Aalto University (Finnish: Aalto-yliopisto, Swedish: Aalto-universitetet) is a university primarily located in Greater Helsinki, Finland. It was created as a merger of three leading 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 has innovation built into its foundations, merging three institutions into one along the way, forming an entity that serves as Finland's model for an innovation university.
It comprises six schools with over 19,000 students and 5,000 staff members, thus being Finland's third-largest university. The six schools of Aalto University are all renowned institutions in their respective fields. The main campus of Aalto University is located in Otaniemi, Espoo, where the engineering schools operate, with two schools currently headquartered in Helsinki: the School of Business in Töölö and the School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Arabianranta (set to be relocated to Otaniemi in 2016). In addition, the university operates several units outside Greater Helsinki in Mikkeli, Pori and Vaasa.
Aalto University's operations showcase Finland’s bold new 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 start-ups, raising more than US$36 million in funding since 2010.
The university is named in honour of Alvar Aalto, a prominent Finnish architect, designer and alumnus of the former Helsinki University of Technology, who was also instrumental in designing a large part of the university's main campus in Otaniemi.
