Jaana Vapaavuori and Kati Miettunen receive significant funding for developing new composite biomaterials

In the Tandem Forest Values (TFV) application round, over €4 million was granted to nine Finnish-Swedish research consortia responsible for a total of 26 sub-projects. In their project, Assistant Professor Jaana Vapaavuori and Academy Researcher Kati Miettunen from Aalto University School of Chemical Technology and Senior Researcher Tiffany Abitbol (RISE Innventia, Sweden) will develop new multifunctional composite biomaterials to improve the efficiency and durability of photoelectric devices. The project has its roots in the FinnCERES bioeconomy flagship, which served as a platform for developing the idea.

Finland's share of the funding is €2.1 million and Sweden’s is €2 million. The TFV programme strengthens research cooperation in the areas of Finnish and Swedish forest resources, the value chain of wood-based products, and wood construction. The application was a continuation of the research-cooperation- related 100th anniversary gift which Sweden gave to Finland.  The TFV programme strengthens multi-country cooperation between research funders and researchers.

The application was coordinated by the Academy of Finland's Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The Swedish funders were the Formas Research Council and the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, through which the private foundations Wallenberg and Kempe also participated in the funding of the application. The programme funds two-year projects led by young researchers. The research is multidisciplinary and involves researchers from different fields. The programme includes projects in the fields of forest management, forest industry processes and wood construction.

More information:

Jaana Vapaavuori
Assistant Professor
Multifunctional Materials Design
jaana.vapaavuori(a)aalto.fi

Kati Miettunen
Academy Research Fellow
Bio-based Colloids and Materials
kati.miettunen(a)aalto.fi

FinnCERES is the joint competence center for the materials bioeconomy between Aalto and VTT. We aim to ensure our sustainable future by developing materials and applications for the future bio-economy with a solid scientific foundation. For more information visit finnceres.fi.