The Knowledge Foundation visited JU

When the office of the Knowledge Foundation visited JU on 28 August, JU and a few projects supported by the Knowledge Foundation were presented. All the school’s at JU were also presented, and several researchers testified to the importance of the Knowledge Foundation for their development as researchers, teachers and collaboration partners.

Peter Swalander, Operations Development Manager at the School of Engineering at JU (JTH), presented the Knowledge Foundation supported research programme SPARK, where he is also the Operations Manager. Sofia Kjellström, Professor of Quality Improvement and Leadership at the School of Health and Welfare, talked about her research and how she has used the Knowledge Foundation's programmes and funding in her research.

The visit also included a tour of the labs at the Department of Materials and Manufacturing at JTH.

“We wanted to present JU and show the great values of working in a research and education environment. Both for the individual, for the academic environment and for the collaboration with the business community. We also wanted to show how we start and run collaborations with the business community,” said Måns Svensson, President at JU.

“Impressed by JU”

A delegation of 13 people from the Knowledge Foundation joined the study visit to see how JU builds strong environments for research and education.

“It was interesting to listen to researchers and research leaders who are passionate about their research. The SPARK programme at JU is one of the largest programmes at the Knowledge Foundation, and it was impressive to see the breadth of JU. It was also exciting to see how the foundation form can be used in the best way, for instance to be faster, more flexible and able to enable solutions to societal challenges. Something that we at the Knowledge Foundation can be inspired by and benefit from,” said Eva Schelin.

By continuously visiting higher education institutions and companies, the Knowledge Foundation takes part in various initiatives in the country. In this way, they can see what the project support means for higher education institutions, organizations, and the business community in the localities and throughout the country.

“It is valuable for us to visit you to see how we can jointly shape the future of research, collaboration and innovation. Sharing your knowledge is a prerequisite for the Knowledge Foundation to be able to contribute to progress and innovation in Sweden,” said Eva Schelin.

“The Knowledge Foundation has played an important role for JU. It is great that they visit us, and we are pleased with the trust from the Knowledge Foundation and our good cooperation with the goal of supporting the development of both the region and the whole country,” concluded Salem Seifeddine, Executive Vice President at JU.