With education at the heart of mobile app development, Microsoft is hoping the developers of tomorrow will educate themselves today on how to build superior applications for the Windows Phone operating system.

To that end, the software giant is teaming with Nokia for AppCampus, a $24 million program that the partners hope will kickstart app development for the platform.

The Finland-based program will be led and managed by Aalto University, which has a growing reputation as a hotbed of new startup companies. AppCampus is intended to attract thousands of application proposals from students and entrepreneurs from all over the world. Aalto University will make a significant contribution to the project by providing premises, coaching services, and access to both academic and business networks for budding app developers.