How do people operate on digital platforms, such as online stores? What makes them stay and enjoy the service? What disturbs or interrupts browsing?

Lauri Frank, who works at the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Jyväskylä, has spent a long time studying questions of this type. The research results benefit Finnish companies directly.

“As a researcher, I am particularly interested in people’s behaviour and how they act as consumers. In e-commerce, people can be tempted to shop more with means such as limited-time offers and by creating the feeling that the amount of goods is endless.”

Work is given meaning in encounters

In addition to research, he also teaches, leads Master's thesis seminars and supervises doctoral researchers. He is currently leading a multi-year research project that employs a handful of researchers.

Rather than mass courses, his work feels most meaningful in small groups and bilateral encounters, where he sees his own work benefiting others. 

“With students, it is moments such as when I manage to help them progress or when a long process with a thesis or dissertation is completed that feel meaningful. Likewise, it feels good to see the research results benefit the company involved in a project,” says Frank.

Fragmented research funding causes problems

All parliamentary groups are committed to OAJ’s long-term goal of raising research and development funding (R&D) to four per cent of GDP. So, research is being invested in, at least on paper. However, Lauri Frank is concerned that the added euros will only be targeted at certain sectors and companies.

For more than 20 years, he has personally worked in research projects, the funding of which requires close cooperation with the business community. He believes that research funds will continue to be sufficient in the commercial and technological sectors. Many other sectors find it more difficult to obtain funding based on the direct interests of the business community.

“We need funding to be more sustainable, as right now it is too fragmented. In addition, in Business Finland’s projects, for example, what is researched is largely determined by funding. Research in the fields of humanities does not necessarily generate money directly, but Finland and companies still need language skills, for example. And we need education sciences so that Finland will continue to have teachers, as well as experts in different fields trained by them,” says Frank.

In April, the country’s government will hold a mid-term session to draw up major policies on the state’s spending and economic growth measures for the rest of the season.

In Frank’s opinion, the ideal situation would be that the basic funding of universities would be strengthened across the board and that universities would be able to steer their research activities independently.

“Currently, external funding is practically filling the gap in basic funding. At the same time, the inadequacy of basic funding has led universities to cooperation negotiations and cutbacks. Is it truly sensible to channel funding to small projects instead of securing sufficient basic funding?”

Attention to the attractiveness of researcher careers

The universities’ collective agreement expires at the end of March. In Lauri Frank’s opinion, it is important to invest in the attractiveness of university careers when negotiating salaries and other terms of employment. 

“Young people have to consider their career options. Especially in research projects, positions are often fixed-term and salaries are far behind the business world. It takes quite a lot of motivation from a young person to stay at the university for a fixed term if a company offers more than a thousand-euro salary increase and a permanent position,” says Frank.

He also thinks that it would be important to stick to the agreed working conditions in everyday life. 

“It may be that some researchers and managers are simply not familiar with the contractual provisions related to working hours, for example. The researcher may even think that the more they work and the faster the research progresses, the more they will benefit. We should therefore pay more attention to the wellbeing of employees and ensure that employees and supervisors know and comply with the agreements,” says Frank.

Municipalities benefit from the success of higher education institutions

In its municipal election programme, OAJ notes that municipal decision-makers play an important role as partners of universities and universities of applied sciences. Higher education institutions also increase the vitality of municipalities. For example, it is known that two out of three graduates of universities of applied sciences will be employed in their study region shortly after graduation.

Municipalities can, for one, support research and development activities between companies or the public sector and universities. Similarly, the municipality can influence the attractiveness of universities located in the municipality’s area through zoning and its range of services, among other things.