Vaikuttavuussaatio

Vaikuttavuussäätiö vahvistaa ja tukee huippututkimuksen vaikuttavuutta ja elinkeinoelämän yhteyksiä.

vaikuttavuussaatio

FRIF allocates 2.1 million euros in research funding to help bridge the gap between RDI and basic research

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The Finnish Research Impact Foundation has announced its decision to award a total of 2.1 million euros to support 10 cutting-edge research projects that are teaming up with corporate partners to tackle major challenges. Research topics range from the treatment of corneal blindness to the development of growth substrates that could serve as alternatives to peat.

The Finnish Research Impact Foundation is allocating 2.1 million euros to support joint research projects between universities and industry partners. FRIF’s fourth round of calls for Tandem Industry Academia Postdoc funding invited applications from projects aimed at achieving both academic and commercial impact together with corporate partners. Since 2019, FRIF has awarded funding worth around nine million euros to a total of 46 such projects.

Aimed at Finnish universities and research institutes, FRIF funding is intended to encourage their cooperation with the Finnish business sector. The Foundation’s mission is to help bring together academic excellence with business and industry resources.

The projects funded under this year’s call address several challenges with major social significance. They include research aimed at accelerating and intensifying drug development, enhancing Finnish expertise in lithium battery technology, cancelling interference in wireless communications networks, creating more effective treatments for corneal blindness and developing alternative growth substrates to peat. 

The research teams behind the 10 projects receiving FRIF funding in 2023 come from the University of Helsinki, Aalto University, Tampere University, the University of Turku and the University of Eastern Finland.

The corporate partners involved in the projects contribute their R&D expertise as well as their knowledge of core issues in their field. The corporate partners in the 10 projects are Fenno-Aurum, Bittium Wireless Communications, Pulsedeon, Comptek Solutions, Planmeca, AGCO Power, Neova Group, StemSight, Bionavis and OrionPharma.

Kuvaaja: Maarit Kytöharju" / "Photo: Maarit Kytöharju

“FRIF funding can help to bridge the gap that continues to remain between basic scientific research and industrial RDI. It allows us to push the boundaries of research further than is usually the case with publicly funded basic research and in this way provides an opportunity to demonstrate the significance and practical applicability of research results to the business partner as well,” says Taneli Riihonen, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Tampere University. He is principal investigator in a joint project with Bittium Wireless Communications, where the research team are working to produce new research data on methods of cancelling radio interference in wireless networks.

More information on the projects funded is available on the FRIF website at https://www.vaikuttavuussaatio.fi/en/funded-projects/.

FRIF’s funding call closed on 16 April 2023 and attracted 78 applications. The FRIF Board decided to award funding to the top 10 projects that represent the highest international standard and that are expected to deliver greater impact by virtue of their collaboration with corporate partners. The projects involve precompetitive research, which will yield not only important scientific results but also enhance the competencies and competitiveness of Finnish industry.

The new funding model developed by the Finnish Research Impact Foundation allows the academic research team and the business partners to genuinely commit themselves to research-driven cooperation.

Lauri Oksanen, Chairman of the Board, the Finnish Research Impact Foundation.
Lauri Oksanen, Chairman of the Board, the Finnish Research Impact Foundation.

“Most research cooperation in Finland is funded from a business point of view and close to the market, but in many cases business and industry resources are also useful for academically-driven research projects, and the cooperation will help to grow the business partner’s expertise,” says Lauri Oksanen, Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation.

Projects funded under the Tandem Industry Academia Postdoc scheme involve an academic researcher representing a university or research institute working for 12 months with their host academic organization and another 12 months more closely with the project’s industry partner.

“FRIF funding helps to bridge the gap that remains in the Finnish RDI field between academic research and innovation funding and expedites the translation of research results into solutions that benefit society,” Oksanen explains.

FRIF will open a funding call for professor-level researchers on 4 September 2023, providing an opportunity for professors working at Finnish universities and research institutes to work for a full year with a business company.

Finding solutions to the sustainability transition not possible without science

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The Tandem Industry Academia Professor funding programme allows experienced researchers to work on dedicated research projects in a corporate environment. Jari Hyväluoma from the Natural Resources Institute Finland and Saara Kankaanrinta from Soilfood explain how research collaboration benefits the partners involved in joint research projects as well as society at large. 

Professor Jari Hyväluoma today spends most of his time either writing code on a computer, digging up soil in a field or analysing soil samples in the laboratory. He’s in the process of developing what is known as a flow modelling method, which will help to understand how soil improvement fibres affect soil structure and thus the water conductivity of soil. 

Hyväluoma and his team are working in a FRIF-funded joint project between the Natural Resources Institute Finland and Soilfood, a Finnish circular economy company that produces wood-based soil improvement fibres. The project is intended to explore the effects of soil improvement fractions produced from forest industry side streams on the structure of arable land. Funding was granted in December 2022, and the project has now completed its six-month start-up phase. 

“Soil structure research is obviously closely dependent on seasonal conditions. We have spent the spring developing the methods we will need and analysing the relevant background data. At the moment we are preparing for sample collection after threshing,” Hyväluoma says.

The depletion of organic matter in soil is a global problem that has also been observed in arable land in Finland. Apart from its climatic impacts, the depletion of organic matter weakens the growth potential of soil. The project’s results will benefit not only stakeholders in the agricultural sector but also support soil carbon sequestration, reduce the burden of agriculture on waterways and improve crop yields from available arable land.

“Finding solutions to the sustainability transition is not possible without science,” says Saara Kankaanrinta. She is founder not only of Soilfood but also the Baltic Sea Action Group, a non-profit foundation committed to saving the Baltic Sea. Kankaanrinta received the Globe Energy Award in 2019.

The company’s collaboration with Professor Hyväluoma’s project means that Soilfood has immediate access to the research results and that they can put them to good use in product development, but also communicate them to the outside world. “Research collaboration is not just about producing added value and growth for the company. Solving the major crises facing society is equally important,” Kankaanrinta points out. “We need to be able to show both to farmers and to society why the circular economy is so important and what value our products have for the soil and the environment. Our aim is to provide solid scientific evidence on what is happening in the soil.”

This is why Professor Hyväluoma is devoting his time to gain an in-depth understanding of the structure and growth conditions of soil. “I think our project finely brings together the examination of the effects of Soilfood’s soil improvement fibres and the solution of research problems related to soil structure. In my researcher role I get to make use of the existing knowledge and practical experiences of the effects of soil improvement fibres and to tie this all in with my research expertise,” Hyväluoma says. 

Research collaboration is a great way to support corporate R&D work, but Kankaanrinta is keen to stress that the search for solutions to the sustainability transition should not be exclusively focused on product innovations. She emphasizes the key importance of basic research, which is essential to learning how to strengthen and improve biodiversity and well-being. “There is no technical silver bullet that will solve all soil problems, i.e. climate change, disruptions in the water cycle and biodiversity loss. We must also change our current practices and ways of working.” 

Climate change is also bound to bring changes to farming, which means that farmers must learn to adapt to extreme weather conditions and to crises driven by climate change. Soil improvement fibres will provide much-needed water retention capacity in the event of excessive dryness or wetness. Indeed, Kankaanrinta feels that, along with the research institute and business collaboration, farmers are an important third party in this project. 

“The impact of the research knowledge we produce will ultimately be measured in terms of whether the improvement of soil conditions and the value of nutrient recycling can be justified to farmers and the profitability of their business be improved,” she says. “In the end, of course, we will also need a social governance policy because we are working to solve common crises.”

Explore the TIA Professor 2023 call and register for the info session on September 4th!

The Foundation studies business cooperation in human sciences – take part in the survey!

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The Finnish Research Impact Foundation is conducting a study on collaboration between human sciences and business in Finland. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of how and what kind of collaboration between companies and human science researchers takes place and how this collaboration could be supported and promoted. By human sciences we refer to both the humanities and social sciences.

We hope that you could provide input on your experiences and views on collaboration between human sciences and business by answering our survey. The survey is designed to be easy to complete and will take about 10 minutes. All responses will be treated confidentially and no individual responses will be shared with any third party. The privacy policy of the survey can be found here.

By answering this questionnaire, you will help us and other funders to develop better ways of funding and supporting collaboration between human sciences and business. Our aim is to create policies and tools that benefit both business and human sciences research.

We will draw two €50 restaurant gift vouchers among all those respondents who leave their contact details.

Participate here: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/4CD22EB7FC942837

We hope to receive your reply by 8.9.2023 at the latest. Thank you for your participation and your valuable contribution to our research!

TIA Professor call opens again 4.9. – register to info webinar!

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Welcome to the TIA Professor 2023 call’s info webinar on Monday 4 September at 9:30–11:00. In the event you will learn more about the Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s funding scheme for professors and you will have an opportunity to ask questions about the application process.

The purpose of TIA Professor funding is to support collaboration between industry and research organizations and to give professors first-hand knowledge about relevant areas of research interest for business companies. Projects may involve precompetitive research and other supportive activities.

TIA professors will receive funding for a one-year joint research project with an industry partner. During the funding term they will spend a period equivalent to one full year working in facilities provided by the business company. The funding may be spread out over a maximum of three years. 

The TIA Professor call for applications opens on 4 September. Please, read the call for applications and the application guidelines.

The event will be held as a virtual Zoom-event. Register for the info webinar via this link and you will receive a link to the event as a reply message.

Welcome!

Our Annual Report 2022 is published

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The Annual Report brings together the key events of 2022

The Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s Annual Report 2022 looks back at the events and highlights of our operations in the past year. The theme of the Annual Report is “What is research impact?”

In 2022, the FRIF took a number of important steps forward. The third round of the Tandem Industry Academia Postdoc call attracted 42 applications – funding decisions were made in August and 8 projects were funded. In autumn 2022, the Foundation piloted a new Tandem Industry Academia Professor funding scheme for professors.

At the start of the year, Rector Keijo Hämäläinen joined the FRIF Board as a new member. In the autumn, Outi Vanharanta started in a new position as a Research Impact Officer.

In the Annual Report you can read, for example, Outi Vanharanta’s views on impact and its antecedents. We have also interviewed key personnel involved in projects that received FRIF funding 2022 in order to canvass their views on the subject of research impact.

Read the Annul Report here →

Sometimes the highest-impact research is work whose outcomes cannot be predicted in advance

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Sometimes the highest-impact research is work whose outcomes cannot be predicted in advance

How is research impact defined and understood in the day-to-day work of academic researchers and business companies? We asked people engaged in three FRIF-funded projects how they saw the meaning of impact in their work.

If a doctor knew for sure which medicine is the most effective choice of treatment for a specific cancer patient, both the patient and the health care system would stand to benefit. This is the kind of certainty that University of Helsinki researchers are looking for in a joint project with Finnadvance, a Finnish biotechnology company. The project is designed to model the patient’s immune system and cancer tissue in miniature in order to predict whether the patient would benefit from cancer immunotherapies. Immunotherapies are treatments that stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer. If the research team succeed in their efforts, the results could revolutionize cancer treatment. There is thus no question about the potential impact of the project.

Heidi Haikala leads the University of Helsinki project “Solid-IO: Patient-relevant microfluidic platform for immuno-oncology drug testing”.

“However, there is no way for us to know whether our predictions of the efficacy of medical treatment will be borne out,” says Heidi Haikala, principal investigator of the project. The project is a close collaboration between Finnadvance and Helsinki University Hospital (HUS). Experiments similar to clinical trials are used to simulate the reality of cancer treatments as closely as possible.

As in any industry-academia project, it is difficult or close to impossible to fully predict the results of the research. But the impact of research cannot be measured only in terms of the achievement of expected results. 

“Even if we failed to achieve the result we’re looking for, the new knowledge created in the project may still have practical application in some other, even unexpected way,” Haikala explains. She believes that all research must benefit society in one way or another, but society can benefit equally from basic research and from applied research.

Maria Morits works as a post doc researcher in Aalto University’s project “Film formation mechanism of bio-colloids for sustainable coating solutions (FilmCO)”.

Postdoctoral researcher Maria Morits takes much the same position. Maria is working on a joint project between Kemira and Aalto University to explore bio-based film formation mechanisms for packaging materials. “Sometimes research results are interesting for the researcher but do not serve the company’s objectives.” Morits and her team are keen to assess the impact of the project in the light of the emerging new knowledge and new tools. “Our aim is to find methods we can use to examine film formation mechanisms of bio-based dispersion coatings. If we can do that and learn how to predict these properties quickly, easily and accurately, then the project will already have been a success.”

According to Maria Morits, the impact of a research project should not be assessed along the impactful vs non-impactful axis, but impact is the sum of different project components. One component may be successful and produce results even if another component fails. 

One way to achieve successes is for members of the research team and company representatives to meet monthly or more often to review current results. “If we feel that something isn’t quite working, we will look into that straight away and try to figure out problems as they arise,” she explains.

Juha Oksanen’s company Oksasen puutarha is a partner in the University of Turku project “Integration of greenhouse farming and microalgae bioproduction for a sustainable circular agriculture approach (AgriAlga)”.

Sometimes it may take years for the true impact of an industry-academia collaboration to become apparent, says Juha Oksanen, whose company is working in a joint project with the University of Turku. This project is aimed at creating a closed greenhouse cultivation cycle where the waste generated in production can be recycled as raw material for cultivation. At best the project could produce a number of important results that serve both research and the company’s business.

The project team are currently focused on exploring what types of microalgae can be grown in greenhouse wastewater. At Oksanen’s company called Oksasen puutarha, wastewater is typically generated in the treatment of plant growing substrates and plant debris. This is highly rich in nutrients, but it is also very dirty and may contain plant diseases. Microalgae can use the nutrients in greenhouse wastewater for their growth, and the treatment of the algae-growing equipment helps to remove plant diseases from the wastewater.

“This project allows us to monitor the quality of our wastewater in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do without research collaboration,” Oksanen says. Ultimately the results from the research will bring direct cost savings to the company.

“Municipal wastewater charges mean that wastewater is an expensive outlay for us. That’s why from a business point of view we would like to get to the point where we don’t generate any wastewater at all. At the same time we can reduce our water consumption.” Results on the cleansing effect of algae growing are expected in spring 2024.
Another possible manifestation of a project’s impact are new business opportunities created by the knowledge produced in the project. Microalgae grow very rapidly and the project is constantly producing new results on what kind of algae flourish in greenhouse wastewater. “Growing algae may emerge as a whole new business alongside greenhouse production,” Oksanen concludes.