Research
ITC’s research activities cover the full spectrum of communication – human-to-human, machine-to-machine, human-to-machine, interaction between society and human, as well as related enabling technologies.
In 2021, we appointed new professors who specialise in user-centred design, visual studies and the Finnish language, respectively. We also appointed a professor of practice in the field of journalism; the holder of this rotating professorship changes each year. We also filled tenure-track positions in the English language and microelectronics.
The volume of externally funded research projects remained high in 2021.
Our main domestic source of competitive research funding is the Academy of Finland, which awarded 11 research grants to our research staff. The largest grants were received by the Games as a Platform to Tackle Grand Challenges and the TAU Imaging Research Platform under the Profi6 programme, and the participants in the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in High-Speed Electromechanical Energy Conversion Systems. Our research infrastructures were strengthened by grants awarded by the Academy of Finland to two infrastructures that are included in the national roadmap for research infrastructures, namely the Research Infrastructure for Future Wireless Communication Networks (FUWIRI) and the Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure (FIN-CLARIAH). We also fared well in the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship Programme as fellowships were awarded to four researchers in the Computing Sciences Unit and one in the Electrical Engineering Unit. Other notable funding providers are Business Finland and foundations.
The quantity, quality (based on the JuFo levels) and availability of our research output has remained largely unchanged over the past few years. As our research output has developed more slowly than in the other faculties at Tampere University, in the next few years we will make special efforts to increase the quantity and quality of our research output and promote open access. We have already taken measures in 2022 to increase our research output. The impact of our research is illustrated by Professor of Gamification Juho Hamari’s placement on the list of highly cited researcher by Clarivaten / Web of Science, an exclusive distinction awarded to 0.1% of the world’s researchers.
In 2011, we stepped up our efforts to promote the accessibility and broad utilisation of our research infrastructures and thereby increase the impact of our research. Our network of staff scientists and senior scientists took on a more active role, and a coordinator was appointed to build closer contacts between the network and the faculty management. We mapped out our research infrastructures and grouped them into larger categories to promote their visibility and the delivery of services under the guidance of staff scientists and senior scientists. These efforts will continue in 2022.
Education
Our degree programmes continued to attract a large number of applications both in the primary intake in the spring of 2021 and the call for applications for English-language master’s programmes in early 2021. We offered 100 extra places for students in the primary intake. For the first time, we admitted students through a demonstration course to programmes in information technology, computing sciences, and mathematics and statistical data analysis. We introduced new entry options with Finnish as a second working language (English, Russian, German and Swedish). Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we were able to successfully organise in-person entrance examinations by putting in place various health and safety measures.
The development of our programme portfolio moved forward as we expanded our educational offerings. We established the new Master’s Degree Programme in Sustainable Digital Life and the European Joint Doctorate Programme in Plenoptic Imaging funded by the EU’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network. We also initiated an ICT pilot project at the university consortia in Pori and Seinäjoki, which entails the provision of support for completing courses offered by the FITech network as well as preparations ahead of the launch of new degree programmes in knowledge-based web systems leading to the degrees of Master of Science in Technology and Master of Science, respectively. Together with the other faculties at Tampere University, we started planning new bachelor’s programmes in robotics and energy transition.
We developed our curriculum for 2021–2024 to implement resource-based learning and enable the delivery of pedagogically sound remote, in-person and hybrid teaching to all student groups. To improve the effectiveness of teaching, we designed thesis seminars that cut across disciplinary boundaries, introduced courses in software engineering, computer science and languages to support the thesis writing process, and harmonised the basic course offerings in theoretical and applied mathematics. We also implemented new online courses (in accessibility, machine translation, data journalism and cybersecurity, among other things) that can be offered to both degree-seeking students and adult learners. The courses in accessibility were also made available in the form of micromodules through the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). We added courses in 5G technology to FITech’s course catalogue. Of all the member universities of FITech, Tampere University offers the largest number of courses through the network, a total of 241.
To gear up for the new academic year 2021/22, we offered Return to Campus orientation to teachers and students. The programme included both shared events and tailored sessions to students enrolled in specific degree programmes. As we prepared for the new academic year and envisioned the future of teaching, the key themes that emerged were in-person, remote and hybrid teaching solutions and the importance of fostering a sense of community among students and teaching staff. We also identified solutions for increasing the quality and quantity of education.
The university community was invited to attend training sessions on remote teaching tools (including digital tools for promoting active learning), captioning and accessibility. The teams conducting the AnalyticsAI and TreSilienssi projects collaborated to identify and support students who are having problems with maintaining effective academic progress or are dealing with stress or burnout.
Societal impact
ITC has an important role in studying, defining and promoting the digital transformation of society in collaboration with the public sector and industry and business. Our high-quality research infrastructure and research areas comprise entire platforms for studying and developing digital services and products. Examples include the profiling areas and centres of excellence funded by the Academy of Finland, the national research infrastructure projects in gamification, imaging, inverse problems and wireless communications, and new openings in system-on-chip design relating to the EU’s Chips Act programme. The results of our research in signal processing and information security have been brought to the market in millions of mobile and IoT devices.
We collaborate with a broad range of company partners, both prominent domestic companies and leading international companies.
Launched in late 2020, the System-on-Chip (SoC) Hub coordinated by Tampere University was established to foster excellence in SoC design and microelectronics in Finland. SoC Hub seeks to disseminate knowledge of System-on-Chip design, develop expertise and attract more professionals to the SoC sector. SocHub’s research and development projects are carried out in close collaboration between the University and partner companies. SoC Hub achieved the first major milestone when the consortium completed its first System-on-Chip in late 2021.
Our research groups are active in generating open-source code. Many of their projects are known the world over, and their results are employed by both industry and research institutions. Openly accessible datasets and data that is used as a reference, for example, in algorithm development, also support the transition to open science.
We have several research projects underway that aim to promote accessible communication and the social inclusion of vulnerable groups and thereby support the social sustainability of communities and society. We are, among other things, working to develop easy-to-read Finnish-Swedish for readers with special needs, make legal documents more readable with the help of cartoons and develop adult immigrants’ Finnish-language skills for everyday life.
Our researchers specialising in journalism, media and communication organised a virtual Studia Generalia lecture series intended for the general public that explored the public/private and benefit/well-being boundaries from the perspectives of social media, market forces and political governance, among other things. A pilot course titled Journalistic Audience Work in the Digital Environment (JYDY) brings together researchers and journalists to explore audience work in a digital environment and how it could be developed. The course will continue to be offered as a shared course to both working journalists and students studying for a master’s degree in journalism. A remote teaching project carried out by our Communication Sciences Unit and Languages Unit, titled Health and Media, brought together students and experts in Chinese and Russian media. The Communication Sciences Unit also received funding for a project that investigates how the wealthy elite perceives the values of Nordic welfare societies.
Our researchers who specialise in wireless communications contributed actively to the standardisation of 5G mobile networks in cooperation with Nokia and to the development of the DECT-2020 New Radio standard in cooperation with Wirepas.
Launched in 2021 and funded by Tampere University, the Climate Neutral Energy Systems and Society (CNESS) research platform focuses on the electrification of society and the study of electrical energy engineering. Our researchers actively engage in public debate on electricity transmission prices and are frequently invited to perform an advisory role, for example, in the working groups established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland as well as the Commerce Committee of the Finnish Parliament regarding the drafting of legislative proposals for the national implementation of the EU Directive 2019/944 that sets out common rules for the internal market for electricity.
Our extensive research knowledge in power electronics has been commercialised by the newly established CeLLife company that develops diagnostic methods to promote the safe, effective and sustainable reuse of batteries.