LUT University establishes Finland’s first electric transportation professorship in Lahti
LUT will establish a professorship in electric transportation systems and a related new Master’s programme in Lahti. The aim is to ensure that Finland will have enough electric mobility expertise based on research and education.
– A significant reform in electrical engineering and electric transportation systems is only starting. The university’s mission is to ensure that Finland has enough research and education based expertise in electric transportation systems, says Dean Olli Pyrhönen of LUT University.
Along with the professorship, a new Master’s programme entitled Electric Transportation Systems will start in Lahti in autumn 2022.
The professorship is funded by the City of Lahti and businesses and foundations in the surrounding Päijät-Häme region. Establishing the professorship and its research group for a five-year term will require roughly five million euros.
Also Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Lahti, is happy about the new initiative. It is especially important to the city that the university and local businesses collaborate.
– Lahti is the European Green Capital, and we are looking boldly into the future. Lahti has a significant electric transportation cluster with over 30 businesses. It is boosted by research, development and collaboration with experts in the field, Pekka Timonen says.
The professorship is funded by Kempower, the Sustainable Lahti Foundation, the City of Lahti, the Lahden Teollisuusseuran Säätiö foundation, Lahti Energia, the LSK Group, and the PHP Säätiö foundation.
The admission criteria, content and implementation of the Master’s programme will be defined later in autumn 2021. The application period for the programme will start in December 2021.