Ten doctoral students from the Industrial Graduate School “Resource-Smart Processes” took part when Stora Enso hosted a course on what it takes to bring research from the lab all the way to the market. During the course, the students were encouraged to reflect on the industrial relevance of their own projects and to familiarize themselves with the role of a research leader in industry.
“The students are working on fantastic research projects, and in this course, we reflect on their commercial potential. We don’t just look at successful innovations, but also learn from interesting research that failed to make it to market. By building business cases around their own research, the students gain important insights into the innovation process,” says Piotr Nowicki, Vice President of Innovation Governance and New Products at Stora Enso.
“Anchored my research in real-world applications”
Piotr Nowicki, together with two colleagues, developed the course, which was held at Stora Enso’s Innovation Center in Sickla, just outside Stockholm. In its three modules, the course provided students with both an overall understanding of the innovation process and an opportunity to dive deep into techno-economic analysis of their projects.
“It’s easy to get stuck in fundamental research questions. That’s why it was so valuable to be able to lift my gaze, step out of the lab, and anchor my research in real-world applications. That feels important—especially since we got to see just how many things need to fall into place for good research to make an impact,” says Jenny Sjöström, a doctoral student in the graduate school, and continues:
“It was clear that Stora Enso was committed and had invested time in creating a relevant course. Working with innovation in an industrial context seems really interesting—it’s a career path I hadn’t considered much before.”
A great opportunity to get to know the students
Lasse Tolonen, Senior Specialist in Research and Development at Stora Enso, led the course module where students carried out a techno-economic analysis. This included all the steps Stora Enso typically takes when evaluating the commercial potential of a process or product.
“Interacting with the students is extremely valuable in helping us understand the people and skills that will soon be entering the workforce. When we get to know one another and understand the doctoral students’ areas of expertise, we’re also better able to match them with our needs,” says Lasse Tolonen.
“Industry engagement is absolutely essential”
This is not the first course within the graduate school to be led by industry. Previously, Tomas Vikström from Valmet held a course on transport processes, and in 2025, a seminar series is being held on the theme of circularity and resource efficiency in the process industry. Each company affiliated with the graduate school leads one seminar, highlighting how their operations and part of the value chain address that theme.
“Industry engagement is absolutely essential to secure future expertise in the form of PhDs and engineers who are well-equipped to transition into industry. The courses in radical innovation and transport processes, as well as the seminar series, are unique and reflect the important symbiosis between industry and academia,” says Merima Hasani from Chalmers, coordinator of the graduate school.
Early involvement – a way to capture industry-relevant results
Stora Enso’s innovation course spanned five weeks and included lectures, individual work, seminars, and presentations where the doctoral students pitched 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 sense of familiarity:
“I’ve been a doctoral student at KTH myself and see the value of letting research dive deep. At the same time, I missed the connection to industry. By engaging early in doctoral projects, we can identify results that are relevant from an industrial perspective and accelerate the path from research to pilot scale. Today, there is a gap between academia and industry that we want to help bridge. This is how we create the right conditions for successful innovation.”
