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The Tandem Industry Academia Postdoc 2023 funding call opened on 1.3.2023. In the information session held on the same day Petro Poutanen, CEO of the foundation, and Outi Vanharanta, Research impact officer, presented the principles of the funding model and details of the application process. A recording of the session is now available for viewing here.

The call is open from 1 March to 16 April 2023. Read more about the call here and carefully read the application guidelines before submitting your application.

If you have any questions regarding the application or assessment process, you can book a personal 30 min appointment with the Foundation’s experts by following this link.

If you cannot find a suitable time or all the slots are full you can also send us an email or contact us by phone. See the Foundation’s contact details here.

Almost all new industry innovations grow out of frontline research. But how do researchers and academia benefit from their collaboration with industry partners? We asked some scientists and researchers how they had benefited from stepping outside the academic world.

“There’s been very little research on emissions in northern environments, even though the climate here is completely unique. This project will allow us to show how our short growing season and topsoil freezing and thawing impact emissions.” Mari Pihlatie, Professor of Environmental Soil Science at the University of Helsinki, says that at the moment, this information is not available anywhere.

Pihlatie is currently working on a joint project between the University of Helsinki and Valio to produce completely new information about nitrous oxide emissions from dairy production.

Understanding and cutting the carbon footprint of milk production requires in-depth knowledge about true greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farming. To this end, the University of Helsinki and Valio have turned their focus to studying nitrous oxide, which contributes significantly to dairy production emissions yet has largely been overshadowed in research by carbon dioxide. 

The collaboration between the university and Finland’s biggest diary producer has made it possible for the project to conduct regular measurements at the SMEAR-Agri station in connection with the University of Helsinki Viikki campus and at Valio grassland farms around the country. The project’s academic goal is to report the findings in leading journals in the field.

What does research-driven cooperation with industry mean?

A 2021 survey conducted by FRIF found that while industry does often work closely with academic research, this cooperation is often driven by business needs. This means that research questions are typically formulated on the basis of business interests and that only the business partner will have access to the results. There is no open exchange of information between the business and the surrounding society.

The Tandem Industry Academia (TIA) funding programme launched by the Finnish Research Impact Foundation in 2019 aims to create a different kind of setting.

Chairman of the FRIF Board, Mr Lauri Oksanen explains: “Government funding for research cooperation in Finland has been heavily geared to supporting market-driven cooperation, but we want to support industry collaborations that are grounded in researchers’ interests and that have the potential to generate creative new innovations.”

Professor Pihlatie’s project has received TIA funding worth over 200,000 euros. The purpose of the grant is to support academia-industry cooperation that is grounded in research interests and considerations.

The terms and conditions of TIA funding are such that the results of cooperation remain accessible to the academic community and thereby society at large. Likewise, the research results are accessible not just to the industry partner but to all businesses, meaning that on completion of the project the research can also be shared by some other party. 

To date a total of 36 projects have received TIA funding. Applicants stress that industry cooperation brings multiple benefits, including the opportunity to refine research ideas, to integrate different disciplines and to pursue a common goal on a level playing field. 

“This funding will facilitate the university’s collaboration with business partners through the individual appointed to the position. This is why it’s an ideal way of exporting results produced in academic research into business companies’ products.”

– Mikko Möttönen, Professor, Aalto University & VTT

“This funding programme is a great way to combine both business and research interests. It’s also well-aligned to support our project idea as a whole. The project, its results and outcomes will benefit the business partner, the academic world and society as a whole.”

– Mika Komppula, principal investigator, Finnish Meteorological Institute

“The business partner cannot be content with knowing that the technology works in theory. It also has to work in practice. I get feedback from every version I develop, and that helps me improve the technology further. This is the kind of work you’d never get done without a company that needs to put the technology to practical use.”

– Tommi Jauhiainen, postdoc researcher, University of Helsinki

How to build a research-driven joint industry project: three tips

1. When you talk to a potential industry partner about your research subject, step into their shoes. What’s useful and interesting about your research from their point of view? What common interests and prospects do you potentially share? 
2. Define a clear set of goals for collaboration from the point of view of both the industry partner and academia: what benefits will there be for both parties? To this end, it’s important to have a well-defined research question. The research subject, too, must be defined closely enough so that it can be properly covered during the two-year project term. 
3. Contact the industry partner well ahead of time to agree on practical matters, such as in-team communications and the monitoring of project progress. Also, talk openly open about any risks involved.

Join us to learn more useful tips about planning industry cooperation at the TIA application info on 1 March 2023, starting at 9:30 am. Read more and register.

Tandem Industry Academia Postdoc (TIA Postdoc) call is open from 1 March to 16 April 2023. Read more about the call here and carefully read the guidelines before submitting your application.

Do you have questions about the application process or the evaluation? Experts from the Finnish Research Impact Foundation will answer applicants’ questions in one-to-one video meetings.

Book yourself a 30-minute sparring session with the Foundation’s experts using this link. 
Please note that a limited number of slots are available. If you cannot find a suitable time or all times are full you can also email us or contact us by phone. See the Foundation’s contact details here.

The 4th round of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s Tandem Industry Academia Postdoc (TIA Postdoc) call will open in March 2023. The application period is from 1 March to 16 April. Applications must be submitted to the Foundation via the electronic grant system by 16 April at 23:59. The Industrial partner submits its own application no later than 7 days after the call closes.

Please read the call info and the updated application guidelines carefully in advance. The application form will be open for registration from 1 March.

We will organize an Info Session on 1 March at 9:30. Register for the webinar here. You will receive a link by email before the event. During the event, you will have the opportunity to ask questions to the Foundation about the application process. The information part of the event will also be available for viewing afterwards.

Currently, there are a total of 30 ongoing or upcoming joint top-research projects between universities, colleges or research institutes and companies funded by the Foundation through the TIA instrument. In these projects, a post-doctoral researcher works closely with an academic partner for half of the project duration and with an industrial partner for the other half.

The Finnish Research Impact Foundation has announced the funding recipients under its pilot call for Tandem Industry Academia Professorships, which was opened in autumn 2022. The six professors have been awarded TIA funding for 12-month research periods with their chosen industry partners. 

TIA funding provides an opportunity for professors to focus on their research and to take advantage of the practical knowledge and know-how of their industry partners. The combination of world-class research competence with sound industry understanding makes it possible to produce useful information that addresses the needs of both parties.

The Board of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation decided to award TIA Professor funding to the following six professors:

Tero Soukka, Professor of Biotechnology, University of Turku
Ulla Lassi, Professor of Applied Chemistry, University of Oulu 
Anne Juppo, Professor in Industrial Pharmacy, University of Helsinki
Hele Savin, Professor of Micro and Nanoelectronics, Aalto University
Clare Strachan, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki
Jari Hyväluoma, Research Professor, Natural Resources Institute Finland
More detailed project descriptions are provided here. 

“We already have professors of practice who move from businesses to work in academia, but as yet there is no system to support mobility in the opposite direction. Based on our discussions with stakeholder groups and a questionnaire we conducted, there is strong demand for this kind of funding that gives professors from the academic world the opportunity to work more closely with business and industry,” says Leena Otsomaa, FRIF Board member who contributed to the working group that prepared the new funding scheme.

Hele Savin, Professor of Macro and Nanoelectronics from Aalto University, is clear that business companies play a critical role in the development of her field:

“My goal is to help resolve major social challenges as quickly as possible, and the best way to do that is to work closely with a major semiconductor company. They have the clearest picture and understanding of existing bottlenecks in the industry today. Without these insights that come from the business side, it would be difficult to know how the tools I have developed in the project can best serve the needs of an industry that is struggling with a global shortage of microchips.”

During their funding term TIA professors 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 purpose of TIA Professor funding is to support collaborations 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.

The projects funded under the new TIA Professor pilot scheme address a wide range of themes, including the search for substitutes for lithium-ion batteries; the surface structures of pharmaceutical preparations; the use of soil improvement fibres produced from side streams of the pulp and paper industry; and the prospects of therapeutic proteins and peptides.

Professor Clare Strachan from the University of Helsinki says her TIA professorship offers a great opportunity to gain a deeper insight into industry needs. “Although my research comes close to the needs of the pharmaceuticals industry, I’ve never actually worked for industry. I’m very much looking forward to spending time with Orion Pharma and expect it will enrich my research and my teaching, as well as help create new contacts for future research projects.” 

Many of the TIA professors feel that the joint projects bring important added value to university tuition and education: “Stronger links with industry and practice should mean that in the future, we pay closer attention to the needs of business companies in developing the university curriculum,” says Tero Soukka, Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Turku. 

New Tandem Industry Academia (TIA) funding recipients met at a reception hosted by the Finnish Research Impact Foundation on 19 September 2022. The event included an interesting panel discussion about what lessons have been learned from industry-academia cooperation so far. 

There is no question that the world has become an increasingly complex place. One critical concern for businesses as well as for academic researchers is to overcome the challenges and implications of climate change, and answers are needed sooner rather than later. We can no longer afford to work in silos because there just isn’t enough time – a position shared by Postdoctoral Research Fellow Mattia Rossi, Professor Mikko Möttönen and Juha Nousiainen, head of the Climate Solutions programme at Valio.

“Valio has always been a technology-driven company. We’ve created solutions within the company, in an inside-out process. But the challenges of the modern world mean we are having to turn this around: we are now working more outside-in, with academic research closely involved in our development processes,” Nousiainen explains. Valio’s climate solutions team are currently working with the University of Helsinki to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from dairy production. Nousiainen insists that cooperation and outside-in thinking are essential, not just a chic addition to the company’s research efforts.

Mattia Rossi says that cooperation is also a motivating factor for the academic researcher because the value of research is measured by its practical applicability and impact. “When research is optimized according to the needs of industry, that at once serves to maximize its potential and benefits.” Upon completing his doctoral research Mattia Rossi specifically wanted to sign up with a project that involved a business partner. He’s now working at Tampere University to improve the efficiency of electricity consumption in a joint project with Danfoss Drives. 

Mikko Möttönen, Professor of Quantum Technology at Aalto University, shares Mattia Rossi’s view that industry cooperation is pivotal to increasing the impact of research. But he is not sure whether we are moving fast enough. “Climate change is not going to wait for us. We have to act quickly if we want to leave a sustainable environment for our grandchildren.” Professor Möttönen is principal investigator in a joint project between Aalto University and Bluefors. 

So what are the means that make for efficient cooperation? Professor Möttönen says it’s important to maintain a suitable level of realism – to accept that the very first research idea will not necessarily deliver, that it might be necessary to move the goalposts and adjust expectations along the way. He’s also keen to stress the role of project management and an active orientation. “Academic researchers and business professionals are busy people. Nothing will happen unless they find the time to get together and decide what they want to do.” 

Rossi and Nousiainen both subscribe to the views of Professor Möttönen and stress the importance of internal team communication. It’s crucial that both partners engage with each other’s thinking. “There’s no reason not to make an effort to explain things in an easy-to-understand manner,” Rossi says. Nousiainen also highlights the role of internal communication within the company and the need to explain and justify the importance of collaboration upwards to the higher echelons. It’s not enough that research teams within the company are convinced of the necessity of academic cooperation, but the top management must also be persuaded that outside-in research and development is imperative.