The Helsinki Challenge Science based Competition - finalists are here!

The prize aims to spur science based ideas and innovations that has impact in society. The ultimate goal is to create solutions to grand challenges and for the future well-being.
The evaluation criteria are originality, creativity, impact, solution focused and science based. The winner(s) will receive a prize of €375,000.

Out of 20 semifinalists, the international jury has chosen five.

Helsinki Sleep Factory: Helping adolescents take control of their sleep

How do you get young people to sleep better? The answer is by gamifying sleep, say Helsinki Challenge finalist team Helsinki Sleep Factory. They are building a motivating, empowering and personalized virtual sleep program for adolescents to learn and enhance their own sleep-awake-rhythm.

YouTube: Helsinki Sleep Factory

Moralities of Intelligent Machines: What morals do we expect from robots?

Robots may not yet walk among us, but they are already making decisions for us. We are entering a new era of intelligent machines, with immense uncharted scientific waters, say Helsinki Challenge finalist team Moralities of Intelligent Machines. The team of cognitive scientists is studying how human moral emotions function with intelligent machines, artificial intelligence and the robotification of our society.

YouTube: Moralities of Intelligent Machines

NEMO – Natural Emotionality in digital interaction:
Making the entire Internet emotional

Digital systems are not designed to consider emotions. This inhibits empathy, the most important foundation of functional human cooperation. Typical current solutions to this problem, such as restricting children’s screen time, treat the symptoms, not the underlying cause. The team hopes to create a global movement working to emotionally enhance the entire underlying structure of online communication and augment the whole Internet. Another goal is to reduce cyber bullying.

YouTube: NEMO

SafePreg: Protecting unborn babies from harmful substances

New studies show that a substance in liquorice called glycyrrhizin can also harm the unborn child’s future development. Glycyrrhizin is present in liquorice root which is used in various food products. Over four hundred products at any grocery store in Finland contain glycyrrhizin, including some herbal teas and ice creams, biscuits, sweetened syrups and candies, which means the unintended daily intake can be high.

YouTube: SafePreg

Biodiversity now

How can we stop the large scale biodiversity loss caused by everyday economic activity? The environmentally-minded multidisciplinary team of scientists aim to develop the world’s first operational biodiversity offset market mechanism to prevent net loss of biodiversity. In their vision, companies destroying biodiversity would have to compensate for the harm they cause by buying biodiversity improvements from landowners.

YouTube: Biodiversity now

Seminar and Grand Finale

On the 12th-13th November, the University of Helsinki’s 375th anniversary year will culminate in the Science for a Better World seminar and Helsinki Challenge Grand Finale. The seminar will gather top names in Finnish and international research as well as the most interesting speakers from the society – the common aim is to build solutions for the future wellbeing

More on the seminar, the Grand Finale and registration: Seminar and registration

Contacts:

Helsinki Challenge Competition

Project Manager Ira Leväaho, ira.levaaho@helsinki.fi, tel. +358 50 505 8152

Team leaders:

Helsinki Sleep Factory
Team leader Anu-Katriina Pesonen, anukatriina.pesonen@helsinki.fi. tel. +358 40 754 4942

Moralities of Intelligent machines
Team leader Michael Laakasuo, michael.laakasuo@helsinki.fi, tel. +358 44 518 1521

SafePreg: Protecting unborn babies from harmful substances
Team leader Katri Räikkönen, katri.raikkonen@helsinki.fi, tel. +358 40 512 1469

NEMO – Natural emotionality in digital interaction
Team leader Katri Saarikivi, katri.saarikivi@helsinki.fi. tel. +358 44 304 5897

Biodiversity now
Team leader Markku Ollikainen, markku.ollikainen@helsinki.fi, tel. +358 2941 58065