Nokia Corporation donates €1.8 million to the University of Oulu

The Board of the Nokia Corporation has decided to donate €1.8 million to the University of Oulu.

”Finnish knowledge capital has been a significant factor in Nokia’s success and we want to support its development and renewal,” says Stephen Elop, Nokia’s Chief Executive Officer.

”Nokia has a long tradition in cooperating with universities in Finland and they play an important role in our global university partnering program. The culture of cooperation between universities and companies runs deep in Finland and I believe this benefits both institutes of higher learning as well as the Finnish society and economy. At the same time it is important that scientific ambitions and goals remain the starting point of academic research.”

The donation increases the total sum of donations to the University of Oulu to €7.2 million. Considering the 2.5-fold matched-funding provided by the Finnish Government the total capital of the University Fund will rise up to €21.6 million.

"This donation from Nokia is the largest individual donation and by far the largest corporate donation to the University. It is also a significant indication that Nokia has confidence in the knowledge and research platform created in the University of Oulu and in the Oulu Region as a whole. This proves as well that the University of Oulu is a significant strategic partner for Nokia", says the Fundraising Manager for the University of Oulu, Seppo Heikkilä.

The donation is part of a 12 million euro donation by Nokia to four Finnish universities. Nokia continues its wide-ranging cooperation with Finnish universities through various research and development projects.