Design Thinking & Change

Addressing global challenges and building sound international partnership

Science diplomacy, the intersection of science and diplomacy in addressing global challenges, has gained prominence on the international stage. While Sweden boasts a long-standing tradition of scientific excellence and international collaboration, it is yet to fully embrace the discourse of Science Diplomacy within its institutional landscape. Join us as we explore the emerging field of science diplomacy and delve into its relevance within the Swedish Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) ecosystem, and whether Sweden measures up to compared to the development in other countries.

Meeting the Rising Global Competition in Sweden: OECD's Science, Technology, and Innovation Outlook

How is global competition evolving, and what measures can Sweden adopt to address challenges in order to enhance competitiveness and growth? The seminar will feature a presentation of OECD's Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Outlook 2023, showcasing a significantly heightened global emphasis on strengthening countries' research and innovation systems. The seminar will feature discussions with Minister of Education Mats Persson, Minister of Energy and Enterprise Ebba Busch (to be confirmed), OECD's Director for STI Jerry Sheehan, Professor Sara Mazur from KAW, as well as Sweden's appointed representatives from various countries' Innovation and Research Councils.

IVA's Annual Meeting 2023

What can Sweden learn from California's innovation system?

California is one of the world's leading regions for innovation and entrepreneurship and has contributed to many of the world's most successful technology companies in recent decades. What makes California's innovation system successful, and how can Sweden learn from their innovation system?

Projects and programmes

IVA believes in humanity’s capacity to contribute positively to society through the engineering and economic sciences. We run a number of projects and programmes, both short and long-term, with the ambition of promoting social development through knowledge and common sense.

Mentor4Innovation

Mentor4Innovation is an annual mentoring programme offered to Wallenberg Academy Fellows as the largest private initiative for young researchers in Sweden. The purpose of Mentor4Innovation is to increase the ability of Swedish research to innovate over the long term, by giving this group of leading young researchers a hand-picked mentor.

Tekniksprånget

Tekniksprånget gives young people throughout Sweden the chance to try out the engineering profession through four months of paid work experience. The internship programme has been run by IVA since 2012, with the aim of inspiring more people to choose engineering at university level.

Roadmap for Metals and Minerals

The green transition means a sharp increase in demand for metals and minerals. Today, a few countries outside Europe control these resources. But Sweden and other countries in the EU have great potential to secure their supply, not least through rich ore deposits. The main question for IVA's project Roadmap for Metals and Minerals is how Sweden and Europe can sustainably secure the supply of metals and minerals.

Cybersecurity for Increased Competitiveness

Antagonistic cyber threats impact all parts of Swedish society. The project under the heading “Cybersecurity for Increased Competitiveness” is focusing on how organisations in the private and public sectors can improve their ability to deal with cyber threats. The project is also looking at which political initiatives and decisions are necessary to strengthen cybersecurity in Sweden.

Future Knowledge Society

Future Knowledge Society is a long-term project aimed at encouraging children and young people to enjoy learning, while at the same time strengthening young people’s ability to evaluate information and make science-based decisions.

IVA’s Entrepreneurship Academy

IVA's Entrepreneurship Academy works with exchange of experiences, knowledge acquisition and policy development to promote and strengthen entrepreneurship and stimulate more entrepreneurs in Sweden. In practice the project aims to increase knowledge about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial abilities and contribute to improving policy and regulations.

Commercial R&D investment

The project publishes an annual R&D barometer that highlights how companies view the R&D investment climate in Sweden and makes the development of investments over time visible. IVA's R&D barometer aims to improve the understanding of this development and provide a basis for proposals that can help increase Sweden's attractiveness for R&D investments.

Research2Business (R2B)

With its Research2Business (R2B) project IVA wants to support Sweden’s efforts to become a leader in turning academic research into innovation and competitiveness in business and industry. The goal is to strengthen and increase collaboration between university research and businesses to mutually benefit all actors. R2B is responsible for, among other things, compiling IVA’s 100-list, which will be published for the sixth time in 2024, and organizing the annual R2B Summit.

R2B Summit & Sessions

IVA’s Research2Business project develops new meeting places and meeting formats for the commercial and social utilisation of research. During the annual national R2B Summit, selected researchers meet decision-makers with responsibility for innovation, research and development at companies and organisations. The R2B Sessions give a small number of researchers per meeting the opportunity to discuss their research with invited participants.

Prepare for R2B Summit and Sessions

Access our comprehensive information for those presenting their research project at the R2B Summit & Sessions. The activities are organised within IVA's Research2Business project, which aims to support the potential of research to be put to practical use and value, in collaboration with industry and society.

R2B Summit 2023

The full-day event R2B Summit 2023 took place at 7A Posthuset in Stockholm on 4 October. The R2B Summit is a unique meeting place with opportunities for researchers and the business community to find each other and exchange experiences and perspectives, with a view to creating innovations and business opportunities together. The programme is aimed at those who hold a leading position or are responsible for innovation, research and development at a company or an organisation. And at researchers on IVA’s 100 List 2023.

Application to IVA's 100 List

Take a look at our collected information before applying for IVA's 100 list. The applications for the 2024 list is now closed. IVA's 100 list 2024 will be published in November.

Q&A IVA’s 100 List

IVA’s annual 100 List highlights contemporary research, helping researchers, companies and social actors to find each other and work together on innovations and new business opportunities.

Selection criteria for IVA’s 100 List

IVA’s 100 List promotes researchers who wish to make greater contact with the business community and social actors. The selection is therefore not based on the scientific excellence of the research, but primarily on its potential for commercial development, innovation and social benefit. However, high scientific quality is a prerequisite for publication on the 100 List.