Nokia expands research portfolio with Berkeley centre

The newest Nokia Research Centre will be used to research products for the developed and developing worlds

Nokia has opened a new research centre at the University of California, Berkeley, and has said that pure research is vital as the world comes out of recession.

The company officially opened its newest Nokia Research Centre today, and said that it will be used to research products for the developed and developing worlds.

Nokia has similar research centres on the US east coast, as well as in Cambridge in the UK, Lausanne in Switzerland and at Beijing University.

"Research is not a guaranteed success," said Mary McDowell, executive vice president of corporate development at Nokia. "When money gets tight research with longer term payoffs gets scrutinised. But we will continue with primary research, with a payoff in three to five years."

McDowell said that Nokia is concentrating its research in four key areas: mobile platforms, user interfaces, the rich context model and cognitive radio.

However, she reaffirmed that the company is sponsoring open, pure research, which might not always provide the expected results.

Henry Tirri, head of Nokia Research Centres, maintained that the open research framework, with students working with Nokia staff, is essential.

"Open and innovative research is necessary to check the quality of our internal research, but it is also about communication," he said. "Take the best research team in the world and isolate it for five years, and you will find it is no longer the best team."