The Knowledge Foundation is developing a new five-year strategy

Can you tell us a little more?

Joakim: “Society is facing major challenges. Climate change, a new security situation and the effects of artificial intelligence are just a few examples. Businesses are responding to these new challenges by rapidly adapting their operations. These changes affect companies’ innovation activities, their need for knowledge and, importantly, the skills they will need in the future. The activities of the Knowledge Foundation need to adapt to these changes and therefore, in 2024, we will develop a new strategy for the next five years.”

Eva: “The Knowledge Foundation has played a crucial role in developing and establishing our target group universities and contributing to the building of strong research and education environments throughout the country. Through expansion and increasingly high quality science and education, the nature and needs of higher education institutions have changed. We need to understand this development in depth and listen to how researchers see that we can best contribute to strong environments that meet the needs of industry in the future.”

What will the process consist of?

Joakim: “To get as good and well-anchored a strategy as possible, we want to meet as many stakeholders as possible. Requests for meetings with representatives from management and research environments at most of our target group universities have been sent out. In parallel, we are planning meetings with business representatives, trade unions, other funding institutions and organizations. We will also gather a group of research policy experts who will help us reflect on the role of the Knowledge Foundation in the Swedish funding landscape and compare its activities with similar organizations internationally.”

Will a new strategy mean changes in the way the Knowledge Foundation funds research and education?

Eva: Yes, it will certainly mean changes to our programs and initiatives. However, it is far too early to say how big the changes will be. The important thing right now is to listen to and understand the needs of higher education institutions, the business community and other actors. Based on this, we formulate the direction and goals of the Knowledge Foundation for the coming years. Once this is in place, we need to look at the program portfolio and see which of the initiatives support our goals and whether we need to develop new forms of support or tweak the already established ones. This will also need to be done in close cooperation with those who apply for funding from us.”