Tandem Industry Academy call’s funding decisions will be published on 3 Aug 2020
The Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s first call is aimed at building stronger and mutually beneficial connections between academia and industry through joint research projects carried out by postdoc researchers.
Ultimately the Foundation’s aim is to reinvigorate Finnish industry through world-class research. At the same time, these efforts will contribute to a stronger platform for Finland’s renewal and regeneration and the development of Finnish know-how.
Ideally, research and industry will work closely in mutually beneficial joint projects where research helps businesses to develop new products and services for the future. At the same time, the joint effort towards novel solutions will generate new research questions.
How does Tandem funding work?
Tandem Industry Academia funding is targeted at high-impact precompetitive collaboration projects that have both industrial and academic relevance and that require the active involvement of both industrial and academic partners. There are no specific themes for the call, but the Foundation particularly appreciates bold new approaches, multidisciplinary collaborations and novel combinations of research fields and industrial partners that can produce high-impact results for industry and the economy as a whole.
The project should be conducted by a postdoc researcher employed by the academic party. However, the project plan should clearly indicate the impacts of the collaboration for both parties and beyond. The project is expected to produce high-class scientific publications and intellectual property with future innovation potential.
Funding will be awarded to the academic party, i.e. a university or research institute, which in turn will employ the postdoc researcher. Tandem funding requires the active commitment and involvement of the industrial partner in defining the research question, in project execution and in shared supervision of the postdoc.
Postdocs are expected to divide their time equally between the academic and industrial partner. As funding is provided for a period of two years, this means that the industrial partner is expected to provide working facilities and materials for the postdoc for a 12-month stay. Note that these periods can be flexibly allocated depending on the project plan.
