The Swedish Knowledge Foundation invests heavily in JU

Last week the Swedish Knowledge Foundation decided to invest a total of SEK 40 million in a number of different research and educational activities at Jönköping University – a record investment from the foundation.

“This is truly gratifying for JU. We are especially happy to see that this investment is spread over several of our schools. It is also good news for the industry of this region, since all activities that are funded through this investment are based on a very close collaboration with the industry sector,” says Mats Jägstam, Vice President at Jönköping University.

The major part of the funding is directed towards JU’s new research profile Knowledge Intensive Product Realisation, which is a Knowledge Foundation environment. Within the profile, the Knowledge Foundation has now approved five new research projects and one professorship within polymer technology.

“We have been working intensively the whole autumn with the establishment of a first business plan for the profile, and we are very satisfied to see that it has been approved. Now we are looking forward to the next phase, where we will kick off the research projects together with the participating companies,” says Magnus Granström, program manager for the profile.

15 companies in total will be engaged in the approved research projects. Fagerhult, Combitech, Uddeholm and Comptech are some of them. Three of the projects are in the field of logistics, while the other two concern production and product development respectively. Each project will run during three years.

In addition to the activities within the new profile, the Knowledge Foundation has also approved a second phase of the research school ProWood and two other research projects at JU – one at the School of Health and Welfare and one at Jönköping International Business School. This means that the investment in JU amounts to over SEK 40 million, which is by far the largest sum that the university has ever been granted from the Knowledge Foundation.

2016-12-20