Aalto gains eight new Academy Research Fellows

The Academy of Finland’s funding decisions, published on 11 May, added eight new Academy Research Fellows and 13 postdoctoral researchers to Aalto University. The funding focuses on the fields of natural science and engineering. Of the funding that was received by Aalto, EUR 3,476,000 was allocated to Academy Research Fellows and EUR 3,333,000 to postdoctoral researchers. Academy Research Fellow posts are for a term of five years, and postdoctoral researcher posts are for a three-year period.

‘The overall result is, once again, excellent news for Aalto. I’m very proud of the fine work done by our Academy Research Fellows and postdoctoral researchers, both in research and research funding,’ says Aalto University Vice President Tuija Pulkkinen.

Aalto's new Academy Research Fellows represent a strongly international group.

‘These new funding decisions show that our research is already top-notch in the areas that we're invested in. However, one cannot attract new, talented researchers to Finland without a strong foundation, and that's why it is vital that we have multinational research groups that have already distinguished themselves internationally,’ notes Pulkkinen.

Of the eight new Academy Research Fellows, four work in the field of applied physics. ‘The Department of Applied Physics’ success in the Academy of Finland's funding applications comes as no surprise, since it is based on decades’ worth of work in the field,’ notes Professor Matti Kaivola, Head of the Department of Applied Physics.

‘Our focus is on specific research fields, i.e. solid material physics and material physics research. Our goal is to be on the very top of these fields. So you could say that we've set our sights high enough,’ Kaivola concludes.

To attract talented researchers from around the globe to Aalto, not only do you need top-level research groups, but also an infrastructure that supports experimental research. In Aalto University, this is represented by for example OtaNano, the national research infrastructure for micro and nanotechnologies.

As one example of Aalto's top research areas in applied physics, Matti Kaivola mentions the field of quantum technologies, represented by Academy Research Fellow Kuan Tan. The development of quantum technologies is a key area not only for Aalto, but for the European Union as well: in the future, the EU will be likely to initiate a considerable flagship project in the field.

Academy Research Fellows

Parinya Chalermsook, Department of Computer Science: Combinatorics of Graph Packing and Online Binary Search Trees, EUR 434,485

Xi Chen, Department of Applied Physics: Computational study of fluorescent silver clusters with implications for biosensing and bioimaging applications, EUR 434,485

Heikki Nieminen, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering: Ultrasound-enhanced fine-needle biopsy (USeFNB): sound-tissue interactions, EUR 434,485

Hannu-Pekka Komsa, Department of Applied Physics: Controlled functionalization of two-dimensional MXene sheets (FUNTOMX), EUR 434,485

Kuan Tan, Department of Applied Physics: Quantum Bus for a Quantum Computer Based on Spins in Silicon (SPINBUS), EUR 434,485

Zheng Yan, Department of Communications and Networking, TruSoNet: Digitalizing Trust for Securing Pervasive Social Networking, EUR 434,485

Zhirong Yang, Department of Computer Science: Learning Data Representation by Large-Scale Neighbor Embedding, EUR 434,485

Alexander Zyuzin, Department of Applied Physics: Theory of Weyl semimetals and superconductors, EUR 434,485

Postdoctoral researchers

Omer Anjum: Solving GPU Assisted Exascale Computing Challenges with High-Order Finite Difference Methods, EUR 225,650

Matilda Backholm: Pinning and dissipation of magnetic drops on superhydrophobic surfaces, EUR 243,170

Miguel Caro: Accurate computational electrochemistry from density functional theory and multiscale atomistic simulations, EUR 281,190

Ana Díaz-Rubio: Multiphysics Metadevices, EUR 257,470

Tommi Ekholm: METRICS – Managing Energy Technology Risks In Climate change mitigation Strategies, EUR 251,650

Jussi Jokinen: Computational Modelling of Emotional Appraisal in HCI, EUR 246,400

Juha Koivisto: Statistical physics to master particle-laden foam dynamics: rheology and imbibition, EUR 253,700

Caspar Ockeleon: Quantum squeezing and entanglement in microwave optomechanical systems, EUR 245,910

Taneli Riihonen: Generalized Fading Distributions and Matrix Functions for the Analysis of Wireless Communication Systems, EUR 262,630

Kezilebieke Shawulienu: Tunable electronic and magnetic states in superconducting 2D materials, EUR 266,140

Arno Solin: Sequential inference for real-time probabilistic modelling, EUR 254,500

Marijin van Vliet Wouter: Moving from observation to understanding in neuroscience: extending computational models to predict neuroimaging data, EUR 279,000

Christian Webb: Random geometry in number theory, combinatorics, and random matrix theory, EUR 247,840

For more information, see the Academy of Finland’s website: http://www.aka.fi/en/