University Receives €2.5 Million from the Academy of Finland for Profiling Research
The University's research projects in drug development, diagnostics and imaging, and education and learning were at the forefront in the application round for the profiling funding.
The Academy of Finland has granted €2.5 million to the University of Turku for 2015–2019 from the new funding programme meant for supporting Finnish universities in profiling their distinct areas of strength in research.
– The funding gives the University a good chance to advance and profile its research, says Vice Rector Kalle-Antti Suominen of the University of Turku, who is responsible for research.
The international panel that evaluated the funding applications of the Finnish universities highlighted the University's research projects in drug development, diagnostics and imaging as well as in education and learning and considered a few others to have potential.
The drug development, diagnostics and imaging research project is a collaboration between the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. Åbo Akademi University received €3 million in funding for profiling its research.
– The funding received by the universities is a significant amount from the point of view of regional co-operation, which promotes the development of the field of drug development, diagnostics and imaging. The universities are already in close research co-operation and Turku has a great potential to become the national centre of the field of science, says Suominen.
The new funding instrument of the Academy of Finland supports the areas of strength in research proposed by the universities. The universities submitted applications for profiling one or more fields of research based on their strategies. Ten of the 13 universities that applied for funding received it. The Academy granted altogether €50 million in funding.
Text: Tuomas Koivula
Photo: Hanna Oksanen
Translation: Mari Ratia