Impact report 2024
Overview of FRIF’s funding activities
From 2020 onwards, the Finnish Research Impact Foundation (FRIF) has provided funding for academic research projects conducted in collaboration with Finnish companies. The foundation’s funding instruments are called Tandem Industry Academia (TIA) Postdoc and Tandem Industry Academia Professor. TIA Postdoc funding focuses on two-year projects during which the postdoctoral researcher works for 12 months on company premises. TIA Professor funding supports professors’ work in companies for 12 months.
Key figures
Funded projects 49
TIA Postdoc 40
TIA Professor 9
Total amount of funding applied / Total amount of funding granted
66 M€ / 8,9 M€
Average grant rate: 15,3%
Number of applications and grant rates (2020-2023)
Number of funded projects by research institute
Proportion of industry partners by size category (number of personnel)
The impact of TIA funding
The impact of FRIF’s funding is evaluated by its alignment with the foundation’s core mission: to facilitate joint research projects that not only promote commercial success but also strengthen Finnish expertise and research excellence.
The impact of TIA funding is assessed through four impact areas: 1) Advancing sciences, 2) developing knowledge and solutions for industry, 3) strengthening human capital and 4) strengthening the culture and capacity for collaboration. In the long term, impact is achieved through the cumulative outputs and impacts of collaboration.
The impacts of collaboration are multi-directional and already during the process of collaboration there are effects that contribute to the FRIF’s long-term impact objectives.
Outputs, outcomes and impact of TIA funding
TIA projects have been highly successful in achieving their scientific objectives and relevance to the industry. They have produced scientific publications, and industry-applicable knowledge and solutions that would not have been achieved without this type of collaboration.
In addition, the collaboration has strengthened the researchers’ and the companies’ R&D competencies and broadened collaboration networks.
The data for the Impact Report has been collected by interviewing researchers and business partners involved in projects funded between 2020 and 2022. In addition, project applications and final project reports have been used as sources. The outputs and results of the study are presented for those projects that have been completed. For some projects, impacts will only materialise in the future.
Impact area
Advancing science and stimulating new breakthrough research
From the standpoint of scientific research, collaboration with companies through TIA projects has been valuable because it has provided the researchers with unique access to companies’ data, processes, infrastructure and knowledge. This has helped, for example, to test the practical viability of theoretical models and develop new research methods. Applying research results in a practical context has also given rise to several new research questions and follow-up research projects.
Publications and presentations
In the completed TIA Postdoc (2020-2021) projects that have submitted a final report, a total of 19 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 20 conference papers have been published. In addition, the results of the projects have been presented in a total of 80 seminars and conferences.
The Finnish Research Impact Foundation requires that the research results of TIA-funded projects be made as openly accessible as possible. As a result of this requirement, as much as 84% of the peer-reviewed articles are available in Open Access platforms.
Five of these publications have been jointly produced with the industry partner. The researchers and company representatives described these joint writing projects as fruitful opportunities for developing mutual understanding. Publishing in peer-reviewed scientific journals is also valuable from a company perspective. It allows the companies to present scientific evidence supporting their technologies and to showcase their in-house expertise.
Proportion of projects funded by discipline (2020-2023)
Table 1. Publications and presentations reported in project final reports (N=13)
| Peer reviewed publications | Number |
| Jufo 1 | 12 |
| Jufo 2 | 5 |
| Jufo 3 | 2 |
| Joint publications with company | 5 |
| Other publications | Number |
| Conference proceeding | 20 |
| Other publication | 2 |
| Presentations | Number |
| Conference and seminar presentations | 80 |
As a rule, the results of TIA projects have been both useful for the company and published in scientific journals. In some projects, shortcomings in the quantity and quality of data were identified as barriers to scientific publication. This may have been due, for example, to a lack of attention to the objectives of the research in project planning or problems with the timing of the work stages of the project.
Sustainability of research
Most of the research carried out in projects funded by FRIF continues after the funding period. Around 70% of completed TIA projects have either secured or applied for additional funding.
The outcomes achieved in TIA projects have played a significant role in acquiring larger project funding. Further funding has been granted from sources such as Business Finland, the Academy of Finland and the European Research Council.
Example 1: Further funding from ERC for Aalto University’s TIA project
Professor Mikko Möttönen is working with colleagues at Aalto University to develop a quantum bit or qubit that will help to improve the precision of quantum computing. A qubit has been described as the building block of a future quantum computer that transmits, stores and processes information. When their TIA funding term ended, Möttönen and his project team received an ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million euros from the European Research Council.
The TIA project Constituents of a Quantum Computer, a collaboration between Professor Möttönen’s team and IQM Finland, led to the discovery of the unimon, a new superconducting qubit. The unimon will be the main focus of further development in the ERC project. The project team has reported achieving 99.9% fidelity in its quantum computing operations using unimons – a major breakthrough in building commercially useful quantum computers.
“What we expect to do in our new project is show that our qubit is superior to others.
This is crucial for its application in commercial quantum computers,” Möttönen says.
Professor Möttönen is convinced that the successes of the TIA project were pivotal to securing funding from the ERC. The collaboration took advantage of the infrastructure and expertise of IQM Finland, a leading quantum company based in Espoo. The TIA project also showed high academic ambition, which helped to persuade the European Research Council.
As an academic scholar, Mikko Möttönen is particularly pleased to have achieved an impact “that has the potential to redirect future funding for many scientists”. It’s possible that developing a more accurate qubit may well have just such an effect.
Impact area
Furthering knowledge and solutions for the industry
Proportion of industry partners by industry (TIA 2020-2023)
One of the objectives of TIA projects is to generate knowledge and solutions that can be used in industry and the economy. From a business perspective, the most significant impact of collaboration is typically the generation of new knowledge, for example on the impact of the use of new materials, the capabilities of the technologies developed by the company and the potential of future technologies. The completed TIA 2020 and TIA 2021 Postdoc projects have so far reported two patent applications and, overall, 50% of the projects also generated concrete solutions for industrial exploitation, such as
- algorithms
- applications
- research methods
- new industrial materials
The research projects have mainly focused on the companies’ R&D activities or production processes. The collaborations have, for example:
- accelerated the product development process
- increased the efficiency of production and R&D processes
- changed product development priorities
- strengthened the company’s credibility by providing scientific evidence, for example on the potential of a future product.
Typically, results from the majority of projects are exploitable in the immediate or medium term. However, approximately one third of projects yield results tied to future technologies not yet relevant for ongoing business development. Nonetheless, from a business standpoint, the timeframe for exploiting academic research results is subject to a high level of uncertainty, owing to the unpredictable nature of industry development. In 17% of companies, it was not considered possible to use the results of the research, for example because the resulting solution did not meet the company’s criteria, or because the results related to a technology whose development is not a priority for the company.
Time span for the exploitation of results in enterprises
Example 2: Specific in-depth expertise to company through collboration
Mikko Passiniemi was involved in the TIA project Optimizing synthesis of pharmaceuticals by machine learning as a representative of the project’s business partner. The collaboration between the University of Helsinki and Orion Pharma gave the company key insights into the uses of artificial intelligence in pharmaceuticals development.
The core requirement was to have a team that combined expertise in machine learning, academic deep knowledge, and the knowhow of the company’s own chemists. “This project allowed us to develop an AI model grounded in our company’s base data. We also understand how the documentation of our pharmaceuticals development needs to be modified so that AI can utilise the data in the future,” Passiniemi explains.
The collaboration also exposed some weaknesses in the process of drug development. One of the lessons learned was that the academic community is more inclined to report about scientific successes and breakthroughs than failures. This makes it hard for AI to learn what does not work and what is not worth trying out because there is only limited data available. A better understanding of the kind of data needed by AI models can help to advance pharmaceuticals development in many ways.
Pharmaceuticals development makes use of the Design-Make-Test-Analyse cycle, in which the second stage of making the actual drug compound takes the longest amount of time. “Each stage of synthesis involves reactions that have never been done before. What we want to do is use AI in such a way that we can predict the outcome of these reactions based on earlier data. If we can get the predictive model to work, we will also see a significant reduction in the number of failed trials,” Passiniemi believes.
The single greatest benefit from this collaboration, Passiniemi says, was the opportunity to tap into the deep knowledge of academic researchers – something that was lacking in the company. And since the researcher was able to spend all their working hours on developing the AI model, a unique opportunity was presented for in-depth research.
Furthermore, new networks were created with academia that will benefit the company for a long time to come. “Although we already had good existing contacts with the university, it’s only through this kind of collaboration that you can genuinely start to think about the common interests you can pursue and produce.”
Impact area
Strengthening human capital
A key objective of the TIA funding model is knowledge transfer between academic communities and businesses. Both researchers and industry partners agree that the researcher’s presence in the company has enhanced knowledge sharing and the development of new knowledge. The researcher’s physical presence in the company has given the researcher access to research infrastructure, confidential information, and the work community. The researcher has developed an understanding of the realities of the company’s R&D activities: the environment, processes, technologies, and the constraints and challenges of product development.
Researchers feel that this experience has significantly enhanced their ability to apply research knowledge in practical contexts. In addition, the researchers have learned to work in multidisciplinary R&D teams and communicate their research in a way that is relevant for the company. The better the researcher has been integrated into the company, the more both parties have learned from one another.
The benefits of being situated in the company premises extend beyond individual research projects. For example, the researcher’s participation in R&D team meetings and informal exchanges of information in different settings have facilitated knowledge transfer and enabled the use of academic expertise and up-to-date academic knowledge in the company.
Researchers have also identified areas for improvement in companies’ research processes, thus contributing to changes in R&D practices. New ideas and insights have emerged from chance encounters and water cooler conversations. Researchers have also trained the companies’ employees on the utilisation of research and analytical methods. This has for example improved the companies’ capacity to use their own research data.
Table 2. The reported impact of the researcher’s company period in terms of knowledge sharing and skills development
| Reported benefits of the company period | Reported impact of the company period from the perspective of the researcher and the company |
| The researcher’s access to the work community | Effective knowledge transfer from researcher to company and from company to researcher Random encounters have generated new insights The researcher has adopted new collaboration and communication practices |
| Researcher’s access to company infrastructure | The researcher has adopted new methods and technologies The researcher has learned to apply research knowledge in a practical context The company has received training from the researcher on research methods and suggestions for improvements to research processes |
Steering group activities, visits to research institutions and joint seminars have helped companies establish a broader contact with the academic community and its expertise.
These projects have also equipped the principal investigators (PI) and postdoctoral researchers with new knowledge that they have been able to use in their teaching. For example, in one of the projects, the team identified a need for a new curriculum combining chemistry and machine learning. This curriculum is now being created at the University of Helsinki. Opportunities for master’s theses have also been facilitated within the TIA projects, and several theses have been supervised within the projects.
The degree to which knowledge and skills have been shared during the project is influenced by the activity of the researcher and the industry partner and the nature of the research work. If communication between researchers and companies has focused solely on sharing research results and if research has been carried out in isolation from other company activities, mutual learning has remained limited. The involvement of the researcher in activities outside the research project and the possibility for informal knowledge sharing improve the conditions for the wider use of academic knowledge in the company and for the emergence of new insights. This requires adequate resources from the company for the project.
Career implications for the postdoctoral researcher
The majority of postdoctoral researchers in TIA projects have been recruited from within the project’s principal investigator’s team. Of these researchers, 17% had been in Finland for less than a year. When the postdoc was recruited from outside the PI’s team, 19% of them came from foreign universities. The TIA projects are therefore opportunities to promote the integration of foreign researchers into Finnish society by facilitating networks with industry partners.
Recruitment of the postdoctoral researcher (TIA Postdoc 2020-2022)
For a postdoctoral researcher, the experience of working with companies enhances their future employment opportunities outside of academia. The researchers see these collaborations as opportunities to learn and develop skills that are necessary in a corporate R&D environment. They also get a unique opportunity to assess the company as a potential future employer.
Some of the postdoctoral researchers have been employed by a company during or after the project. Out of the 11 TIA projects that commenced in 2020, five postdocs have since been recruited by companies. The majority of postdocs from completed TIA projects consider the industry a potential future employer.
Example 3: Postdoc to industry after TIA project
Dilek Cakiroglu moved to Finland and joined a TIA project from France. Before this project, she had worked as a postdoc researcher for five years. She was keenly aware that the longer you stay in academia, the harder it gets to make the transition to industry. This was the main motivation that attracted her to industry collaboration. Dilek is currently working for Beneq, a company that specializes in semiconductor technology – the same branch as Comptek Solutions, the industry partner of TIA project Surface passivation for semiconductor devices and electroluminescent cooling.
“In academic research I worked with a team of just 13 – this was all the people I knew. In this joint industry project I got to know both the company management and their networks. The people in charge at our industry partner knew the people in charge at my current employer, and I’m sure that helped me secure this job.”
Dilek is keen to stress the importance of making personal contact with people from the company so that they get to see your way of working. This was one key reason she specifically wanted to get involved in an industry collaboration project. She’s always been clear that hands-on experience in industry will be an important part of her career – especially so in this new country where she had no existing networks.
Indeed, Dilek’s new job at Beneq has brought her a great many new contacts and so
facilitated her integration into Finnish society. She has hugely enjoyed the experience of teamwork that is typical of industry settings. “In academia you’re always responsible for everything on your own, your name is attached to every study and every article. In industry you’re just a member of a team. Having completed years of academic research about your subject is not what matters, but you learn a lot by testing and experimenting.”
Impact area
Strengthening the culture and capacity for collaboration
The Finnish Research Impact Foundation aims to strengthen the connection between the academic community and the industry and to promote a culture conducive to research collaboration.
Around half of the academic and industry representatives that received TIA funding had already worked together in the past. Their previous collaboration typically involved, for example, thesis supervision, shared use of research equipment or informal information exchange. Typically, the research collaboration had been discussed at length, but no suitable structure for its implementation had been found. The low-threshold TIA funding enabled the concrete steps necessary for the first collaborative research project. Completely new partnerships have also been built around TIA projects.
Background of collaboration between research organization and industry partner
Throughout these projects, companies have become more familiar with academic work. The most important instrument for strengthening the bond between the company and the academic partner has been the researcher’s physical presence at the company’s premises. Furthermore, in some research projects, companies have had the opportunity to visit the research organisations’ premises and research stations, giving them a broader insight into the activities and resources of the research teams. This has helped to identify new opportunities for collaboration.
In many cases, collaboration between academic and industry partners continues after the TIA project. For example, some researchers have agreed with a company to use its technology even after the project’s end, and new ideas for collaborative projects have been actively developed.
Getting to know the research organisation better has also opened up new partnerships between companies and researchers even outside TIA projects. Especially in projects with a large company as the industry partner, the researchers have reportedly extended their networks meaningfully. In these cases, researchers have had the opportunity to network extensively within the company, and, through the company, they have also been exposed to the company’s networks with international research. Organisations. The companies have also established connections with international researchers through the academic community.
80% of project partners intend to continue working together after the TIA project
Example 4: Leveraging and growing networks in the TIA project
Juri Timonen worked as a postdoc researcher on the TIA project, Optimizing the synthesis of pharmaceuticals by machine learning. A collaboration between Finnish pharmaceuticals company Orion Pharma and the University of Helsinki, the project came about at a time when artificial intelligence was opening new opportunities at such a rate that academic research was struggling to keep up.
Aligning the expectations of the business and the academic partner was initially quite challenging. The introduction of deep knowledge in the business context required much discussion. It was necessary to create a common language and make sure everyone was on the same page about difficult CS concepts, such as neural networks and programming. For Timonen, who had a background in science journalism, it was clear from the outset that easily intelligible communication was going to be decisive to the project’s success.
“Collaboration with a business partner is not just about exploring academic interests, but you have to recognise what’s useful to the company in practical terms.”
During the project Juri worked actively to build up networks with other experts around the world, and he also picked up useful lessons. He now has access to extensive experimental data compiled over almost 20 years by an American professor of organic chemistry on reaction modelling; he has close connections with a Swiss team of researchers working to develop a language model; and he is engaged in ongoing discussions about data collection collaboration in the UK.
“Somehow I’ve become the centre point for the international network in this area of expertise,” he says.
Networking also serves the project’s other objective, which is to develop chemistry education. Juri’s special area of interest lies in developing skills and competencies, which is one of the reasons why he is keen to remain in academia: “My own ambition is to bring to Finland the type of chemistry that makes use of deep neural networks and deep learning.”
Conclusions of the evaluation
The results presented in this report show that the Tandem Industry Academia projects have had a significant impact on both academic research as well as business.The funding has encouraged researchers to collaborate with the business sector, with a wide range of impacts on both research and industry (Table 3).
Table 3. Summary of the impact of TIA collaboration
| Advancing science Peer-reviewed publications Joint publications with companies Presentation Further funding | Knowledge and solutions for the industry New knowledge Influence on company R&D processes Concrete solutions (e.g. algorithms, applications, materials) Patents |
| Strengthening the human capital Knowledge transfer between research organization and company New research methods New curricula Impact on researcher’s career | Enhancing the capacity and culture for collaboration Improved mutual understanding and collaboration practices New partnerships New forms of collaboration Broadened networks Continuation of collaboration |
There are, however, also areas for improvement. Firstly, it is important for academics and company representatives to strive for better interaction during the projects. Both parties need to be actively present in the projects to ensure mutual knowledge sharing and necessary support and guidance for the researcher.
In addition, it is important to improve collaboration and project management skills to ensure that the objectives of the collaborations are achieved in the best possible way. Aligning academic objectives and company interests and integrating research into the daily operations of a company may be challenging. These challenges can affect, for example, the quality and quantity of research data generated by the project, which in turn can be reflected in the number of scientific publications produced. It is noteworthy that only a small number of publications were produced in collaboration with the industry partner.
To address these development needs, the FRIF is developing its own training for funding recipients based on the experiences from previous collaborations.
Another area for development relates to the broadening and deepening of academia-industry collaboration. While it is a good result that a large number of project partners intend to continue their collaboration, it is also important to promote collaboration in new sectors and disciplines. Embracing multidisciplinarity can foster a wider range of innovation, particularly intangible innovations, and create novel opportunities for both companies and researchers.
It is also important to integrate researchers from the human sciences into collaborative research. FRIF has responded to this challenge by conducting an investigation on the current state of business collaboration in SHAPE (social sciences, humanities and the arts) disciplines. The increased number of applications from SHAPE researchers in 2024 reflects a growing interest in industry collaboration within these disciplines. However, further efforts are needed to find suitable funding models and increase opportunities for networking between SHAPE researchers and potential industry partners.
The third area for further development is creating a better understanding of the needs of research organisations outside of universities. FRIF’s funding needs to also serve those research institutions that already collaborate extensively with industry partners.
In the coming years, the FRIF will monitor the impact of its funding activities using indicators based on this impact assessment. The FRIF also continues updating the indicators to maintain alignment with its operations.
