Evaluation Report Publications of the Academy of Finland 1/11

Research profile
The unit is working in the general area of new materials and new materials 
technologies in accordance with the overall strategy of UEF. Specifically, the group is 
presently involved in work on intermolecular coordination metal compounds, crystal 
engineering, catalysis, composites/polymer materials, and functional micro-/
nanomaterials. In addition to these experimental activities, the group has high-quality 
activity in theoretically predicting and numerically modelling nanomaterials. In 
general, the group works on problems in materials chemistry with long-term 
applications in sight, but is mainly concerned with the basic scientific questions 
pertaining to the systems under study. The unit is well organised and its funding 
strategies have been very successful over the evaluation period. This has enabled the 
financing of a relative large number of PhD students in the unit and has also helped in 
acquiring and maintaining a broad range of high-level analytical instruments that are 
shared among the activities. In addition to an excellent research profile, the evaluation 
panel notes that the unit has an outstanding educational profile, educating many PhDs 
per professor and most importantly ensuring that the PhDs graduate with an average 
age under 30. This sets an example to be followed by other chemistry departments in 
Finland.

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