FORTHEM Immersive Event: Deep Dive into Innovation Collaboration and Academic Research Transfer was organised in Jyväskylä
Deep Dive into Innovation Collaboration and Academic Research Transfer was organised on 12.-14.3.2025.
The event was attended by research and innovation experts from the European . During the days, interesting discussions were held, and examples were heard of how cooperation between the university and regional partners in research and innovation matters functions, and what kind of opportunities are still untapped.
“The event provided a fantastic opportunity to meet professionals from various fields across the FORTHEM universities and hear insightful examples of how innovation collaboration and the utilization of academic research are being advanced in different countries and organizations” stated Päivikki Lahtinen from the University of Agder.
It was especially important that the event brought together researchers, practitioners and business representatives to discuss common themes and our guests from the University of Valencia summarised “As researchers of the University of Valencia, we especially valued the open exchange of ideas and best practices between institutions, which gave us new perspectives and inspiration for improving our own projects”.
The event attracted a large number of participants from various actors in Central Finland, and the programme was implemented in cooperation with Jamk; the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment; the City of Jyväskylä; StartUp Factory; and CrazyTown. From the Ģֱ, the main actors were Research and Innovation Services and Career Services.
Michael Ormshaw from JYU Research and Innovation Services commented “this FORTHEM event provided us with an opportunity for link up our regional innovation ecosystem with our international partners, and the explore the wider collaboration possibilities and how we can all learn from each other”.
FORTHEM StartUp Day at Yritystehdas Startup Factory
The event programme also included the FORTHEM StartUp Day Internationalizing Entrepreneurship at the Startup Factory. The participants were able to get to know the Startup Factory and its operating model, as well as hear presentations by budding startup entrepreneurs, as Dr Michael Fuchs from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz says “It was especially interesting for me to experience the close interaction between the Ģֱ, Jamk and the City of Jyväskylä which seems key to exploit the full local innovation potential”.
What is a FORTHEM Immersive Event?
The objectives of the annual FORTHEM Immersive Events are to not only examine the themes and issues within the agenda, but to also bring partners together to facilitate effective networking and build possibilities for future collaboration, not only between our partner universities but also between our regions. The first such event was organised in Opole, Poland, in 2024, and the next two events are planned to be held in Valencia, Spain and Dijon, France.
As Agnese Rudzate from the University of Latvia says, “I agreed to participate in this FORTHEM Immersive Event to network and find common interest points in ideas where we could use our FORTHEM alliance to achieve our individual and shared targets, and this event exactly provided that. I came home with a lot of ideas that I'm already trying in practice and of course new contacts from different fields that shared same values and passion for science to be seen outside of universities”
As Vice Rector Pasi Raiskinmäki writes (18.3.2025), the Ģֱ is building new opportunities for different sectors of society through research collaboration. This event was one concrete example of how we create new operating models and build connections not only locally in Jyväskylä and Central Finland, but also in our international operating environment.
- The next event related to the research transfer issues is organised in Mainz, on 20.-21.5.2025 and the registration is open until the 9th May. Read more and register on the FORTHEM Alliance website:
