The call for applications for Uniting Companies and International University Talents (UNICOM) industry placements for international doctoral and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University was open from 31 January to 21 February 2023.
How do I apply?
If you are an international doctoral or postdoctoral researcher at the University of Turku or Åbo Akademi University living in Southwest Finland and you are interested in applying for one or more of the placements below, please first chat with your supervisor/research group PI about the possible practical arrangements required if you were to go on a placement (e.g. regarding your research or funding situation). Although the companies have a focus on Health/Tech/Clean, your research can be from any field!
To apply, you will upload a CV and cover letter for each of the positions you wish to apply for. The How to Work in Finland - self-study materials contain useful tips about writing these in a non-academic context. Doctoral researchers: don't forget about the services provided by the Careers Services of your University!
If you are eligible to apply, we will send your applications directly to the company on your behalf.
Hear from some of the participants from last year's call themselves: BCB Medical, Comptek Solutions, CYF Digital, Deltamarin and Hidex.
Advertised industry placements:
Company website: https://www.ai2ai.fi/
Description of company:
Our mission is to develop technology which is fun, easy and healthy to use. We are developing a new user interface called PALL0. PALL0 is a golf-ball size digital device which offers a novel user interface to enable physical activities and social interaction. It combines unique features of smartphone and ball. The spherical, very durable design contains numerous sensors which enable a wide variety of physical motion to be measured, and audiovisual and haptic feedback to user. With open API and visual coding developers can rapidly program applications.
Description of the industry placements:
We are looking for a senior developer with AI knowledge and a marketing specialist to join our enthusiastic team.
Senior developer will join the team to develop further AI integrations to our product and be part of research of future solutions.
Marketing specialist will join the team to develop and execute of marketing strategy and also tactical level.
The placements are an excellent opportunity to network, build industry contacts, and gain a competitive edge in the job market.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
(1) For senior developer:
- Design, develop and maintain AI-based software applications.
- Write clean, maintainable, and scalable code.
- Stay up-to-date with the latest AI trends and developments.
- Strong programming skills, especially in languages such as Python and C++.
- Skillful in API integrations and practical experience in industrial grade implementations
- Experience with AI frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch
- Strong mathematical and statistical background.
- Experience with cloud computing platforms such as Google Cloud and Aiven.
(2) For marketing specialist:
- Develop and execute marketing strategies for product launches and campaigns.
- Conduct market research and analyze customer insights to inform marketing decisions.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product, sales, and design, to ensure cohesive and effective marketing efforts.
- Track and measure the success of marketing campaigns, and adjust strategies as needed.
- Strong understanding of digital marketing, including social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong analytical and data-driven mindset, with experience using analytics tools to track campaign success.
- Experience with marketing automation tools
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 2-3 months
Start and end dates (March - October): May – October time frame
Working time: To be agreed
Location (Southwest Finland): Turku
Possibility of remote working: Yes
Salary: To be negotiated
Contact person for placement:
Henrik Terävä
henrik@ai2ai.fi
Space weather, radiation monitor, product development
Company website: https://asro.fi/
Description of company:
ASRO provides services for space technology customers (radiation monitoring, space debris observation) and industrial customers (electronics design, embedded systems).
ASRO has over 20 years of experience with demanding international space projects. The company has comprehensive electronics competence related to design, manufacturing and testing together with our partner network.
The company was founded in 1999 and is located in Turku, Finland.
Description of industry placement:
Industry placement would be related to the development of a radiation monitor for New Space satellite constellations. The goal of the industry placement is to generate development approach for a CubeSat compatible radiation monitor and to establish preliminary specifications for the instrument.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
We are looking for a researcher with understanding of detection technologies of ionizing radiation. The applicant should have an interest in developing new technology products. Preferably the applicant has general knowledge of space weather phenomena.
Other preferred skills:
- Geant4 simulations
- Electronics design
- System engineering
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): Preferably 2 months (can be negotiated)
Start and end dates (March - October): Negotiable
Working time: Normal office hours
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Turku
Possibility of remote working: Preferably 60 % on-site
Salary: 2300-3200 € (doctoral researcher), 3 600 € (post doc)
Contact person for placement:
Jussi Lehti
Jussi.lehti@asro.fi
+358 40 7420626
Company website: https://care4living.fi/
Description of the company:
Care4Living is a Finnish family-owned biotech company oriented in contract research & service for pharmaceutical industry. Our experts have over 30 years of experience in fermentation based small molecule (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) production, both from industry and academia. We offer complete technologies for the manufacturing of fermentation based bioactive small molecules (APIs and HPAPIs).Our emphasis is on a proactive approach and frequent & open communication with customers.
Description of the industry placement:
The work will be done mainly at the laboratory with Care4living team in Pharmacity, Turku. The work includes genetic modification of microbes for improved production of antibiotics and optimization of cultivation conditions. HPLC is mainly used for analytics.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
Biochemistry skills and capabilities for laboratory works.
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 3 months
Start and end dates (March - October): March-August
Working time: mainly 7,5 h /day
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Southwest Finland
Possibility of remote working: To be discussed
Salary: To be discussed
Contact person for placement:
Kristiina Ylihonko
kristiina.ylihonko@care4living.fi
+358 40 579 9872
Company website: https://hidex.com/
Description of the company:
Hidex is a family-owned high technology company in Turku, Finland which develops and manufactures high performance analysis equipment for life science research, radiation measurement and nuclear medicine. Our products utilize modern technology and excellent tradition of workmanship. With strong links to the scientific community, we continue to innovate and develop to improve scientific research and safety of everyday life.
Description of the industry placement:
Hidex Oxidizer is an automated combustion instrument that is used for example, in new pharmaceutical development for measuring a 14C labelled drug candidates in pharmacokinetic ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) studies.
Aim of the work is application development for the Oxidizer for determination of radioactivity levels in nuclear power plant decommissioning samples. Application for measuring 36Cl level in concrete sample will be developed. The concrete sample is oxidized in 900 °C temperature and the 36Cl is collected into liquid scintillation counting (LSC) cocktail followed by measurement of the 36Cl level with LSC instrument.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
- Knowledge in chemistry and/or physics
- Laboratory working experience
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 3 months
Start and end dates (March - October): March-April
Working time: Full time (8h/day)
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Turku
Possibility of remote working: For results analyzation
Salary: About 2500 €/month
Contact person for placement:
Ari Lehmusvuori
ari.lehmusvuori@hidex.com
050 544 1432
Company website: https://www.kiilto.com/
Description of company:
Kiilto is over 100 years old Finnish family owned company. We operate in several business areas – construction and building, fire retardants, professional hygiene and consumer goods. We have about 1000 employees and we operate in Scandinavian countries, Baltics, Poland and Ukraine. We have our own research and development function and in Finland we have laboratories in Turku and Lempäälä.
Environmental leadership is in the core of our brand and we continuously work to reduce our carbon footprint. It is visible in our everyday operations and in R&D we continuously seek solutions to do better for the environment.
Description of industry placement:
Develop new innovative formulation(s) for surface cleaning. Laboratory bench work and testing.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
Chemistry background, knowledge on material sciences, knowledge about surfactants, disperging agents are essential. Knowledge about cleaning mechanisms/testings is a plus. Prior formulation experience is a plus. Knowledge about disinfectants is a plus.
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 2-3
Start and end dates (March - October): to be agreed
Working time: 7.5h/day, Mon-Fri
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Turku
Possibility of remote working: No (literature work can be done from home, but this is mainly lab work)
Salary: 2300 depending on the experience
Contact person for placement:
Oili Kallatsa
oili.kallatsa@kiilto.com
+358-50-5769243
Company website: https://klopal.com/
Description of the company:
Klopal Oy is a software company that was founded in the year 2012. We specialize in agile development both to web and mobile environments.
We are an international 6-person dynamic technology team and our offices are located in Turku and Salo. Our working language is English. Nowadays we are a part of Mangrove group, which has grown to a versatile near 200-person corporation specializing in housing.
Description of the industry placement:
We help organizations of all sizes to innovate with the help of software in construction, real estate and housing. Smart solutions, sustainability and ecology are important drivers for us.
Our software portfolio ranges from in-house to global, from real estate to opera house, from mobile to web and from startups to champions league.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
We are looking for an energy sector or building technology expert for our energy-efficient housing development project. You have knowledge of the units of measure for electricity, water consumption and heating energy, perhaps even the measurements of indoor temperature and air humidity. You know how to understand and process data consisting of these. You know how to purchase and analyze comparative data. You know how to outline algorithms from the aforementioned units of measurement, so that we can provide ecological conclusions in the project. You might have a passion for artificial intelligence or digital twin.
It would be an advantage if you have some knowledge and experience with the relational databases, perhaps MySQL or related technologies. We are working with LAMP stack with PHP language. It is also useful if you can handle Excel, Google Sheets or else spreadsheet tools.
We hope that you are an open minded and self-initiated team player with fluent language skills in English, just like us.
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 2-3 months (to be defined with the applicant)
Start and end dates (March - October): Preferably between March and June 2023
Working time: Full time
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Turku
Possibility of remote working: Partial remote work also possible
Salary: 2500 EUR / month
Contact person for placement:
Eero Mäkitalo
eero@klopal.com
050 572 5202
Company website: https://www.nordicid.com/
Description of company:
Nordic ID is a leading company providing IoT identification solutions. We are part of BRADY group of 5400 employees in five continents. The roots of Nordic ID are Finland, and we develop innovative solutions utilizing latest RFID & IoT technologies for real time item tracking. We serve customers in multiple industries. Nordic ID offers highly motivating career paths for professionals passionate about IoT identification technologies. We are passionate to grow and bring a digital identity to every item.
Description of the industry placement:
RFID is important technology for tracking the products in various logistic chains. RFID offer cost optimized and fast way to track and count items. Nordic ID makes RFID readers and software solutions using RFID. We offer few projects that targets to improve 1) our understanding of cyber security on edge-cloud-computing environment, 2) analysis of new business opportunities on big-data analytics, 3) understanding and improvement of user experience of our end-to-end solutions.
The exact scope of the project is agreed with the candidate before starting of the project.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
- Relevant programming frameworks of cloud computing and data analytics
- Be familiar with IoT security challenges and verification methods.
- Service design and studies in user experience
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 3 months
Start and end date of placement (March - October): April/May 2023
Working time: Full time
Location (Southwest Finland): Salo, Hybrid work possible
Salary: about 2500 EUR/month
Contact person for placement:
Mika Karttunen
mika.karttunen@nordicid.com
+358 50 487 2512
Material science, chemical analysis, method development, spectroscopy
Company website: https://www.paroc.com/
Description of placement:
PAROC® stands for energy-efficient and fire safe insulation solutions of stone wool for new and renovated buildings, HVAC, marine and offshore and other industrial applications. In Finland, we manufacture our products at the Parainen plant. Behind those products, there is an 80-year history of stone wool production knowhow backed with technical insulation expertise and innovation of our professionals.
Paroc is part of the Fortune 500 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index company Owens Corning. Our mission is to build a sustainable future; our people and products make the world a better place. For us, sustainability is about considering the future in all we do, with a commitment to care for people and the planet while delivering a material difference to all stakeholders.
As part of Owens Corning, we are global in scope and human in scale. We develop our employees and offer versatile, also international career opportunities.
Founded in 1938 and based in Toledo, Ohio, USA, Owens Corning has 19,000 employees in 33 countries, and it posted 2021 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit www.owenscorning.com.
Description of the industry placement:
The purpose of this work is to develop a method to measure quantitatively the organic content of the mineral wool samples. Mineral wool product often contains small amounts, i.e. 1-5 w-% organic binder which holds it together. Thermogravimetric methods are commonly used but they are time demanding, hence a new method for rapid and precise determination is needed.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
The employee should have good skills in physics or chemistry and wide knowledge of different analysis methods. Also, an access to various spectrophotometers at the university is required, especially IR, NIR and/or Raman.
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 3 months
Start and end dates (March - October): to be agreed
Working time: 37.5 h/week
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Parainen but majority of the work will be performed at the University, remote work possible.
Possibility of remote working: Yes
Salary: To be discussed
Contact person for placement:
Jani Trygg
jani.trygg@owenscorning.com
040 922 3559
Company website: https://rester.fi/
Description of the company:
Rester Oy is a Finnish company offering textile recycling solutions and enabling the recovery of textiles into a new textile fiber and quality raw materials. Rester is also a leading forerunner in building textile recovery value chains. We act as a bridge between different sectors in the development of the textile circular economy. Our customers consist of companies using textiles and producing end-of-life textiles, as well as companies that can use Rester recycled fibre in their production or products.
Our raw materials are textile waste, end-of-life textiles, garments, clothing, uniforms and workwear, flat linen, towels, and side streams from textile industry.
Our circular economy plant in Paimio refines fabrics into new, high quality raw material. The recovered fibers can be used to manufacture yarn, fabric, and various non-woven materials, such as insulation, acoustic panels and filter fabrics, as well as composite. During the mechanical recycling process, the textile grades can be mixed to achieve a desired outcome. We currently handle cotton, polyester, cotton-polyester, wool, polypropylene, and mixed materials.
Description of the industry placement:
The purpose of this work is to find solutions how to separate different textile fibers from mixed fiber materials. The process should be done mechanically. The exact topic will be agreed with the candidate before starting the project.
Expectations and desired skills profile of the applicant:
The candidate would benefit from experience from the following
- Mechanical properties of textile fibers
- Non-woven production
- Knowledge of machines in fields of fibers and textiles
Information on the industry placement:
Duration of the placement (1-3 months): 3 months
Start and end dates (March - October): March-October 2023
Working time: Part time/Full time
Location of placement (Southwest Finland): Turku/Paimio
Possibility of remote working: remote working is possible
Salary: 2500
Contact person for placement:
Kirsi Jaakkola
kirsi@rester.fi
050 537 0838
Questions?
More information: University of Turku UNICOM page & Career in Southwest Finland page.
If you have any questions about the industry placements, please contact us first before contacting the company contact person. The company contact person will only be able to help you with specific questions about the contents of the industry placement itself.
University of Turku:
Coordinator Eevi Savola
Åbo Akademi University:
Research Coordinator Maria Ljung
If none of the available industry placements match your expertise but you have an idea about an industry placement you wish to do, please contact us! If you are a postdoc and would like to work part-time in a company (e.g. 20% for up to 6 months), please also get in touch.
Please contact Eevi Savola if you are intending to arrange your own industry placement.
If you have recently received your doctoral degree from the University of Turku, please contact Eevi Savola. For Åbo Akademi University graduates, please contact Maria Ljung.