Partners
The university partners in this Science workshop -project are the University of Oulu (OY, Oulu, Finland), Åbo Akademi University (ÅA, Turku and Vaasa, Finland), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Stockholm, Sweden), Umeå University (Umeå) and Tallinn University of Technology (Tallinn). All of the above mentioned universities possess a very high level of know-how in the fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, physics, and material and process technology, which is demonstrated by the extensive and high-quality publication activities, research Centres of Excellence (Åbo Akademi University Process Chemistry Centre) and the quality education unit (OY, Centre of Process and Environmental Technology).Of the Finnish workshop leaders, Professor Riitta Keiski has recently been selected as Professor of the Year in 2011 and Tapio Salmi has been appointed by the Academy of Finland as Academy Professor, 2009-2013, which is the highest academic research position in Finland. Several of the researchers, from the universities mentioned above, are ranked as international top authorities in their fields. An evaluation conducted by the Academy of Finland showed that the level of research in the field of chemistry is very high in Finland e.g. the group of this workshop projects leader obtained the overall mark excellent for research activities. The field of chemistry in the Royal Institute of Technology obtained as well the mark excellent in an evaluation conducted by Zentrum für Hochschuleentwicklungin (CHE).
Excelling in the increasing international competition requires, however, even closer cooperation within Finland and with the surrounding areas, so that the limited resources can be utilized maximally. The units participating in the workshop project and their fields of excellence are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
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University of Oulu Heat and diffusion technology; catalysis as an environmental technology; sustainable production technology and unit operations (Prof. Riitta Keiski)
Åbo Akademi University Industrial chemistry and reaction engineering; catalysis; utilization of biomass; mathematical modeling (Academy Prof. Tapio Salmi)
Royal Institute of Chemical technology; Thermo-chemical conversion of biomass (Prof. Lars Technology Pettersson)
Umeå University Industrial chemistry – sustainable development; nanomaterials, ionic liquids (Prof. J.-P. Mikkola)
Tallinn University of Chemical analysis, organic reaction mixtures and ionic liquids (Dr Mihkel Koel)
Technology
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The participating units’ areas of expertise complement each other, covering the whole range from sustainable production based on renewable raw materials to emission processing. There exists already at current extensive collaboration between the participating departments.