Quantum technology selected as an Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence

The Academy of Finland has selected Aalto University’s Quantum Technology to continue in the Centre of Excellence programme for the period of 2018-2025.

The unit is led by Jukka Pekola from Aalto University. Aalto University is also a partner in two other centres of excellence. Aalto is represented by Antti Hannukainen and Nuutti Hyvönen in the Centre of Excellence of Inversion Modelling and Imaging and by Jaan Praks in the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space.

A total of 12 units were selected for the Centre of Excellence (CoE) programme. The new CoEs include research teams from 12 different universities or research institutes.

The Academy of Finland received a total of 179 letters of intent for this CoE call, and 34 of these were invited to the second stage. The Academy selects centres of excellence on the basis of international reviews and the aims of the CoE programme. The review focused on ensuring that the unit has a high scientific standard, conducts research with great potential to achieve scientific breakthroughs and promotes science renewal. The CoE’s potential to reach or remain at a top international level and its broader impact in society were also assessed.

Flagships of Finnish research

The Academy of Finland’s Centres of Excellence are the flagships of Finnish research. They are at the very cutting edge of science in their fields, carving out new avenues for research, developing creative research environments and training new talented researchers for the Finnish research system and Finnish business and industry. The funding period will be extended from six years to eight, and an interim evaluation will be conducted after the first four years.

A CoE is a research and training network that has a clearly defined set of research objectives and is run under joint management. CoEs are jointly funded by the Academy of Finland, universities, research institutes, the private business sector and many other sources.

Read more:
Academy of Finland press release
List of units selected to the Centre of Excellence programme 2018–2025 (pdf)