Evaluation Report Publications of the Academy of Finland 1/11

2.1  Quality and scope
Finnish chemistry research is overall at a very good level. There are a number of 
research groups that are at the international cutting edge. Particularly noteworthy is 
that these excellent research groups cover all of the various subdisciplines of 
chemistry that have been part of this evaluation, and that these units are hosted by a 
number of different universities. This diversity in terms of both scientific topic and 
geographic location is a particular strength for Finnish chemistry research and 
education, and should be maintained in order to ensure high-quality research-based 
education of chemists for local industry, and to provide the necessary research-based 
support to facilitate the future success of the Finnish chemical industry.
Even though Finland has a number of internationally leading research groups, there 
are number of groups that are of subcritical size, leading to research that is insufficient 
in quantity and, in some cases, also in quality. The institutions hosting these units need 
to consider how to strengthen these groups, either by making larger units with common 
research goals (but pursued by different scientific methods) or by increasing the staff. In 
a few cases, the evaluated units do not meet international standards, whereby the host 
institutions must give careful consideration to the viability of these groups.
Many chemistry units in Finland are single-professor units, supported by 
lecturers and researchers. In general, this makes the unit highly dependent on both 
the scientific and administrative qualities of a single person. The panel would 
therefore in general recommend that larger units be created in order to provide a 
larger scientific collaborative environment, improved administrative support and less 
dependence on the qualities of a single professor.
A particular strength of Finnish chemistry research is its strong connections to 
relevant Finnish industry. At the same time, this focus must not come at the expense 
of core competency in basic chemistry research. There is a strong desire in the 
research community to pursue fundamental research, which is to a certain extent 
thwarted by the level of available funding. The institutions, the Academy of Finland 
and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture need to ensure that there are 
funding opportunities for fundamental chemistry research in a wide range of topics. 
This is important for Finland’s ability to develop new industry based on innovative 
science in domains outside the present focus of Finnish industry, science whose 
applicability may not be apparent at first.