A Flagship is a high-quality and impactful cluster of competence in a specific field, which receives funding from the Academy of Finland’s Flagship Programme.
The Flagships are a source of high-quality research that generates broad economic and societal impact. The Flagships create future competence and sustainable solutions for societal challenges, in addition to promoting economic growth by developing new business opportunities, among other things.
Although the Flagship Programme is a funding instrument of the Academy of Finland, most of the funding for Flagships comes from other parties. The most important of these are the EU, companies and the Flagships’ host organisations, such as the University of Helsinki. The sizeable, long-term funding of the Flagships helps develop close cooperation among different parties.
The Flagship Programme encompasses 10 Flagships, which have been selected through three calls for applications. The University of Helsinki is involved in four of these. It leads two of the Flagships and is a partner in the other two. This page provides further information about each of the Flagships.
The iCAN Digital Precision Cancer Medicine Flagship promotes the development of personalised cancer treatments and health-related innovations.
The iCAN Flagship links precision medicine in a novel way to patients’ digital health and lifestyle data. Its research and development activities make use of Finland’s unique health registers and digital healthcare system. Data mining from these is being developed with the help of, for example, artificial intelligence.
The goal of iCAN is to generate breakthroughs in research and to develop research-based innovations that help improve cancer treatment and the quality of life of cancer patients. Patients and patient organisations are actively involved in planning research and developing activities in the context of the Flagship.
The University of Helsinki and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) jointly coordinate iCAN.
Kari Alitalo, Academy Professor, is the director of the iCAN Flagship.
The Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC) develops solutions to steer the world towards climate neutrality.
ACCC assesses and measures factors affecting climate change, such as carbon sinks and aerosols. The Flagship also studies the complex processes generating air pollutants. The network of international measuring stations brought together by ACCC provides unique long-term data on atmosphere–ecosystem interactions.
Based on increasingly comprehensive observation data, the Flagship strives to provide more accurate models that help policymakers make more sustainable decisions in terms of the climate and environment. Business collaboration generates new practical solutions that improve air quality and help curb and adapt to climate change.
The University of Helsinki coordinates the ACCC Flagship. Other participants include the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University.
Academy Professor Markku Kulmala is the director of the ACCC Flagship.
The Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI) develops artificial intelligence solutions capable of learning, planning and cooperating with humans to resolve complex problems.
FCAI brings together Finnish expertise in artificial intelligence and develops practical AI applications. It connects researchers in different fields with companies and the public sector, enabling them to jointly engage in research and development. FCAI aims to promote the utilisation of artificial intelligence in Finnish companies and society. The ethics and societal impact of artificial intelligence are strongly emphasised as well.
The FCAI Flagship is coordinated by Aalto University, and the University of Helsinki is a partner in it along with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
The GeneCellNano Flagship develops new effective therapies for severe chronic diseases.
GeneCellNano focuses on innovation and commercial development associated with biological drugs, biomarkers and diagnostics. Participating in the Flagship are leading Finnish researchers specialised in gene, cell and nano therapies as well as clinical operators, leading businesses and the third sector.
In the context of GeneCellNano, the University of Helsinki aims to specifically develop therapies based on genes, liposomes, nanoparticles and extracellular vesicles.
The GeneCellNano Flagship is coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland, and the University of Helsinki is a partner in it along with Oulu University, Aalto University and the Blood Service of the Finnish Red Cross.