The focal areas for research at the department during the strategy period 2010-12 were data analysis, data networks and services, and software research.

Data analysis. The research includes method development and applications in modern data analysis: machine learning, data mining, information-theoretical modelling. At the department, this research is concentrated to the Algodan centre of excellence and Helsinki Institute for Information Technology. This research has a strong application field in the data analysis of biological data, which is also one of the focal areas of research of the whole faculty. In addition to that, some research groups of the department are participating in three other centres of excellence: Cancer Genetics centre of excellence (CoECGR),  Computational Inference centre of excellence (COIN), and Inversion Problems centre of excellence.

Networking and services. The research includes research into networked systems and their premises: middleware (including service and application platforms, management of middleware, trust, and safety), mobility (independence of device and location, wireless communications), information networks, service networks, context-awareness, ubiquitous computing and interaction research. This area combines the department's traditional research into wireless and mobile computing with new emerging research themes on middleware and ubiquitous computing. 

Software research. The research into this area will grow considerably during the next three-year period, both in applied and basic research. The focus of software research is on the global software development and software processes, systems of open source code and web technologies and their utilisation, parallel programming, sustainable software technologies and their applicability.

Nearly 30 research groups are working in these focal areas at the department.

Eemil Lagerspetz demonstrates the Carat application developed by researchers at the Department of Computer Science in collaboration with researchers from the AMP Lab in the EECS Department at UC Berkeley.

Photographer: Jesse Kurtto