UNICOM (Uniting Companies and International University Talents)
Duration: 1.3.2021 – 28.2.2022
Project partners: Turku Science Park Ltd., Åbo Akademi University and Turku University (coordinator).
Funding: ESF. Total budget 419 513 euros, of which ESF and state 75 % (314 635 euros). Turku Science Park Ltd:n part of total budget 120 884 euros.
Content: The UNICOM (Uniting Companies and International University Talents) project responds to the lack of skilled labour affecting companies in Southwest Finland in select spearhead fields (Tech, Health and Clean), and increases the openness, receptiveness and attractiveness of the region’s labour market to the highly-educated international talents already living in the region.
The companies in the region that are growing and recruiting despite the COVID-19 crisis have recognized a lack of expertise in research, product development and business, particularly in the following fields: robotics and automation, electric transportation and battery technology, diagnostics and biosciences as well as ICT (especially in artificial intelligence and cloud services). These needs are best met by the currently underutilized demographic of international doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and master’s students enrolled in the study programmes of their respective spearheads.
The operations of the UNICOM project will be piloted and developed in cooperation with the partner companies that have already committed themselves to the project during the application phase.
The operations have been divided into three distinct work packages: 1) Internships at companies for doctoral candidates and post-docs, 2) workplace coaching for international talents, and 3) campaigns and support services for companies. These operations will be developed further, and the network of partnering companies will be expanded during the project with the goal of transforming the pilots into finished products and having an adequate number of partner companies to kickstart the International Talent Programme after the project ends in early 2023. In the long term, the active and highly visible partner company program will benefit the region more widely than just in terms of the region’s international talents and growing spearheads.
Duties of Turku Science Park Ltd.: Partner. Responsible for the services for companies in Turku region.
Contact person in Turku Science Park Ltd.: Megumi Hayashi