Research cooperation for businesses

With the help of our expertise, develop business, improve competitiveness and boost your company’s research and development efforts.

You can commission research and reports for specific needs from us. You will have access to the latest research-based knowledge and the University’s experts and resources. The University of Helsinki has roughly 4,500 researchers working in dozens of fields of science. Their competence is world-class, and our research infrastructures are a significant asset. Our researchers also have solid experience in solving companies’ needs-based challenges.

We will get you started with collaboration by helping you identify the appropriate research challenge and find the suitable experts and methods for every need. Before the project begins, we will discuss all the essentials of collaboration, including intellectual property rights (IPR), publication of research results, budget and schedule. 

Commissioned research is funded entirely by the client. You can apply for funding from Business Finland or the EU for commissioned research carried out with us.

The intellectual property rights resulting from commissioned research typically belong to the company. However, please note that separate remuneration is paid to the inventors for any innovations created in the project. 

Further information and contact details:

business@helsinki.fi

We believe in the power of collaboration and excellent research to solve major global challenges and create innovations that contribute to a sustainable future. The world-class research, powerful multidisciplinarity and 40,000-strong community of students and staff of the University of Helsinki offer a strong, intellectually curious environment for future-oriented research projects. 

Research collaboration with us allows you to participate in innovative, future-oriented research projects and our national and international networks.



Jointly funded research collaboration can take the form of projects jointly funded by the University of Helsinki and companies, as well as projects fully or partly funded by Business Finland, the Academy of Finland, the EU and other funding providers.

Preparations for a joint research project can take over a year, and research projects themselves last on average from one to four years. Jointly funded projects can include various participants, including research institutions, universities and companies. The University can also serve as a key partner in the innovation ecosystems of businesses. We provide support for setting up the project consortium to ensure suitable partners are on board.

The University and companies each contribute to the project’s funding and implementation. In addition, part of the funding can come from public sources, such as Business Finland or the EU.

Scholarly goals are of key importance in jointly funded projects, which are expected to produce academic results, such as publications and practical of research findings. As a rule, the results are public. When they are published, care is taken to ensure that no trade secrets are revealed or results pending patent are published prematurely.

Intellectual property rights arising from collaboration are very important, as they pave the way for new business. Before initiating collaboration, the parties will agree who owns the intellectual property rights and how the company can obtain the right of use or ownership of them. In line with the basic principle of collaboration projects, intellectual property rights belong to the organisation whose employee or employees created them. If the employees involved come from various organisations, the organisations own the intellectual property rights jointly. The companies participating in jointly funded projects have the first right to negotiate for the purchase of the right of use or ownership of the results for their own business. 

 

Further information and contact details:

business@helsinki.fi

The University has a considerable range of research infrastructures available to companies.  For example, our various laboratories, greenhouses, biobanks, electron microscopes, telescopes, research vessels and sampling equipment can also be used by companies.

The high quality of our research infrastructure is one of the University’s success factors. The University of Helsinki is the most important research infrastructure operator in Finland as well as a significant player in Europe.

You can find our diverse, multidisciplinary research and laboratory services and technologies in our Research Portal. The faculty or other unit that owns each infrastructure is indicated in the portal. The owner can provide further information about the infrastructure’s use.

Further information and contact details:

business@helsinki.fi

The University of Helsinki is one of Europe’s leading multidisciplinary research universities. Helsinki Innovation Services Ltd (HIS) is the commercialisation arm of the intellectual property rights owned by the University of Helsinki.

HIS aims to actively commercialise the results of top-quality research, for example, by founding spinout companies and licensing or selling business ideas and new technical solutions.

HIS supports companies and investors by

• Providing information about available intellectual property owned by the University
• Providing information about projects, such as new technical solutions in development and late-stage commercialisation projects, that are near the stages of founding spinouts and establishing investor relations
• Conducting sales and licensing negotiations related to University-owned intellectual property
• Building teams for spinouts, combining talented leaders and excellent commercialisation projects

If you are an industrial partner interested in research-based innovative technologies available for licensing or sale or an investor looking for new investment opportunities, HIS is your primary contact at the University of Helsinki.

If you are a skilled, entrepreneurially oriented person looking for a role in a new research-based company, HIS can help you find a University of Helsinki project at just the right stage for you. 

Further information and contact details:

Please contact the Helsinki Innovation Services (HIS) team.

By donating to science, your company will be helping to build the future through education and research, as well as laying the groundwork for the development of new innovations. Donations enable the University to engage in new, significant initiatives in research and teaching. You can donate to a field of science important to your own business, to a research group you are familiar with, or to the University of Helsinki in general to support research and studies.

We are happy to publicise our donor partnerships as part of the University’s communications, as jointly agreed.

Donations between €850 and €250,000 are tax-deductible. All donations to the University are gratuitous.

Donations and other business collaboration comply with our ethical principles.

Further information and contact details:

business@helsinki.fi

Companies will be warmly welcomed at the innovation ecosystem activities on our campuses!

Check our webpages to learn more about the innovation activities of each campus. The pages provide a description of the profile and services of the campus innovation activities. You will also find the contact information of our campus specialists, who you can turn to if you wish to receive more information about innovation activities on a specific campus or want to become part of one of our innovation ecosystems.

The Cheese ‘n Wine open events organised on campuses are another fun way to become acquainted with innovation activities. At these events, specialists from various backgrounds talk about their experiences and views concerning the theme of the day. Afterwards, you will have the chance to network with other participants.

Further information and contact details:

Specialists for campus innovation activities