HUS year 2023: Improvement of research services
We offer our researchers services for research, degree thesis and data access permits, research funding, research agreements and publicity.
In 2023, we granted:
- 825 new research permits,
- 154 degree thesis research permits and
- 2 data access permits for researchers and organizations outside HUS.
We introduced a quarterly reporting system for research and education management, significantly improving information management and reporting in the unit. We transferred the research guidelines to our online databank for instructions to streamline research.
We clarified the research and data access permit process. We continued to develop the Researcher Desktop application and introduced PowerBi reporting for the Researcher Desktop. This reporting provides easy and fast access to key figures in research, such as the number of ongoing studies.
The SITRUS clinical trial investigation was completed, and the number of clinical trials began to increase. We opened a call for applications for funding pharmaceutical research to our research groups. The funding also includes training on carrying out pharmaceutical research.
During the year under review, we surveyed the contact persons and operations of clinical trial units at HUS. We continued to survey the situation with research nurses and organized the first ever event for all research nurses.
On opening the new HUS intranet, we improved the findability of core research services: the Ethics Committee service, the study permit service and the research advisory services. In 2024, our aim is to raise the profile of research services through service design.
The integration of the Researcher Desktop into the Information Service portal boosted the processing of information requests.
The Information Service received much positive feedback. We have also identified points for improvement which we will address in 2024 to further improve our service experience and throughput time.
The number of HUS Acamedic user environments doubled during the year under review. Researchers have been able to subscribe to the HUS Acamedic user environment directly from the Researcher Desktop as of autumn 2023.
Multi-source research funding increased
In financing, we attained an all-time high in EU funding. HUS’s own research funding remained stable at EUR 17 million. An increasing number of HUS researchers are applying for research grants from the Academy of Finland, which has become a major source of research funding for HUS in recent years. Towards the end of the year, we piloted an ‘application clinic’ for researchers intending to apply for research funding in the winter round of applications of the Academy of Finland.
We introduced a research agreement study to help in the preparation of research agreements. Researchers are invited to fill in a preliminary query form, which is forwarded to legal counsel. With this, lawyers receive more comprehensive information on research projects for drafting agreements than used to be the case, along with a shared view and access to research cases that they are dealing with. As a result, the agreement drafting process is now quicker and easier. Research management, the data protection officer and research legal services have worked in close cooperation.
In innovations, we performed a situational assessment of the innovation process and promoted practical applications of innovations.
Partners involved in improving HUS research
Our excellent partnership with the University of Helsinki continued in 2023. We updated the framework agreement between HUS and the University of Helsinki, further enhancing cooperation between the two organizations.
Our partnership with Aalto University has yielded new perspectives and opportunities. Meetings between the president of Aalto University and HUS senior management have been fruitful for our strategic cooperation. Research directors at university hospitals are key players in this network, which is characterized by excellent and lively discussions. We also engaged in closer cooperation with stakeholders nationwide, and collaboration with the wellbeing services counties began in research, development, training and innovation operations.
We piloted an AI-assisted bot, ‘Ask about research’, in autumn 2023. The bot drew positive interest in the test group, and the program was robustly tested. Testing of the updated version continues in 2024. It is believed that the bot will be of practical assistance first as an in-house tool for HUS research management and later possibly being made available to researchers.
We enhanced support for communications and popularization for researchers by setting up a research communications e-mail address where researchers can send suggestions for research to be publicized. Also, we worked with communications staff at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Helsinki in organizing two meetings for researchers and media representatives at the Terkko Health Hub.