“I don’t think many programmes give you this kind of exposure to both academia and business. It opened my eyes to career opportunities I had not thought of before,” said doctoral researcher Ahmed Mohamed at the kick-out event of the Neuro-Innovation doctoral programme in Kuopio.
Hosted by the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and co-funded by Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the Neuro-Innovation programme started in autumn 2022 with the aim of training international experts with a broad expertise in brain health innovation. The programme integrates neuroscience, innovation management, social sciences and law, as well as computer science and applied physics, to train new kinds of cross-disciplinary experts. Cross-sectoral collaboration has been another important aspect of the programme.
“The researchers have been encouraged to develop skills that enable diverse careers, may it be in academia, industry, public sector, third sector or entrepreneurship,” said Professor Päivi Eriksson, who co-coordinates the programme with Professor Tarja Malm.
The kick-out event organised on 9 April celebrated the work of the 14 doctoral researchers now more or less close to completing their PhDs.
Each doctoral researcher has had at least two supervisors representing different research fields. “Not only have they gained multidisciplinary insight from this arrangement, but it has been rewarding for us supervisors as well to collaborate more,” said Professor Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen.
“I think this programme has brought the collaboration, networking and internationalisation within the university’s Neuroscience research community to a new level. The doctoral researchers have challenged us, too, but in a good way,“ added Professor Reetta Kälviäinen, who is one of the supervisors.
According to her, involvement in the programme has also made even senior researchers more aware of the full scope of the innovation journey from research findings to commercialisation.
Malm noted that the positive experiences gained from the doctoral programme provided the impetus for a brain health innovation oriented postdoctoral programme, NOVEL, which started last year, also with MSCA co-funding.
Peace of mind and broader perspectives
According to doctoral researchers Ahmed Mohamed and Catherine Suubi Kayonga, the full four-year funding provided in the Neuro-Innovation programme has given them peace of mind to fully focus on their research. Mohamed studies the effects of air pollution on human central and peripheral immunity, whereas Kayonga’s topic is social support and its impact on the wellbeing of older people.
On the other hand, they have been able to broaden their horizons through visits and secondments with different stakeholders, career planning, invited career talks, pitching contests and summer schools focusing on neuroethics, patient rights and entrepreneurship, among other things.
“For example, industry secondments have enabled us to present our research to other people in the field and to see what they are doing related to our topic. And of course we have all been keeping up with each other’s research throughout the programme,” Kayonga said.
“When I started in the programme, I wasn’t sure about where I was heading, but getting to see the business side of the story has made me consider a career in industry. Possibly in Finland, as I now have contacts here,“ Mohamed noted.
Kayonga told that after her PhD, she is open to research as well as advocacy or client work – wherever she can contribute to healthy and dignified lives for older adults. “It would be interesting to continue working in Finland where such policies are topical because of the aging population. But let’s see where opportunities arise.”
The regional innovation ecosystem cooperative, Kuopio Health, is a partner in both the Neuro-Innovation and NOVEL programmes. “We are really looking forward to innovations and new entrepreneurs to arise from these activities and to contribute to the ecosystem. Expectations are positive, as neuroscience and brain health are some of the core strengths of the region,” said Aki Gröhn, CEO of Kuopio Health.
He has had the opportunity to hear researchers from the doctoral programme pitch their business ideas and to give them feedback. “I don’t have the expertise to assess the scientific part, but they were already quite well prepared to sell their ideas.”
Impact manager Piritta Parkkari said the doctoral researchers have been encouraged to disseminate their research to various audiences. “For example, there have been more than 80 blog posts, more than 100 conference or seminar presentations and more than 900 social media posts from the programme. The researchers have explained brain health topics to the national and international media as well as to children at a science summer camp.”
Watch videos from the event below!
Publication: Neuro-Innovation MSCA Cofund PhD Programme: Meet the Researchers
