Coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland, the Doctoral Education Pilot for Mathematics of Sensing, Imaging and Modelling, DREAM, will be training doctors in the thematic field of the FAME Flagship, i.e., the Flagship of Advanced Mathematics for Sensing, Imaging and Modelling, which was launched earlier this year.
The DREAM pilot is led by Professor Tanja Tarvainen at the Department of Technical Physics of the University of Eastern Finland, with Professor Nuutti Hyvönen at Aalto University and Professor Samuli Siltanen at the University of Helsinki as its deputy directors. The pilot was granted 25.5 million euros in funding for the training of a total of 100 doctors. Of these, 17 doctoral researchers will be hosted by the University of Eastern Finland: 12 in the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, and five in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The other universities partnering in the DREAM pilot are Aalto University, the University of Helsinki, the University of Jyväskylä, LUT University, the University of Oulu and Tampere University.
The DREAM pilot works in close collaboration with the companies and other societal actors partnering with the FAME Flagship, such as research institutes, university hospitals and climate organisations. The goal is to train doctors to find solutions to problems related to mathematical modelling, data processing and computational imaging, examples of which include medical imaging, industrial process monitoring, testing structures for defects without breaking them, and interpreting satellite data.
The academic team behind DREAM and FAME have solid experience in developing inverse problem methods, signal and image analysis, and hardware development. The general applicability of mathematics enables the transfer of methods from one area of application to another. In the DREAM pilot, doctoral researchers gain strong expertise in these areas, working closely with partners throughout their degree. This enables rapid employment in industry, among other sectors. In addition to the pilot’s multidisciplinary network of collaborators, doctoral graduates’ employment is also supported by an alumni network of former doctoral researchers, many of whom are employed by business and industry.
“Finnish research in inverse mathematics enjoys international recognition. Thanks to support by the Research Council of Finland’s Centre of Excellence programme, among others, we have, for many years already, been training leading experts in this field,” Tarvainen says.
“The doctoral education pilot, together with the FAME Flagship, brings together an even broader group of experts with a robust track record in high-level international scientific research, collaboration with research institutes, university hospitals and industry, as well as innovation activities. This creates an excellent setting for us to support Finland’s economic growth through doctoral education, as well as through strong industrial and other societal interaction that come with it.”
At the UEF Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, the doctoral education pilot is closely linked to education in technology, which was launched in autumn 2023.
“In addition to DREAM, doctoral education in technology is also offered by the doctoral education pilots Innovative Doctoral Education Ecosystem for Photonics (I-DEEP) and Quantum, which are in the field of photonics, as well as by the doctoral education pilots AI-DOC and Software, which are in the field of computer science,” says Kari Lehtinen, the Dean of the faculty.
“Through these new doctoral education pilots, the faculty’s strong scientific research will be increasingly closely linked to the needs of industry and other society, as well as to innovation activities,” he continues.
The University of Eastern Finland will start accepting applications to the doctoral researcher positions available in the DREAM pilot on 11 March, and the other DREAM partner universities later in March and April. The first doctoral researchers will start in August 2024.
“We hope to attract plenty of applications to our multidisciplinary doctoral education pilot especially from people with a solid background in computational physics and engineering, applied mathematics or scientific computing,” Tarvainen says.
Further information on the pilot can be obtained from its director, Professor Tanja Tarvainen, and from the professors in charge of the pilot in the participating universities: Nuutti Hyvönen (Aalto University), Samuli Siltanen (University of Helsinki), Joonas Ilmavirta (University of Jyväskylä), Tapio Helin (LUT University), Andreas Hauptmann (University of Oulu) and Pasi Raumonen (Tampere University).
For further information, please contact:
Professor Tanja Tarvainen, tanja.tarvainen@uef.fi, tel. +358 40 355 2310
