Home / Projects

Basic and innovation-targeted research in two sub-programmes

The Wood Material Science Research Programme consists of two sub-programmes, one focusing on basic research and the other on innovation-targeted research and development.

The sub-programme for basic research focuses on generating new strategic knowledge on the material properties of wood and the means to affect them. The projects of the first sub-programme were launched in the first half of 2003. Projects focusing on basic research received about EUR 5 million in total funding from Formas (the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning), the Academy of Finland, the National Technology Agency of Finland, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and the forest industry.

The sub-programme for innovation-targeted research and development focuses on modification and processing of wood raw material into innovative, eco-efficient products and on the socio-economic aspects of material-scientific innovations. Innovative product development projects have been started during the first months of 2004 and receive about EUR 8 million in total public funding from the National Technology Agency of Finland and VINNOVA (Swedish Agency for Innovation). The industry provides 30-50% of the funding for these projects.

Finnish funding organisations primarily provide funding for Finnish projects and Swedish funding organisations for Swedish projects, though there are some exceptions.