The Finnish Research Impact Foundation has awarded a €200 000 grant to Professor Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér.

The Finnish Research Impact Foundation’s Tandem Industry Academia (TIA) funding programme is intended to support collaborative research projects with corporate partners.

The TIA Professor and TIA Seed projects funded in the 2024 round are based around the professors’ own research ideas, giving them the opportunity to pursue their research interests and at the same time to make good use of industry data and expertise.

Funding was granted to four applicants:

• Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér, Professor, University of Turku (TIA Seed)
• Anton Zasedatelev, Assistant Professor, Aalto University (TIA Seed)
• Jenni Ervasti, Chief Researcher, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (TIA Professor)
• Ismo Strandén, Research Professor, Natural Resources Institute Finland (TIA Professor)

The projects funded in the 2024 call are concerned with energy-efficient data transfer (TIA Seed, Zasedatelev); crop plant breeding models adapted to climate change (TIA Professor, Strandén); strategic work ability management (TIA Professor, Ervasti); and cellular metabolism (TIA Seed, Nauclér).

The corporate partners involved in the various projects are the Finnish pension insurance company Ilmarinen; Boreal Plant Breeding Ltd; NADMED and Faron Pharmaceuticals; and Picophotonics, Reflekron, and Microsoft.

TIA Seed funding aims to support the integration of researchers in Finland

One key requirement for strengthening Finland’s international competitiveness is the ability to attract and integrate top-level research talent into the Finnish academic and corporate communities.

The TIA Seed funding initiative piloted in 2024 by the Finnish Research Impact Foundation is intended for researchers who have recently joined the Finnish research funding system.

Professor Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér, who previously worked at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, says the TIA Seed funding she received will allow her to build long-term relations, which in turn will support her further research.

 “It is very important for me as a new professor in Finland to gain from the expertise within our industry collaborations and to build new competence and networks that can impact on the future development of our projects,” she says.