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Wihuri Foundation awards major funding for multidisciplinary research of future energy systems

Published: 12.10.2023

The project will receive a total of €750,000 over four years, and the foundation will also support other Aaltonian endeavours, such as synthetic biology research and encouraging early-stage entrepreneurs.

Black solar panels — The project aims to develop tools to forecast and control electricity production and demand, increase the adaptability and security of supply of electricity systems, and create market mechanisms for the future. Photo: Aalto University / Aleksi Poutanen

This year, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation awarded a record €14.7 million to science (66%), arts (19%) and social action (15%).

One of the largest awards was for a multidisciplinary research project at Aalto University focusing on future electrical energy systems. The project aims to develop tools to forecast and control electricity production and demand, increase the adaptability and security of supply of electricity systems, and create market mechanisms for the future electricity energy system. Led by Professor Heikki Mannila, the project is a joint effort by three departments, Electrical Engineering and Automation, Computer Science, and Economics. The total funding from the Wihuri Foundation is €750,000. The project is a part of the House of AI, a new Aalto University initiative to support the wider use of AI in other fields of research.

In addition, a €285,000 grant was given to Merja Penttilä, a research professor at VTT and part-time professor at Aalto University, and the Synbio research community received €285,000. Synbio aims to promote collaboration between synthetic biology researchers and industry.

Aalto University's student entrepreneurial community, the Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, received a €20,000 grant to support its early-stage entrepreneurship programme, Concrete. Several Aaltonians also received support from the fund for doctoral research and scientific cooperation.

The Jenny and Antti Wihuri foundation supports Finnish mental and economic vitality

'The founders of the foundation wanted to give back to the society that had made their success possible,' says Arto Hiltunen, Chair of the Board, alumnus of the School of Business.