Gyöngyi Kovács brings the voices of international experts to FRIF’s Board

Could you introduce yourself and your career briefly? What inspired you to join FRIF’s Board?

“I’m Gyöngyi Kovács, Vice Rector for Research at Hanken and a professor of humanitarian logistics. I joined FRIF’s board through the Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities Unifi.

Even before joining the board, I was impressed by the kinds of projects FRIF is running. For example, the foundation’s TIA Seed funding for international researchers is an extremely important and interesting initiative.”

Could you briefly explain what humanitarian logistics is and why it is needed?

“I often say that logistics is logistics, no matter the field. In humanitarian logistics, the key issue is how to operate in crisis, conflict, and disaster areas and how to get aid delivered effectively. I have done research, for example, with the logistics division of the Red Cross.

I have been working in humanitarian logistics for a long time. When I started, there was hardly any published research in the field. My colleague and I wrote a paper on the topic for a conference, and it was selected as the best paper of the event! But what was even more important was that at the conference, many researchers told me they wanted to develop collaboration around humanitarian logistics.

Now, humanitarian logistics has grown into a huge field. The HUMLOG Institute, jointly run by Hanken and the Finnish National Defence University, is the world’s largest humanitarian logistics institute.”

One of FRIF’s new strategic priorities is to promote the recruitment and integration of international top researchers into Finland. You yourself are a top researcher who moved to Finland from Austria. How do you think this goal can be achieved?

“The integration of top researchers into Finland is crucial, especially since the number of working-age people in the country is steadily decreasing.

It is also important that international top researchers in Finland are not confined only to academic careers but also engage with the business sector. Sometimes it seems that top researchers and businesses still don’t fully connect. Of course, FRIF could support this by organizing funding programs and events that enable these encounters.

Companies should also better recognize when expertise is more critical than, for example, Finnish language skills. In very few situations it is necessary to negotiate in Finnish, but professional expertise is much harder to replace.”

The foundation also aims to strengthen the role of human sciences in business. How do you think this could be promoted?

“There is a lot of research and expertise in human sciences in Finland, but it does not always connect with business. I would focus on ways to promote these connections – that is one of FRIF’s key objectives.

The funding landscape also needs to evolve so that, in addition to technical fields, human sciences are better recognized.”

Finally, what do you hope to achieve during your term on FRIF’s Board? What are you most looking forward to?

“First of all, FRIF’s board is very well structured and balanced. It includes people from different backgrounds, representing both business and research. We have already had very interesting discussions.

I hope that I can amplify the voices of international researchers in Finland. A lot of expertise is wasted when researchers cannot do their work or network simply because essential information and events are available only in Finnish.

We are also seeing examples around the world where researchers face restrictions on what kind of research they are allowed to do. Finland could be a safe haven for researchers from all over the world.”

Check out here  the stories of the other new board members and read how the outgoing members view FRIF’s impact and future.