From the beginning of 2015, the Centre for Metrology (MIKES) (Finnish: ''Mittatekniikan keskus''; Swedish: ''Mätteknikcentralen'') formerly the Centre for Metrology and Accreditation has been part of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. As the National Metrology Institute of Finland, MIKES is responsible for the implementation and development of the national measurement standards system and realisation of the SI units in Finland. MIKES designates other National Standards Laboratories in Finland. Moreover, MIKES performs research in metrology, i.e., in measurement science. MIKES’s customers include both Finnish and international companies as well as the public sector. Other national metrology institutes are for example PTB (Germany), NPL (UK)
NMIJ
(Japan), NIST (USA), and Główny Urząd Miar (Poland). As a part of VTT MIKES operates under the administrative domain of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Mikes-talo

Current operations

MIKES was founded in 1991, and until 2015 it included two separate operational activities: MIKES Metrology an
FINAS
(Finnish Accreditation Service). In the beginning of 2015, the metrology activities of MIKES merged with VTT to form VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. Currently, MIKES is a research area at VTT assigned to act as the National Metrology Institute of Finland. The main tasks of MIKES are to realize the SI-units, to perform high level research in metrology, to develop measurement techniques for the industry and society, and to offer calibration, expert and educational services. Regarding legal metrology, MIKES collaborates with th
Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, Tukes
Tukes ensures that measurement equipment used for pricing products in commerce, e.g., grocery store scales and fuel dispensers at gas stations, satisfy the legal requirements. In 2005 MIKES moved to a new building that was designed with the special needs of measurement science in mind. Temperature stability, vibration damping and shielding against electromagnetic interference are state of the art. The MIKES building is located in the south of Finland, in Otaniemi,

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

(see th
map
. MIKES also has activities on the premises of a former UPM paper mill in the town of

Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...

(see th
map
. In addition, MIKES has several contract laboratories (designated institutes, DI) that perform calibrations within their own fields of expertise, including the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, the

Finnish Meteorological Institute The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; fi, Ilmatieteen laitos; sv, Meteorologiska institutet) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport ...

, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK, the

Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the ...

, and the

Finnish Geodetic Institute The Finnish Geospatial Research Institute ( fi, Paikkatietokeskus), formerly Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI, fi, Geodeettinen laitos, sv, Geodetiska institutet) is a research institute in Finland specializing in geodesy and geospatial informati ...

Research

MIKES’s strategic research areas are quantum metrology, spectroscopy, nano and micro metrology, environment, and energy. MIKES has an active role within the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Researc
EMPIR
of

EURAMET EURAMET (European Association of National Metrology Institutes, previously known as EUROMET, the European Collaboration in Measurement Standards) is a collaborative alliance of national metrological organizations from member states of the European ...

and in Finnish research projects. MIKES cooperates e.g. with European metrology institutes, with the scientific community in the Otaniemi area, and with organizations within the joint centr
CEMIS
in the Kajaani area.

Directors

* Ulla Lähteenmäki 1991–2001 * Timo Hirvi 2001–2015 * Heikki Isotalo 2015–2016 * Mikko Merimaa 2016–2018 * Martti Heinonen 2018– {{Authority control Research institutes in Finland Metrology organizations