KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AT LUND UNIVERSITY

Facilities and Resources

With a strong research tradition, numerous innovation hubs, high-tech companies, support for entrepreneurship, and modern infrastructure for innovation, Lund offers a dynamic and innovative environment that attracts talent and businesses from around the world. Together, these factors create a dense ecosystem of innovation in Lund, making it an attractive destination for researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and businesses looking to grow and make a global impact within walking distance, and making up the Lund Innovation District. Resources and hubs include:

1) Medicon Village Science Park  has more than 180 active companies and offers a unique environment for life science by integrating research, innovation and business to create value for people's health and better lives. Medicon Village was launched in 2012, as the basis for a broad regional collaborative initiative in the life sciences. The initiative was backed by Lund University, the region, the Lund and Malmö cities and a generous contribution from businessman Mats Paulsson. 

2) Ideon Science Park is Sweden's first research park, testimony to Lund University's innovative strength. Ideon is founded in 1983, right next to the University, through a collaboration between Lund University, the county, the municipality and the business community. The aim is to link research to innovation and entrepreneurs. Among the approximately 1 200 companies that have been active here since the start, a significant number have originated in research at Lund University.  

3) Ideon Innovation is the business incubator in the middle of the Ideon Science Park in Lund that develops entrepreneurs, ideas, and companies through well-chosen, value-creating activities and support resources. They ensure the best possible support with experienced business coaching and broad collaboration with players in the innovation ecosystem; Ideon has incubated more than 330 companies.

4) SmiLe Incubator ) is a business incubator specialised in life science. It is located at Medicon Village and is partly funded by Lund University. SmiLe Incubator offers an incubator environment with well-equipped wet labs and cell culture labs, as well as offices and meeting spaces for life science entrepreneurs.

5) MAX IV Laboratory is a Swedish national laboratory providing scientists with the most brilliant X-rays for research with Lund University as the host university. The facility is funded primarily by Swedish and international research funders, consortia, and 14 Swedish research universities. MAX IV delivers high-quality X-ray light for research in materials and life sciences. The facility was inaugurated 21 June 2016.

6) The European Spallation Source (ESS) is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a multi-disciplinary research facility based on the world’s most powerful neutron source. ESS vision is to build and operate the world’s most powerful accelerator-based neutron source, enabling scientific breakthroughs in research related to materials, energy, health and the environment, and addressing some of the most important societal challenges of our time.

Partnerships and Collaboration Models

Lund University has a strong commitment to pre-innovation research-and-collaboration activities. The Thematic Collaboration Initiatives and the Strategic Collaboration Agreements are flagship example of this, promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration within the University and close collaboration with external parties from business, the public sector, and NGOs.

1) The Thematic collaboration initiatives at Lund University is a flagship example of in the university’s commitment to the full research-and-innovation ecosystem. Meeting major societal challenges requires broad interdisciplinary collaboration within academia and with organisations outside the university. Lund University's Thematic collaboration initiatives are meeting places for knowledge and development in specific areas. The initiatives have in common that they are interdisciplinary and involve researchers from several of our faculties as well as external partners in Sweden and the world.   

2) Lund University’s Strategic collaboration agreements at university level are partnerships between Lund University and selected stakeholders. These partnerships cover many areas such as, sustainability, innovation, urban development, public health, regional attractiveness, and student life. Current partners in agreements, reviewed regularly, include the cities of Helsingborg, Lund, and Malmö, and Ericsson, SAAB, and Tetra Pak.

3) Knowledge Innovation Communities-EIT KICs  participate in several Knowledge Innovation Communities (KICs) initiated by the EU. The EIT Office coordinates the University's existing and future KIC initiatives. The Office supports researchers through project management, monitoring and reporting of KIC-related activities. By participating in European innovation clusters and partnerships, the Office creates collaborations and networks. This strengthens the University's position in innovation and research. The aim is to promote knowledge transfer, societal benefits and sustainable development in the European innovation environment. 

Impact and Success Stories

MAX IV and ESS: World-leading research facilities Lund is home to the two largest research facilities in Sweden: The MAX IV Laboratory, and the European Spallation Source (ESS). They reflect the strength and attractiveness of research at Lund University.

• MAX IV Laboratory: MAX IV Laboratory is a national electron accelerator laboratory for synchrotron radiation research which was inaugurated on 2016. The MAX IV facility is the largest and most ambitious Swedish investment in research infrastructure and the brightest source of x-rays worldwide. It will receive more than 2 000 scientists annually from Sweden and the rest of the world. Research takes place in areas such as materials science, structural biology, chemistry and nanotechnology. MAX IV Laboratory is located in Lund, Sweden, and hosted by Lund University. Funders include the Swedish Research Council, VINNOVA, Lund University, Region Skåne and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
• European Spallation Source (ESS) is a unique facility for materials research and being built in an area of 70 hectares in north-east Lund. ESS will be a multidisciplinary research facility harnessing the world’s most powerful neutron source. The facility can be likened to a giant microscope, where neutrons are used to analyse different type of materials in detail. Researchers will be able to study materials of everyday life, from plastics and proteins to medicines and molecules, in order to understand how they are structured and function. ESS will enable future scientific breakthroughs in medicine, environmental science, climate, communication and transport. The research infrastructure is being built and will be run by 13 European countries in wide collaboration. Along with the neighbouring synchrotron facility MAX IV, ESS will form a unique hub for materials research and life science in Europe. The facility is planned to be fully operational and open for external researchers in 2027.
• Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science, LINXS, promotes neutron and X-ray based science and education by serving as an important link between the research facilities ESS and MAX IV and researchers from all around the world. LINXS is a research institute that brings together world-leading scientists from Sweden and abroad for short-term focused research visits, facilitating international networks. The institute serves as a hub for new ideas and research questions, a platform for discussions on experimental methods and new approaches, as well as a meeting point where scientists from across the globe and from various disciplines and organisations can meet and collaborate. Established in 2017, the institute operates within well-defined strategic focus areas: Soft matter, Life science and Hard matter. The institute's activities are organised around themes, each with its own core group, and associated working groups. These themes facilitate networks, research and activities within specific research areas that are relevant to the institute's focus areas. A Theme is a time-limited collaborative effort over three years.