The faculties’ new Research and Innovation Managers will enhance the impact of research and foster new collaboration opportunities.
The University of Eastern Finland is recruiting Research and Innovation Managers for its faculties, who will strengthen the impact of research, create favourable conditions for innovation and enhance stakeholder collaboration within the faculties.
– Through these roles, we promote the societal impact of our research. The new faculty-level managers support research and innovation collaboration between researchers and stakeholders and are an important part of this development, says Jussi Pihlajamäki, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation.
The new Research and Innovation Managers will start at the Philosophical Faculty, the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies in early 2027. The application period to the posts of Research and Innovation Manager is from 2 November 2026 to 23 November 2026. For more information, see the University of Eastern Finland’s website (in Finnish).
The Research and Innovation Managers participate in the strategic planning and development of research and innovation activities in the faculties. They actively identify new opportunities to utilise research knowledge and to secure funding for innovation activities, promote collaboration between researchers and the public sector, companies and other stakeholders, and build new partnerships.
– The Philosophical Faculty produces new solutions for learning, education, languages, culture and the well-being of people and communities. Our faculty has considerable innovation potential that is not always recognised. The task of the new Research and Innovation Manager is to help researchers realise this potential and make it more visible, says Ilkka Huhta, Dean of the Philosophical Faculty.
In the Faculty of Health Sciences, Anna Karjalainen took up her position as Research and Innovation Manager in September 2026. The support for research and innovation activities at the Faculty of Health Sciences will also be strengthened by recruiting a new specialist. The Faculty has piloted new models to activate business partnerships and innovation activities. The specialist will support researchers especially in new collaborative initiatives and in applying for research and innovation funding.
Support for research and innovation activities is being developed jointly by the university’s Research and Innovation Services and faculties.
– We will bring services closer to researchers and the realities of day-to-day research, enabling us to respond more effectively to practical needs. We also aim to diversify the sources of the university’s research and innovation funding and increase the amount of external funding, says Anu Liikanen, Director of Research and Innovation Services.
