Despite the significant opportunities offered by the EU programme Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Co-Funding (MSCA COFUND), engagement from Swedish higher education institutions has been limited. The Knowledge Foundation is now launching a new initiative to address this by offering co-funding for projects applying to MSCA COFUND.
To support the sustainable solutions of tomorrow, the Knowledge Foundation grants SEK 50 million to Mission 0 House, a unique collaboration between industry and academia aiming to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing processes. Together with funding from several leading companies, the total budget reaches SEK 100 million for the next five years.
The application periods for the Knowledge Foundation’s annual programme calls are now closed – and interest has been high. In total, 129 applications have been submitted for funding in research and higher education.
The Knowledge Foundation grants SEK 8 million in funding to Mälardalen University (MDU) for an initiative to build expertise in battery production, a field crucial for the green transition. Through the project, MDU will recruit leading experts, strengthen its collaboration with Northvolt Labs in Västerås, and further develop education and research in areas such as production, automation, and digitalisation.
The Knowledge Foundation is awarding just over SEK 40 million to eight projects within the SPARK research and education environment at Jönköping University. This gives the university new opportunities to advance its cutting-edge research to support the business sector's development of knowledge-intensive products, services, and processes.
Kristina Säfsten is Professor of Production Systems at the School of Engineering, Jönköping University, and is driven by her desire to learn and develop, both as a person and as a citizen. The road there leads through collaboration. Collaboration is time-consuming, but it also makes the work meaningful. It is a requirement for developing relevant knowledge. Collaboration lays the foundation for “democratic knowledge development” – a society that requires us to learn from and about each other.
Cornelius Holtorf is a professor at Linnaeus University and describes himself as an archaeologist of the future. His interests range from preserving the memory of nuclear waste over time, to the kind of culture people are leaving behind for future generations, to addressing the climate crisis through cultural heritage. It is in collaboration with others that Cornelius says he can make a difference.
Problems are there to be solved, and sometimes a problem needs to be redefined for the right solution to be put in place. These are the words of Tony Gorschek, Professor of Software Engineering at Blekinge Institute of Technology, who regards working with companies as a matter of course. This also pinpoints the difference between being a researcher and a consultant – a difference that collaborating researchers often feel they need to clarify.
Collaboration often leads to new ideas, new projects, and sometimes even new companies. For Sepehr Mousavi at Swegreen and the researchers they work with, it involves sharing ideas, developing smart solutions, and challenging each other in what is seen as possible. The process itself – the creation of knowledge – is interesting and creates value.