Valmet and the University of Jyväskylä agree on cooperation in educational and research development

The memorandum was signed in Jyväskylä by Executive Vice President, Strategy and Transformation Olli Hänninen and Vice President, Strategic R&D Viivi Villa-Nuottajärvi from Valmet, and Rector Jari Ojala and Vice Rector for societal interaction Pasi Raiskinmäki from the University of Jyväskylä.

“In compliance with Valmet’s new strategy, cooperation in these areas supports the development of future technologies,” says Olli Hänninen. “We wish to show our strong commitment to common goals and believe that long-term partnership will benefit both parties and advance the internationalisation of Finnish research.”

According to the memorandum of understanding, collaboration may include joint research projects and doctoral projects, internships and thesis projects to support student employment and career development, and joint training programmes for personnel.

“The cooperation is based on basic research and opens new opportunities for both research and education,” says Rector Ojala. “This helps us to lay the foundations for a future that is built on competence.”

Cooperation in research will focus particularly on renewable materials, energy efficiency, reducing emissions, intensifying industrial processes using data, and artificial intelligence in process industry.

“By choosing research topics together, we can lay a solid foundation for the development of responsible technologies and industrial processes,” says Viivi Villa-Nuottajärvi. “The use of artificial intelligence to support human workers in process control is an interesting cross-disciplinary research area. It helps to address labour shortages and requires expertise from a variety of scientific fields.”

“This memorandum of understanding establishes the basis for regular and diverse collaboration, enabling us to anticipate future needs and develop new solutions, innovations and expertise,” says Vice Rector Raiskinmäki.