The LAB University of Applied Sciences is a completely new institution. Lahti University of Applied Sciences (Lahti UAS) and Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (Saimia) have merged 1.1.2020, and together they establish LAB.  LAB is a higher education institution focusing on innovation, business and industry. It operates in Lahti and Lappeenranta and provides education in offline and online environment. LAB has 8 500 students and 360 teachers and other staff members, making it the sixth largest university of applied sciences in Finland.

 

Our specialties in the field of Research, Development​ and Innovation (RDI) are Circular Economy, Design, Commercialization of innovations and Service innovations for health and well-being. LAB’s applied research activities aim at finding, developing and producing new and improved products, production systems, methods and services. The focus areas are integrated into teaching, learning and the organisational philosophy.

 

LAB´s goal is to develop the regions´ working life, entrepreneurship, regional learning and innovation environment, and to advance individual and environmental wellbeing, and finally to support the internationalization. LAB promotes regional competitiveness in close cooperation with the local employment sector and provides students with multidisciplinary real-life industry projects to work on. 

LAb is an innovative partner in the RDI field. The volume of the RDI is approximately 9 million euros annually. Since 2003 Lahti UAS and Saimaa UAS have participated in hundreds of EU-funded projects, both national and international, including Erasmus+, Structural Funds, Interreg Central Baltic, Interreg Europe, Interreg Baltic Sea Region etc.

 

The expertise of LAB arises from highly qualified staff, solid background in diverse educational fields, strong regional and international networks and successful cooperation with partners and business contacts both in Finland and abroad. With a proactive and result-oriented attitude, international activities of LAB aim at producing new and authentic learning situations and innovative pedagogical solutions. This means new innovations, new products and services, new working methods and processes and new ways to work in the future.

LAB is a part of the LUT Group, with Lappeenranta University of Technology LUT acting as the head organisation.