Aalto University

Aalto University

Aalto-yliopisto Aalto-universitetet
Latin: Universitas Aalto
Type	Public Foundation
Established	2010
Endowment	€700 million
Budget	Approx. €390 million per year
Chairman	Anne Brunila
President	Tuula Teeri
Provost	Ilkka Niemelä
Academic staff	3 056
Administrative staff	1 368
Students	18 943 (2014)
Location	Espoo and Helsinki, Finland
Campus	Urban
Colors	Blue, Yellow, and Red
Affiliations	CLUSTER, UArctic, CESAER, AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS, CEMS
Website	www.aalto.fi

Aalto University (Finnish: Aalto-yliopisto, Swedish: Aalto-universitetet) is a university primarily located in Greater Helsinki, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology (established 1849), the Helsinki School of Economics (established 1904), and the University of Art and Design Helsinki (established 1871). The close collaboration between the scientific, business and arts communities is intended to foster multi-disciplinary education and research. The Finnish government, in 2010, set out to create a university that fosters innovation, merging the three institutions into one.

The university is composed of six schools with close to 20,000 students and 4,500 staff members, making it Finland's second largest university. The main campus of Aalto University is located in Otaniemi, Espoo, where the engineering schools as well as the bachelor programs of the School of Business operate. Other functions of the School of Business are located in Töölö. The School of Arts, Design and Architecture is located in Arabianranta (set to be relocated to Otaniemi in 2017). In addition, the university operates several units outside Greater Helsinki in Mikkeli, Pori and Vaasa.

Aalto university's operations showcase Finland’s experiment in higher education. The Aalto Design Factory, AppCampus, ADD LAB and Aalto Ventures Program, among others, drive the university's mission for a radical shift towards multidisciplinary learning and have contributed substantially to the emergence of Helsinki as a hotbed for startups. Aaltoes, which stands for Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, is Europe’s largest student run entrepreneurship community and organises the Startup Sauna accelerator program for startups, raising more than US$36 million in funding since 2010.