We discussed the outcomes of the project with Taurimas Valys, the team leader for a Lithuanian partner – Vilnius University Business School. According to Valys, “The BSUIN project was highly successful, and we were glad for the opportunity to work together with a great team of thirteen partners from eight countries during the project continuation. Within the project, reliable relationships were established that I believe successfully contributed to strengthening an innovation ecosystem in the Baltic States and the European region”.
Further developing the outcomes of the BSUIN project
The EUL project initiative has helped bring out the full potential of the research organisations and nearby industrial companies by using a web-based platform. To better utilise the existing underground space, the BSUIN project developed service concepts for the underground laboratories and a web-based tool in the form of an open-access platform providing characterisation data of the laboratories. These concepts and the platform were then further tested, evaluated, and improved within the EUL project.
The main objectives set for the EUL project are:
- to test the business and services concepts for the network of underground or individual laboratories, in order to ensure their functionality and enable their further
- to test the web-based tool and develop it to become more user-friendly and purposeful.
Bringing together stakeholders across the region
One of the laboratories taking part in this project is Callio Lab (Finland) located in the Pyhäsalmi Mine. This is the deepest (1444 meters) active hard rock mine in Europe. The infrastructure is especially suited to physics experiments due to the massive rock overburden. It also serves other fields of science and gives opportunities for a variety of training, R&D, and commercial purposes. The key element for the success of the project was a collaboration between the Callio Lab and other underground laboratories in Europe, such as the ÄSPÖ Hard Rock Laboratory (Oskarshamn, Sweden), the Ruskeala Mining Park (Ruskeala, Russia), the Educational and research mine Reiche Zeche (Freiberg, Germany), the Underground Low Background Laboratory of the Khlopin Radium Institute (St.Petersburg, Russia), and the Conceptual Lab development coordinated by KGHM Cuprum R&D center (Poland).
The BSUIN project had a chance to bring together diverse underground laboratories into one pool where different sectors can share experiences and learn from each other. It brought together a great variety of experts into one network of physicists, engineers, and business or marketing experts sharing their knowledge and developing a service offering of Baltic Sea Region’s underground laboratories, thus developing the capability to offer technology transfer by utilising the facilities and research infrastructures of the ULs for business development.
For those who are interested in getting to know more about the outcomes and keeping an eye on the news follow the website here: bsuin.eu/home/