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The University supports its Professors when preparing demanding project proposals which are planned to be internally cross-disciplinary and/or international. Aalto University must have a major role in the application.

The seed funding proposals were directed to the current multidisciplinary platforms’ research areas (Digitalization, Advanced Energy Solutions, Human-centered Living Environments and Health & Wellbeing). The President of Aalto University made the official funding decision on 12 September 2016.

The applications funded are as follows:

Digitalization ():

Lu Xiaoshu, Aalto ENG, EU_China: Energy efficient green data centers of the future, internal collaboration with Aalto ELEC
Ashish Kumar, Aalto BIZ, Business Transformation with Digitalization and Intellectual Property, internal collaboration with Aalto SCI

Energy ():

Maarit Karppinen, Aalto CHEM, Transparent & flexible Li-organic 3D thin-film microbattery, internal collaboration with Aalto ARTS and ELEC
Risto Kosonen, Aalto ENG, Building stock to optimally support the evolution of sustainable energy system, internal collaboration with Aalto ELEC
Patrick Rinke, Aalto SCI, Intelligent materials design, internal collaboration with Aalto ELEC and CHEM

Health and wellbeing ():

Markku Sopanen, Aalto ELEC, Surface-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering for lipid imaging, internal collaboration with Aalto SCI

Human-centered living environments ():

Risto Rajala, Aalto SCI, MaaS+: Increasing freedom of choice in transportation, internal collaboration with Aalto ARTS
Matti Vartiainen, Aalto SCI, Durable Travel – Dural, internal collaboration with Aalto ENG.

‘The major funding organisations, such as EU Horizon and the Academy of Finland, stress cross-disciplinarity in their topics and put great value on the carefully-formulated, demanding content of the applications. We grant cost-effective strategic funding for proposal planning to support the hard work behind them’, says Tuija Pulkkinen, Aalto University Vice President of research and innovations and the leader of the steering group making the seed funding decisions (RISG).

The applications for the internal funding call in spring 2016 were evaluated on the boards of the four current platforms. The following conditions were set in the call: the group planning for major funding proposal must have a major role in the project and the applicant must be a professor at Aalto University. Besides having a solid basis for cross-disciplinary work, the novelty of the presented research group or its members, was appreciated, as well as the possibilities to succeed in the suggested funding call.  

Maarit Karppinen from the School
of Chemical Technology was one
of the Professors receiving seed funding. 

Professor Maarit Karppinen received seed funding for her project proposal Transparent & flexible Li-organic 3D thin-film microbattery. Karppinen finds the seed funding concept flexible and an excellent opportunity.

‘The use of typical project funding is highly limited and we do not have many sources where the needs for special use could be sought at. Additionally, the application is short, the process is fast, and involves only minimal bureaucracy’, explains Karppinen.      

The next seed funding call now open and will close on 15 October 2016. The announcement is on Inside and will be sent to professors by email.

Aalto University's platforms are set up in strategic competence areas. They are designed to facilitate and bring together the University's competences in the multidisciplinary areas, in a bottom up manner, and to increase Aalto University's external visibility. Their foci is in research, education and societal impact. Everybody is welcome to join their activities!