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Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI is always searching for exceptional doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and research fellows interested in tackling challenges in machine learning and in creating artificial intelligence that is data-efficient, trustworthy, and understandable.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment with people from diverse backgrounds, and researchers from under-represented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

About FCAI

FCAI is a vibrant research center for Artificial Intelligence in Helsinki, bringing together the expertise in AI research from both academia and industry. It was initiated by Aalto University, University of Helsinki, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and has a total budget of 250 M€ for the years 2019–2026.

FCAI is built on the decades’ long tradition and track record of pioneering machine learning research in Helsinki. It was recently selected to host one of the first ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) units that assemble European top talent in machine learning. In early 2019 FCAI was selected as one of the prestigious Flagships of the Academy of Finland, a status granted to very few selected centers of excellence with high societal impact.

Research opportunities

FCAI research agenda is spearheaded by seven Research Programs (R1–R7) and five Highlights (HA–HF) with multiple research groups involved in each. Highlights exist to make sure the fundamental research of FCAI Research Programs is taken into use. The majority of FCAI’s joint work happens in FCAI Teams that are more concretely focused on various methodological challenges and Virtual Laboratories. For more detailed information, please see https://fcai.fi/research/.


FCAI Research Programs

Research Program 1: Agile probabilistic AI develops an interactive and AI-assisted process for building new AI models with practical probabilistic programming. Read more at https://fcai.fi/agile-probabilistic  

  • Keywords: Probabilistic programming; robust and automated Bayesian machine learning.

  • Coordinating professor: Aki Vehtari (Aalto University). Several professors contribute to the program.


Research Program 2: Simulator-based inference develops methodology for the new AI having efficient, interpretable reasoning capability, by cross-breeding modern machine learning and simulator-based inference. Read more at https://fcai.fi/simulator-based

  • Keywords: Approximate Bayesian computation ABC; likelihood-free inference; generative adversarial networks (GAN); applications in many fields including medicine, materials design, visualization, and business.

  • Coordinating professor: Jukka Corander (University of Helsinki) and Jaakko Lehtinen (Aalto University). Several professors contribute to the program.


Research Program 3: Next generation data-efficient deep learning develops methods which harness the power of deep learning while achieving good results with less training data and, in particular, less human supervision. Read more at https://fcai.fi/deep-learning  

  • Keywords: Deep reinforcement learning; semi-supervised learning; simulation methods; Bayesian deep learning.

  • Coordinating professor: Arno Solin (Aalto University). Several professors contribute to the program.


Research Program 4: Privacy-preserving and secure AI develops the new principles and techniques needed for privacy-preserving machine learning and the tools for building trustworthy and secure AI systems. Read more at https://fcai.fi/privacy-preserving-and-secure

  • Keywords: Privacy-preserving machine learning; differential privacy; adversarial machine learning.

  • Coordinating professor: Antti Honkela (University of Helsinki). Several professors contribute to the program.


Research Program 5: Interactive AI enables AI that people can naturally work and solve problems with, and which demonstrates a better understanding of our goals and abilities, takes initiative more sensitively, aligns its objectives with us, and supports us. Read more at https://fcai.fi/interactive-ai

  • Keywords: Interactive machine learning; reinforcement learning and computational rationality; cognitive modelling; probabilistic programming for behavioral sciences.

  • Coordinating professor: Antti Oulasvirta (Aalto University). Several professors contribute to the program.


Research Program 6: Autonomous AI addresses the fundamental challenges of long-term autonomous operation, in particular, how learning and planning can be performed to ensure safe operation over long-time horizons. Read more at https://fcai.fi/autonomous-ai

  • Keywords: Autonomous systems; Reinforcement learning; Model predictive control

  • Coordinating professor: Ville Kyrki (Aalto University). Several professors contribute to the program.


Research Program 7: AI in society focuses on the social and ethical dimensions of AI. It deals both with the preconditions of trustworthy and socially acceptable AI and the consequences of its uses. It aims to bring together AI research and human sciences to better understand how AI works in organizations and society. Read more at https://fcai.fi/ai-in-society

  • Keywords: Design and domestication of AI; Understandability of AI; Foresight and responsibility in AI decision-making and robotics; Legitimacy and social acceptability of AI

  • Coordinating professor: Petri Ylikoski (University of Helsinki). Several professors contribute to the program.


Highlights

Highlight A: Easy and privacy-preserving modeling tools has the main objective to measure and maximize the impact of FCAI research on the process of probabilistic AI development. Read more at https://fcai.fi/modeling-tools

  • Coordinating professor: Arto Klami (University of Helsinki). Several professors contribute to the program.


Highlight B: Applications of AI in healthcare creates AI tools to tackle real-world problems in healthcare together with expert collaborators from the respective fields. Read more at https://fcai.fi/ai-healthcare

Application 1: AI for genetics
Application 2: Computational design of vaccines
Application 3: Deep learning for healthcare resource allocation

  • Coordinating professor: Pekka Marttinen (Aalto University). Several professors contribute to the program.


Highlight C: Intelligent service assistant for people in Finland has a mission to deploy real AI services to a wide audience in Finland. The Highlight is directly linked to AuroraAI initiative (https://vm.fi/auroraai). Read more at https://fcai.fi/service-assistant

  • Coordinating professor: Tommi Mikkonen (University of Helsinki). Several professors contribute to the program.


Highlight D: Atmospheric AI focuses on how to combine (i) measurements from natural environment, (ii) simulations, and (iii) modeling in order to, e.g., make decisions in interaction with the user (e.g., "what-if-engines") and to model and understand observed and/or simulated processes. This includes applications of Interactive AI, Agile probabilistic AI, and simulators to model measurements and simulator outputs from urban environments. Read more at https://fcai.fi/atmospheric-ai

  • Coordinating professor: Kai Puolamäki (University of Helsinki). Several professors contribute to the program.


Highlight E: AI-driven design of materials develops AI technology for accelerated materials design and characterization. Read more at https://fcai.fi/ai-materials

  • Coordinating professors: Professor Milica Todorovic (University of Turku) and Research Professor Mikko Mäkelä (VTT). Several professors contribute to the program.


Highlight F: AI for sustainability aims to harness research results from the other Research and Highlight Programs for the benefit of the three pillars of sustainable development: ecological, social, and economic. Read more at https://fcai.fi/ai-for-sustainability

  • Coordinating professor: Professor Laura Ruotsalainen (University of Helsinki). Several professors contribute to the program.

How to apply

Apply by sending email to contact at fcai.fi. Please include:

  1. Motivation letter (1–3 pages): please state which FCAI Research Program(s) and/or Highlight(s) and professors you are interested to work with and include a tentative plan for your anticipated research work. We especially welcome applications linking two or more research areas together. Ideally, please describe also how your research would contribute to the FCAI Teams.

  2. Your academic CV

  3. List of publications (please do not attach full copies of publications)

  4. A transcript of your doctoral/master’s studies and the degree certificate of you PhD/master’s degree. If the degree is still pending, please provide a plan for its completion.

Eligibility and required documents for prospective PhD students

In the Finnish university system, a person must have a master's degree in order to enroll for doctoral studies. In case you wish to pursue graduate studies with a B.Sc. background, please apply first to one of the participating units' master's programs (Aalto University School of Science (SCI) or School of Electrical Engineering (ELEC), and University of Helsinki). A number of these programs provide special “doctoral tracks” with some financial support and study plans oriented towards continuing to doctoral education after the M.Sc. degree.

In order to get a study right for doctoral studies in Aalto University or University of Helsinki, an applicant with a master’s degree outside of Aalto University/University of Helsinki needs to meet certain eligibility requirements and present some mandatory documents. A successful applicant must have an excellent command of Finnish, Swedish, or English. FCAI’s host universities have strict language skills requirements for doctoral students (Aalto University, University of Helsinki). All international applicants applying for doctoral studies must demonstrate their proficiency in English. For example, an English language proficiency certificate (TOEFL, IELTS, CAE/CPE) is required later as you proceed through the recruitment process and apply for a doctoral study right. Only the following applicant groups can be exempted from the language test requirement: applicants who have completed a higher education degree 1) taught in Finnish, Swedish or English in a higher education institution in Finland or 2) in an English-medium program at a higher education institution in an EU/EEA country, provided that all parts of the degree were completed in English or 3) an English-medium higher education degree requiring a physical on-site presence at a higher education institution in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand. More information on minimum language requirements and language test scores can be found at master’s programs admission webpage (see "Language requirements" and "demonstrating proficiency in English").

Please, be prepared to check the eligibility requirements for doctoral studies and present additional documents as you proceed through the recruitment and apply for a doctoral study right in Aalto University or University of Helsinki.

Please, find below more information about the eligibility requirements:

For the Aalto Doctoral Program in Science (SCI)
For the Aalto Doctoral Program in Electrical Engineering (ELEC)
For the University of Helsinki