On 7th February, the Universities of Oulu, Helsinki Kuopio, Tampere, Turku and Åbo Akademi signed an agreement to establish of the ‘Biocenter Finland co-operation network.’ Prof. Taina Pihlajaniemi from Oulu University will be the center’s first director.

 

Biocenter Finland will collaborate actively with university hospitals and will create close contacts with clinical research, technical sciences, business and industry, and polytechnics. It will make proposals for universities concerning the development and funding of the research infrastructure in the life sciences, biomedicine and biotechnology, and it will assume an active role in developing researcher training in the field.
 
The management group of Biocenter Finland will consist of representatives of biocentres and experts representing close co-operation partners. The management group will elect the Director from amongst themselves; the directorship will rotate between the member organisations.