Networking & Meetings

As a WISE graduate school participant, there are many excellent opportunities to interact with both industry and other academic institutions to build a strong network of personal connections.

Forming a Strong Professional Network

In addition to the research work and courses taken during the PhD-studies, the WISE graduate school provides the students excellent opportunities for networking. The professional network built during the PhD studies will often be important throughout the academic life or an industrial career, and various activities are offered to promote this.

Meetings and events are regularly arranged by WISE for both internal and international networking with both academic and industrial representatives. Examples are the annual WISE Dialogue and Welcome Meeting, bringing the WISE community together.

Study trips for visiting companies and research groups are arranged 3-4 times annually. Visits are made to learn more about how sustainable development affects and is implemented in different organizations. Study visits are mandatory as a part of the WISE graduate school curriculum. The trips are also excellent opportunities for building a network of professional contacts and promote the participants to discover and connect with companies and research groups. Networking with other WISE students and postdocs is also an important goal of these trips.

Networking is also promoted by the courses, summer schools and alumni network. We are frequently inviting external speakers to our graduate school courses and the summer schools to provide an international dimension to the program.

Hands-on industrial collaborations within WISE are enabled by WISE industry research arenas (WIRAs). A main mission for WIRA is to create meeting places for the PhD and Postdoctoral researchers, their advisors, and industrial partners to discuss research and to identify scientific and sustainability challenges tackled through joint efforts.