Academic Focus: Aalto University

The convergence of three worlds…commercial, technical, and design…creates the optimal conditions for innovation.  Now a new university in Finland has done just that.  Aalto University is a newly created university from the merger of the Helsinki School of Economics, the University of Art and Design Helsinki and Helsinki University of Technology – all leading and renowned institutions in their respective fields and in their own right.
From the Alto website:

The combination of three universities opens up new possibilities for strong multi-disciplinary education and research. Aalto University is strongly future-oriented while at the same time building on the combined 300-year-history of three highly-regarded universities. Only the best students and researchers are admitted to study and conduct research at Aalto University.

The Aalto University strives to change the world through top-quality interdisciplinary research, pioneering education, surpassing traditional boundaries, and renewal. The Aalto University educates responsible, broadminded experts with a comprehensive understanding of complex subjects to act as society’s visionaries.

Values
* A passion for exploring boundaries.
* The freedom to be creative and critical.
* The courage to influence and excel.
* The responsibility to care, accept and inspire.
* Founded on high ethics, openness, and equality.
The increasing societal impact of universities creates both challenges and opportunities, which can be summarized as follows:
* Focusing of operations based on quality
* Making use of multidisciplinary expertise and partnerships to develop innovation know-how
* Internationalization
* Autonomy
* Professionalizing university services and exploitation of information technology

Aalto University has three main campuses all located in the Helsinki Metropolitan area: the School of Economics is in the heart of the city, the School of Art and Design is a short distance north of the city center, and the School of Science and Technology is about a fifteen minute drive west of the city in Otaniemi, Espoo.