Since the start of the Resource Smart Processes Industrial Graduate School, doctoral students have participated in several industry-led courses. In autumn 2024, Stora Enso organised a course on radical innovation, and in 2025, a seminar series involving all the companies in the Industrial Doctoral School is underway.
Piotr Nowicki, Stora Enso.
When Stora Enso organised a course on what it takes to bring research from the lab all the way to the market, ten PhD students from the Industrial Research School Resource Smart Processes took part. The course enabled the students to reflect on the industrial relevance of their own projects, and to familiarise themselves with the role of a research leader in industry.
–The students showcase examples of fantastic research projects, and in this course we reflect on their business potential. We don’t just look at successful innovation, but also learn from interesting research that failed to make it all the way. By building business cases around their own research, the students gain important insights into the innovation process, says Piotr Nowicki, Vice President of Innovation Management and New Products at Stora Enso.
Jenny Sjöström. Photo: Antonia la Placa.
Piotr Nowicki and two colleagues developed the course, which was held at Stora Enso’s innovation centre in Sickla, outside Stockholm. In the three course modules, the students gained both an overall understanding of the innovation process, and had the opportunity to delve deep into techno-economic analyses of their projects.
– It’s easy to get stuck in basic research questions. That’s why it was so good that the course allowed me to broaden my horizons, move out of the lab and ground my research in concrete areas of application. That feels important, not least because we were able to see examples of just how much actually has to go smoothly in order for good research to have an impact, says Jenny Sjöström, a doctoral student at the industrial graduate school. She continues:
–It was obvious that Stora Enso was enthusiastic and had spent time creating a relevant course. Working with innovation in a business context feels very interesting, it’s a professional role that I haven’t given much thought to before.
A good opportunity to get to know the students
Lasse Tolonen, Stora Enso.
Lasse Tolonen, a senior research and development specialist at Stora Enso, led the session where the students were asked to do a techno-economic analysis. It included all the steps that Stora Enso takes when they evaluate a process, or the commercial potential of a product.
– Contact with the students is important for us in forming an impression of the people and the competences that will soon be entering the labour market. When we get to know each other, and understand the expertise of the doctoral students, we also get better at matching them to our needs, says Lasse Tolonen.
‘The involvement of the industry is crucial’
Merima Hasani., Chalmers. Photo: Johan Olsson.
This is not the first business graduate school course led by industry. Previously, Tomas Vikström at Valmet taught a course on transport processes, and in 2025 a seminar series on the theme of circularity and resource efficiency in the process industry is already underway. Each company affiliated with the business research school leads its own seminar, showing how their business and their part of the value chain works with this particular theme.
– Industry involvement is crucial in order to secure future skills in the form of PhDs and engineers who are properly equipped to move into the industry. The courses in radical innovation and transport processes, like the seminar series, are unique. They reflect the important symbiosis between industry and academia, says Merima Hasani from Chalmers, who is coordinating the business research school.
Early involvement – a way of harnessing results relevant to industry
Gigi Zhu Ryberg, Stora Enso.
Stora Enso’s innovation course lasted five weeks and included lectures, individual work, seminars, and presentations where the PhD students were able to pitch their cases. For Gigi Yingzhi Zhu Ryberg, Vice President of Front-End Innovation at Stora Enso and one of the course leaders, there was a certain degree of recognition:
– I have been a doctoral student at KTH myself, and understand the value in allowing in depth research. At the same time, I missed the connection to industry. By getting involved in the doctoral projects at an early stage, we can harness the results that are relevant from an industrial perspective, and take the research to pilot scale more swiftly. Currently, there is a gap between universities and industry, we want to help to bridge that gap. This is how we create the right conditions for successful innovation.
Read more on the project page: Industrial Graduate School Resource-smart Processes – BioInnovation
Read more on the website Resource-smart Processes