The Viikki Campus (, ) is a campus area of the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, focusing on biological sciences. It comprises following units: *Faculty of

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

*Faculty of

Bioscience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–1 ...

s *Faculty of

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

*Faculty of

Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

*Institute of

Biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

*Viikki Science Library Besides these units of the University of Helsinki, the campus area also hosts the Helsinki Science Park and the Finnish Food Safety Authority. The campus is located in the rapidly developing area of Viikki in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, about 10 km from the city center. It is closely associated with the

Helsinki Business Park Helsinki () is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipality, with million in the Helsinki capital reg ...

. The nearby

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

, nature conservation area of Vanhankaupunginlahti and the experimental farm form a rare haven of countryside and wildlife at the heart of the capital city area. At the center of the campus lies the Viikki Info Center, which is unique in Finland, as it hosts both the local municipal public library and a scientific library serving the Viikki Campus.

History Viikin kampuksen historia alkaa keskiajalta
. University of Helsinki. Retrieved 8-8-2008.

Viikki area was a relatively wealthy agricultural village already in the Middle Ages. In conjunction of the founding of the City of Helsinki in 1555, the village of Viikki was formed as a crown storage manor () responsible for supplying the Vantaankoski Crown Manor, a local administrative center, with crops and fodder. While the crown manor at Vantaankoski was destroyed already in 1571 by Russians, the Viikki storage manor remained in state ownership. Subsequently it served a residence of different officers and the provincial governors. The manor was allocated in 1931 to the University of Helsinki for use as an experimental and teaching farm. However, the University took the area in to its actual use only in 1946, after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At this time, the area was clearly countryside outside the city. In 1960s, the Departments of Agriculture, Food Sciences, Domestic Sciences and Environmental Sciences received new buildings in the area, and student dormitories were also built for the students of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. The campus was built into its present size from the year 1993 onwards. Then, a decision was made to concentrate the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and all life sciences to the Viikki Campus, resulting in major construction activities. All departments of Forestry moved into the campus area in 2002, and the Departments, later Faculties of Biosciences and Pharmacy moved in Biocenter building complex at the same time. As part of the centralization of Helsinki bioscience activities, the Finnish Food Safety Authority moved into the area in 2006.

References

Buildings and structures in Helsinki University of Helsinki University and college campuses in Finland {{Finland-university-stub

History Viikin kampuksen historia alkaa keskiajalta. University of Helsinki. Retrieved 8-8-2008.

See also

References

History Viikin kampuksen historia alkaa keskiajalta
. University of Helsinki. Retrieved 8-8-2008.