Signal Processing, Professor Olli Yli-Harja

Funding period: 1/2010-12/2014