Academy of Finland to fund research infrastructures – over €3.5 million for the University of Oulu
Press release from the University of Oulu
The Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee of the Academy of Finland has awarded funding to research infrastructure projects. The University of Oulu was awarded a total of over €3.5 million.
The funding supports the upgrading or construction of local research infrastructures and puts emphasis on targets related to the green and digital transition. The funding will be allocated based on the international peer review to projects supporting the construction or upgrading of locally or regionally significant research infrastructures that meet the criteria of the call and that effectively take into account the objectives of the digital and green transition.
The University of Oulu was awarded funding for the following projects:
Oulu 3D single particle analysis facility
Lari Lehtiö: € 1 046 559
University of Oulu
The Oulu 3D Single Particle Analysis facility will be established at the Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu. The research infrastructure is based on already existing local instrumentation and expertise, which will be further strengthened by the purchase of a cryo-electron transmission microscope critical for structural studies of single particles. The facility will significantly enhance the efficiency of ongoing research activities in Oulu on a range of systems, including biological macromolecules and their complexes, lipid vesicles, membrane structures as well as natural and engineered nanoparticles. The infrastructure will facilitate new research collaborations between multiple faculties of the University of Oulu as well as with industries in the Oulu region. The infrastructure will have a significant impact on the University of Oulu research focus areas ‘Lifelong Health’ and ‘Sustainable Materials and Systems’.
Hub for Hydrogen-Materials Interaction Research Infrastructures
Samuli Urpelainen € 980 282
University of Oulu, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, University of Tampere
The transition to a hydrogen economy poses unprecedented challenges in the energy, raw materials and transportation industries. New hydrogen-based processes and applications need to be introduced in a very short time to meet climate goals. However, little is known about the interactions of hydrogen with materials such as steels, which are central to the functions of our society. Understanding the interactions is becoming increasingly important for the development and commercialization of reliable and safe hydrogen technologies. For example, in load-bearing structures, the embrittlement of materials caused by hydrogen can have catastrophic effects, and the use of hydrogen as a fuel does not produce the same lubricating film on engine surfaces as fossil fuels. H2MIRI’s local infrastructures answer to these needs with powerful characterization techniques, strengthen the division of roles between the partners, and deepen know-how and enable the society to produce the information it needs.
Cryosphere Research Infrastructure Platform
Pertti Ala-Aho 766 886 euroa
University of Oulu, Geological Survey of Finland, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finnish Environment Institute
Snow and ice condition are changing rapidly due to the changing climate, which poses challenges to the Northern Finland natural and built environment. Past predictions and governance will need to be adjusted, which requires high-quality monitoring data. The current infrastructure for regional snow and ice monitoring needs to be updated and harmonized to meet these needs. CRYO-RI project addresses this challenge by launching regional snow and ice monitoring networks, developing both low cost and state-of-the-art measurement stations, developing new measurements based on emerging technologies, increasing the regional capability to analyze and monitor geomaterial properties subject to freeze and thaw and providing a data sharing platform to allow fast and easy access to the CRYO-RI data for all users. The CRYO-RI platform is maintained and operated in a regional collaboration between the University of Oulu and three regionally important research institutes (GSF, SYKE, FMI).
Northern Utility Vehicle Laboratory
Tero Päivärinta 751 988 euroa
Oulu University of Applied Sciences, University of Oulu
GO!-RI project will release the NUVE-LAB’s potential for the research of environmentally sustainable, autonomous commercial vehicles. Oulu University of Applied Sciences implements equipment needed to research and develop environmentally sustainable power sources and power trains. For electric vehicles, besides the energy supply via a battery and fuel cell, also the optimization of the powertrain is necessary. Additionally, University of Oulu will complement the hardware infrastructure of the NUVE-LAB with software-engineering related capabilities and digital twin creation and interoperability capabilities. These will enhance the agility and wide usability of the hardware capabilities towards easily configurable test settings, which will be also interoperable among different actors and machine elements on-site, as well as in interconnected scenarios with other labs in geographically distinct locations. This will enable digital design collaboration and shortens time to market.
Originally published on 14 December.
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