Research
We continued to undertake international and high-quality research in 2021 despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions designed to prevent its spread. We carry out research in our recognised areas of expertise, which include physics, materials science, environmental engineering, automation technology and mechanical engineering.
As in recent years, the majority of our new research projects were funded either by the EU or the Academy of Finland. Other notable funding providers included Business Finland, companies and foundations. We saw a substantial increase in the amount of external research funding from the previous year (17%), and our funding has continued on the upward trajectory. However, the implementation of externally funded projects posed some challenges because the pandemic restricted travel and the international recruitment of new researchers.
The European Commission’s new research and innovation funding programme Horizon Europe was launched in 2021. We have already received substantial funding under the new funding programme. We also received two prestigious Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Associate Professor (tenure track) Matti Rissanen studies the formation of air pollutants in urban atmospheres and develops solutions for air pollution control. Professor Timo Laaksonen, who divides his time between the University of Helsinki and Tampere University, explores the controlled, photoactivated release of pharmaceutical agents inside the human body.
We launched about a dozen new projects funded by the Academy of Finland in 2021. We are actively involved in imaging research, which received funding from the Academy of Finland under the Profi6 programme that helps Finnish universities build stronger research profiles. The two of our key research functions are still the Finnish Flagship on Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN) funded by the Academy of Finland and the Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC), which is coordinated by the University of Helsinki and involves Tampere University as a partner.
Business Finland’s leading programmes and projects are reshaping the research collaborations between academia and industry. Closely linked to these efforts is the Tampere-led Sustainable Industry X (SIX) ecosystem that builds long-term partnerships between companies, universities and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The collaborative activities have gone farthest in the development of mobile working machines, in which ENS has a key role.
As state-of-the-art laboratory environments and research infrastructures are essential for our research, we participated actively in planning the new Research Hub to be housed in the Sähkötalo building on the Hervanta campus. We also conducted a current state analysis and improved the visibility of our infrastructure website as a part of drawing up a roadmap for our research infrastructures.
Compared to the last few years, the number of high-quality peer-reviewed papers authored by our staff grew by almost 10%. We also saw a major increase in the share of publications that are made openly accessible, as more than 80% of all our papers authored in 2020 and 2021 are open-access.
Education
The number of applicants who sought admission to our Finnish-language degree programmes declined slightly in the spring of 2021 and was back to 2019 levels. However, applicant numbers increased to the degree programme in automation technology and the programme that enables students to not only complete a master’s degree in technology but also gain the qualifications to teach mathematical subjects. The joint Master’s Degree Programme in Automation Engineering, which we run in collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland, attracted 105 applications in its first application round and instantly became Tampere University’s second most popular degree programme leading to the degree of Master of Science in Technology. Of our English-language degree programmes, the Bachelor’s Degree Programme is Science and Engineering, which is divided into two study options, received more than 500 applications, almost doubling the previous year’s result. We continued to invest in promoting the national and international visibility of our degree programmes. Promotional activities are effectively carried out in collaboration with the other faculties at Tampere University, the Admissions Office and Marketing and Communications.
In the autumn of 2021, we started rethinking our portfolio of engineering programmes to ensure the programmes not only remain competitive as the responsibilities for providing engineering education expand further but also continue to produce the next generation of multitalented professionals. The goal is to introduce new engineering programmes in 2022. We also started planning international pathway courses in engineering in collaboration with other universities in the autumn of 2021. The courses will provide an alternative digital entry route to international students looking to earn a degree in technology in Finland.
The two-year curriculum for mechanical engineering and automation technology was finalised in the autumn. This was the last step in designing a curriculum for all degree programmes up until the year 2024. In the autumn of 2021, the teaching loads of the faculties at Tampere University were balanced by transferring the Degree Programme in Information and Knowledge Management, the Degree Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management, the Degree Programme in Business & Technology, the Degree Programme in Management and Information Technology (which is available at the University Consortium of Pori), and the Doctoral Programme in Business and Technology Management to the Faculty of Management and Business (MAB). From now on, the degree programmes offered by ENS are divided between engineering sciences and natural sciences.
We maintained our active presence in FITech, the Finnish online institute of technology, and made courses in industrial robotics, automation technology and materials engineering available through the network. In the autumn, a large-scale FITech digitalisation project was launched to prepare for the future growth of online learning in the fields of engineering in Finland. The project entails the development of online learning modules in multiple fields as a collaborative undertaking between five faculties. At ENS, the development activities are focused on mechanical engineering.
Teaching continued to be delivered remotely throughout 2021. While digital education has mostly worked well, the prolonged pandemic has affected students’ well-being. We referred students to the University’s guidance and counselling services and strove to maintain frequent contact with our students. For example, regular meetings continued between the faculty management and student guilds. We also took new measures to help students maintain effective academic progress and graduate on time, such as launched pilot projects for students writing their bachelor’s or master’s thesis. These measures will remain in place in 2022, although we hope the pandemic begins to ease so we can transition back to in-person teaching.
Societal impact
In 2021, we placed emphasis on strategic partnerships and collaboration with research institutions and companies. However, the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic made it difficult to carry out projects relating to societal interaction on the usual scale. Still, we were able to undertake a sizeable number of projects in collaboration with companies. Although the number of collaborations between universities and businesses fell during the pandemic, the latest signals indicate that companies are becoming increasingly interested in tackling major research challenges. Business Finland’s leading projects have an important role in promoting university-business collaboration. Individual companies have also taken a more active role in initiating research projects.
Activities that make a positive impact on society are also carried out within the ecosystems of Academy of Finland’s Finnish Flagship on Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN) and the Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC) as well as at the Tampere Microscopy Center. As evidence of our impact, we received an award for technical creativity from the City of Tampere for Unexmin, an underwater robot developed by researchers at Tampere University. The robot explores abandoned mines that have been flooded with water to search for remaining mineral deposits. There are roughly 30,000 flooded mines in Europe alone.
The Aerosol Physics Laboratory housed at ENS won the 2021 Societal Impact Award granted by Tampere University. The Laboratory carries out research that meets international standards of excellence and helps to improve the health and well-being of people and address climate change. The Laboratory maintains close collaborations with cities as well as industry and business in Finland and beyond.
We have made a strategic choice to take an active role in the national FITech network, which seeks to develop engineering education as a long-term collaborative effort between universities. The FITech network also provides a concrete platform for continuous learning and the digitalisation of teaching. There is a high demand for our expertise outside of Tampere as well, as evidenced by the degree programmes available in the university consortia in Pori and Seinäjoki and the master’s programme in engineering in Eastern Finland (the AUDIX2 project), among other things. We will therefore increasingly invest in the development of virtual teaching, digital pedagogy and mobile laboratory environments.
ENS is home to four professors of practice, who have made important contributions to promoting university-industry collaboration in both research and education. For example, the professor of practice who specialises in digital design and manufacturing and is based in the Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering Unit maintains close collaboration with the University Consortium of Seinäjoki, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences and companies in the surrounding region.
We made major investments into the development of internal and external communications in 2021. This is one way for us to deliver impact for society.