Department of Computer Science

About the Department of Computer Science

World-class research and education in modern computer science to foster future science, engineering and society. Our work combines fundamental research with innovative applications.
Detail from main facade of Computer Science building / Yksityiskohta Tietotekniikan talon julkisivusta / photo Aalto University, Matti Ahlgren

The Department of Computer Science at Aalto University is the leading computer science research unit in northern Europe, located at the Otaniemi campus in Espoo, Finland. Collaboration, critical thinking and intellectual diversity are integral to how we see ourselves as a department and key to our successes in research and education.

Computer Science field at Aalto University is routinely ranked among the top 10 in Europe and in the top 100 globally.

In Europe:
7th
NTU 2023
In Nordic countries:
1st
NTU 2023
In the world:
86th
THE 2024

Computer Science field in rankings.

With roughly 70 faculty members and an international staff of more than 550 employees, the Department of Computer Science is the largest academic department at Aalto University. The department is part of Aalto University School of Science.

Publications
420
Doctoral theses
25
Master's degrees
240
ERC grants in 2023
4

Department of Computer Science, statistics from year 2023

Collaboration

The department has a strong cooperation network and collaboration with other research institutes, companies, industry and public sector partners lies at the heart of our research culture. Our research groups participate in numerous joint programs and projects, working alongside stakeholders from across society to promote impactful research discoveries and innovations.

The Department of Computer Science is a member of several national and international academic networks and communities, such as Informatics Europe, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems ELLIS and EIT Digital. New House of AI centre brings together top researchers and companies to develop new applications and possibilities for artificial intelligence. The department is a significant developer of lifewide learning possibilities in computer science through the Finnish FITech network university.

Strategic partnership between Aalto University and University of Helsinki has produced an internationally renowned center of excellence to the Helsinki region.The Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI), Helsinki-Aalto Institute for Cybersecurity (HAIC) and Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT) are examples of how we strive for excellence in research and education.

Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT (external link)

Collaborative institute for research on information technology.

HIIT logo

FITech course offers IT professionals the opportunity to develop their in-depth knowledge (external link)

When the Microservice architectures and serverless computing course on software architecture started at Aalto University, the first question the teacher asked the students was: “Why did you come to this course when this information is openly available online?”

One might imagine that such a statement would be demotivating, but quite the opposite. Jari Huoppila, who works at Ericsson, was so inspired by the course that he eagerly awaited the start of the lectures.

Kaksi ihmistä kävelee käytävällä ja puhuu keskenään.

EIT Digital (external link)

Entrepreneurial innovation & education driving Europe's digital transformation.

Aalto EIT Services

House of AI

The new centre brings together top researchers and companies to develop new applications and possibilities for artificial intelligence

Opiskelijoita kävelemässä alas portaita Kandidaattikeskuksessa
Students looking at computer screens in class

Research services and infrastructure

Computer Science IT

Department has its own IT support that provides advanced computing solutions, data management, research tools, and technical support to the staff. This ensures that our faculty can focus on their work without being held back by technological obstacles.

Computer Science IT (CS-IT) provide services for managing the research data, virtual machines and expert or beginner level consultation for IT needs for research.

Science-IT

School of Science led Science-IT maintain the Aalto high-performance computing cluster (Triton) and provide support for scientific computing and special resources needed by researchers. Their services may be used throughout the entire university.

Aalto Innovation Services

Administrative support for innovation and commercialization, sponsored projects and legal services for research.

CSC

CSC is the Finnish academic computing center. It provides data management services, computing environments and expert support guarantee researchers at higher education institutions and research institutes in Finland. CSC manages the pan-European supercomputer LUMI.

Research and learning infrastructures

Our research and teaching infrastructures are a prerequisite for world-class, cutting edge research. They offer opportunities for collaboration and foster the local innovation ecosystem growth. The large infrastructures are open for all Aalto and external users.

Three researchers using a device on the surface of the ice at Aalto ice tank

Aalto Innovation Services (external link)

Innovation Services promotes the commercialization of research in Aalto including technology transfer, licensing and creation of spin-outs.

International mobility

News highlights

Billions of individuals depend on security protocols crafted by Professor Emerita Kaisa Nyberg

Kaisa Nyberg's career has taken her from radio encryption algorithms to international standardisation work and finally to professor at Aalto University. According to Nyberg, the biggest contribution of her career lies in her role as a mentor to students

Professori Kaisa Nyberg istuu isolla tuolilla Aalto-yliopiston tietotekniikan talossa, tasutalla on viherkasveja

Aalto researchers awarded for an article showing that algorithms cannot match more effectively than they do now

Any method designed to find a matching is either slow or leads to a wrong solution

Jukka Suomela Research Group

Supercomputer simulations provide a better picture of the Sun’s magnetic field

The new findings challenge the conventional understanding of solar dynamics and could improve predictions of solar weather in the future

TBC

AI predicts which drug combinations kill cancer cells

A machine learning model can help us treat cancer more effectively

Some medicine capsules and equations

Parliament Sampo sheds light on a century’s worth of political debates

The new service will help researchers, journalists, and the public to understand and oversee democracy

Illustration of a person speaking on a microphone.

Finnish pioneer in artificial intelligence

At the beginning of the 1980s, Teuvo Kohonen started thinking about how the human brain processed information – and came up with a significant milestone in artificial intelligence studies: the self-organising map.

Mustavalkoisessa arkistokuvassa Teuvo Kohonen istuu vanhanaikaisen tietokoneen äärellä.
Tietotekniikan talo
Locations
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