The interest of our region’s research activities towards micro-enterprises came to light in 2009, when the rapporteur, Professor Jorma Rantanen, appointed by the Regional Councils of Central Ostrobothnia and Northern Ostrobothnia, produced a report on developing the higher education structure and cooperation in Central Ostrobothnia, Oulu Southern Region and Pietarsaari area. In his report, the rapporteur proposed micro-entrepreneurship as a direction for cooperation in regional development.
According to the report, research, training and development work on the activities and operating conditions of micro-enterprises would be suitable for the region dominated by micro-enterprises. It was noted that there had been little or no research globally in micro-enterprises, other than in terms of economic variables. According to the rapporteur, micro-enterprise research could be generic in nature, making it possible to use the results in any sector. The region could strive for national leadership in research and development related to micro-enterprises.
The results of the study have been taken into practice, as the University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute has been carrying out both empirical and theoretical research on micro-entrepreneurship for more than a decade now, in the Micro-Entrepreneurship Centre MicroENTRE. The institute is also responsible for the national task of micro-entrepreneurship research and education granted to the University of Oulu by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The University of Oulu is now continuing to strengthen the resources of micro-entrepreneurship research, education and social impact in order to establish a professorship of micro-entrepreneurship in the Kerttu Saalasti Institute in cooperation with the University of Oulu School of Business. The professorship of micro-entrepreneurship would be the first of its kind in Finland. The aim of the professorship in micro-entrepreneurship is to establish the national role of micro-entrepreneurship as part of the activities of the University of Oulu.
High-quality micro-entrepreneurship research and education aim to increase the competitiveness of micro-enterprises and the competence of entrepreneurs, as well as to build a knowledge base of micro-entrepreneurship for the media, decision-makers and actors operating at the business interface. The aim of the professorship is to promote the operating conditions of Finnish micro-enterprises and to increase understanding of the new forms of entrepreneurship. Through research work, academic merit and increased research funding, preconditions will be created for a professor-led and expanding research group.
A funding campaign for the professorship in micro-entrepreneurship based on donations for 2023-2028 is currently under way. The costs of the first five-year period will be covered directly from the donation funds allocated to support the professorship. Donations from foundations, companies and municipalities play a key role in this. After a five-year period, the professorship will be made permanent in accordance with the practices of the University of Oulu, in which case the University of Oulu will bear the costs through its basic budgeting. The plan is to collect the funding by November 2022, after which an open and international call for a professorship will be launched at the beginning of 2023. According to the plan, the professor of micro-entrepreneurship will start in their position in August 2023.
Author: Martti Saarela, Programme Director (ad interim), Development Manager, University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute
In Kerttu Saalasti Institute's blog we write about the topics of the Institute's research groups, micro entrepreneurship education and the Institute's general topics. The authors are researchers, experts and members of networks.
Our topics are: micro entrenepreneurship, future manufacturing technologies, regional excellence, micro entrepreneurship education