65 applications to establish clusters of excellence for groundbreaking technology

Excellence clusters for groundbreaking technologies is a ten-year, large-scale initiative being carried out jointly by the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova. The goal is to fund about ten clusters based on strong collaborations between academia, industry, and innovation actors. The clusters are intended to lead to new breakthroughs, strengthen Sweden’s position, and foster rapidly growing companies in the field of groundbreaking technologies.

The largest number of applications, 14 in total, comes from KTH. The Karolinska Institute has submitted nine applications, Linköping University seven, and Chalmers, Lund University, and Uppsala University six applications each. Applications have also been received from SLU, the University of Gothenburg, Luleå University, Stockholm University, and Umeå University.

Applications have also been received from other organisations: IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Lindholmen Science Park, RISE, the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, and Skandionkliniken. Co-applicants in the applications come from many more universities and organisations and provide excellent coverage of the Swedish research, business, and innovation community. A total of 65 applications were received.

“Higher education institutions, companies, innovation actors, and other organisations have worked hard to create all these initiatives for future clusters of excellence that have now submitted applications. This is a sign of confidence in the future and that there are high ambitions and truly strong capabilities within the Swedish system,” says Marika Edoff, Secretary General for Engineering Sciences and head of the initiative at the Swedish Research Council.

The goal of the initiative on clusters of excellence is for Sweden to have, by 2035, a handful of clusters of excellence whose capabilities and results are ranked among the top five in the world in their respective fields.

“Around the world, countries are investing in research and innovation environments for next-generation technology. Global competition is intensifying. The interest in clusters of excellence shows that Swedish actors want to be part of the competition for the breakthroughs of the future. The ambition of this initiative is to fundamentally change and improve how we solve problems and to achieve groundbreaking research and innovation breakthroughs,” says Katarina Bjelke, Director General of the Swedish Research Council.

In clusters of excellence, the country’s leading researchers join forces with entrepreneurs and industry’s most innovative leaders to propel Sweden toward international leadership. It is a concerted effort across geographical and organisational boundaries to drive real change and create new ways of collaborating that strengthen Sweden’s position in global technology competition.

“We are grateful for the hard work and extensive collaboration between research, industry, and innovation actors that lies behind the applications – and which was also carried out in a short period of time“, says Marika Edoff.

The Swedish Research Council is now beginning its work to assess the research excellence of the submitted applications. Vinnova will then assess their innovation potential.

“Very high scores are required in both categories to ultimately receive funding. In late autumn, we will award grants to up to ten strong clusters that we assess have great potential to promote and develop Swedish leadership in key technology areas,” says Marika Edoff.

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