Foric is a new graduate school at Mid Sweden University in close collaboration with the industry where the PhD-students will increase the competitiveness of participating companies. Recently there was the start for the first 14 new PhD-students with supervisors from academia and industry.
- The new graduate school helps to increase the competence at the companies that Mid Sweden University interact with by developing knowledge among employees and thereby increase their competitiveness, says Per Engstrand, program director Foric (Forest as a Resource Industrial Research College).
30 researchers and professors from different disciplines at Mid Sweden University are attached to the school. Up to 50 percent of the research is funded by the Knowledge Foundation and the rest by participating companies, which is an acknowledgment of the major interest from the industry. Key partners include forest industries such as SCA and Stora Enso. An equally important role has the recycling company Ragn-Sells, energy company Sundsvall Energy and the equipment supplier Valmet. SMEs who conduct research in measure technology, system modeling and new products such as PulpEye, Frontway and Sylvestris have a central role as well. Graduate School will also collaborate with other researchers from Skogforsk, Innventia, SLU and KTH.
- Foric is a clear example of the initiative power in our region linked to the new bioeconomy, says Mats Ullmar, head of BioBusiness Arena and CEO of Åkroken Science Park.
In early February the first joint conference were held in hte resarch school. One of the main goal is to get companies to interact with each other and finding opportunities for cooperation between the PhD-students.
- We have very good experience in working with Mid Sweden University and their research schools from the past, and that is why we have chosen to enter in this project as well. Based on previous collaborations, we have seen that this is a very good way of working, says Folke Österberg, SCA Forest Products AB.
- The Graduate School is a great addition to our own development and strengthens our expertise, says Karin Persson, SCA R & D Centre in Sundsvall. Our new doctoral student Hafizur Rahman will study how we can modify the fiber processes to obtain improved product properties of chemical pulp. He will do his studies in laboratory scale and full scale primarily at our facility at Östrand pulp mill.
Foric is scheduled to last for eight years. A total of 30 graduate students are planning to present an academic licentiate degree and ten of them have a plan to present a doctoral thesis. 14 more PhD-Students start their research in 2015 and another 16 students in 2016/2017.
Learn more about the different research projects in Foric on www.miun.se/foric
