NEWS
University of Helsinki, one of the institutions behind FCAI, announces AI-themed doctoral candidate positions. The application period opens on Tuesday 3 September and ends on Tuesday 17 September.
Find more information about the positions, eligibility criteria and application process on the University of Helsinki website.
Photo Matti Ahlgren / Aalto University
Outi Kivekäs, Doctor of Science, has been appointed as the manager of FCAI. She started in her new role at the beginning of May.
“People speak about artificial intelligence everywhere,” says Kivekäs. “It is clear that the best AI researchers of Finland work for FCAI. In some areas, our researchers are already among the best ones in the whole world. This is a unique chance to be part of building this type of a research community.”
Kivekäs has her background in electrical engineering. Before starting in her new role, she worked several years at Aalto University Research and Innovation Services. She was leading the pre-award team that helped researchers to apply research funding.
Through her earlier experience, Kivekäs is very familiar with one of the organizations behind FCAI, Aalto University, and research conducted at it. Now she is excited about learning more about the two other organizations that initiated FCAI, University of Helsinki and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Kivekäs has broad understanding of how universities work and what types of projects they run. She brings structure and experience about project management to FCAI. “Launching a large project is always slow in the beginning. In the coming months, we will organize the initiatives we have already started into a whole and encourage new people interested in applications of AI to join FCAI.”
A high-level delegation from the Czech Republic has visited FCAI. Ethical application of artificial intelligence was the core of the visit, as making use of AI ethically, calls for collaboration with like-minded countries in Europe.
During the visit of Mr Ivan Jukl, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic and his delegation, the need for systematic collaboration with small, European countries having parallel targets was emphasised.
“China and the US are investing massively in the development of AI. To make the most of the opportunities offered by AI and stand up to competition, European countries need to join their forces. Cooperation rather than competition,” said Professor Petri Myllymäki, vice-director of FCAI in his speech.
The Czech Republic recently published the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. Strategy outlines the seven priority areas in the field of artificial intelligence. The list includes for example the promotion of research and development activities by financing research and development and providing investment support. Development of the AI ecosystem in the Czech Republic and boosting international cooperation in the field of AI are among the top priorities as well.
The visit was hosted by Petri Myllymäki and Ilmari Lastikka, Vice Precident, VTT International affairs. Delegation of the Czech Republic consisted of Ivan Bartos, chairman of the Committee on Public Administration, Martin Kupka, vice-chairman of the Committee on Public Administration, Adam Kalous, vice-chairman of the Committee on Public Administration and Jiri Dolejs, member of the Committee on Public Administration.
One of the most competitive supercomputers in the world will be placed in Kajaani, Finland.
According to the CSC Datacenter that will host the new supercomputer, the new machine will be about ten times more powerful than the most powerful supercomputer currently in Europe.
Computing power is required in leading research in a wide range of disciplines, including artificial intelligence.
This type of supercomputing and data infrastructure helps position Europe as one of the world leaders in supercomputing. It allows European researchers to access top-level computing resources.
The decision to place the supercomputer in Finland was made by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, a high performance computing initiative supported by the European countries and the European Union.
The City of Helsinki has announced that it will become a partner of the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI).
By joining FCAI, Helsinki wants to support its goals in terms of collaboration with universities, competitiveness, and digitalization.
In particular, this decision aids collaboration between Helsinki, the University of Helsinki, and Aalto University. It also supports actions that help to attract more innovations and investments to the Finnish capital region.
FCAI is a nation-wide competence center for Artificial Intelligence in Finland, initiated by Aalto University, the University of Helsinki, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Espoo, the neighboring city of Helsinki, is already one of the partners of FCAI.
More information on the City of Helsinki website (in Finnish)
