Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award

The Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award recognises individuals who have made a crucial contribution to the successful commercialisation or implementation of a discovery or innovation based on research or education at Uppsala University, with considerable benefit to society.

The award was established in 2021 by the Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award Foundation, which seeks to raise the visibility of the University's entrepreneurial culture.

The prize will amount to at least SEK 500,000 each year.

Many important research breakthroughs have been made in the more than five-hundred-year history of Uppsala University. There is also a long and profound tradition of utilisation – turning research findings into considerable benefit to society. Many products and innovations that make a difference for people today stem from individuals who, alone or with others, have shown great commitment and entrepreneurial spirit.

Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award will recognise successful entrepreneurs, innovations, and the efforts needed to translate research findings into benefit for society. The first award ceremony will take place in the early summer of 2022.

SEK 500,000 prize                                

The prize of SEK 500,000 is made possible by generous donations from the ten founders of the Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award Foundation, a new foundation connected to the University. It is an annual award intended to raise the visibility of the entrepreneurial culture of Uppsala University.

The Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award can be shared by up to three recipients. It cannot be awarded posthumously.

Entrepreneurial achievement to be rewarded

The recipient of the Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award will be a person or persons who have made a crucial contribution to the successful commercialisation or implementation of a discovery or innovation based on research or education at Uppsala University. The recipient will have a proven ability to successfully implement an idea in a viable enterprise, and their entrepreneurial achievement will have contributed to the development of our society.

Anyone can nominate

Anyone can nominate candidates for the award. Self-nomination is accepted.

Nomination criteria

The recipient/recipients should:

• have made a crucial contribution to the successful commercialisation or implementation of a discovery or innovation based on research or education at Uppsala University, with considerable benefit to society.
• have helped to create a new viable enterprise through their entrepreneurial efforts, and recently have been active in its growth and success.
• be or have been a student, active as a researcher or employee, or have some other strong connection to Uppsala University.

The Award Committee 2022

The award committee consists of:

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Coco Norén

Coco Norén has been Professor of French since 2011 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University since January 2021. At the University, she has been director of studies at undergraduate, Master’s and PhD level and senior faculty administrator. Her teaching has involved language proficiency courses in French pronunciation and grammar, as well as courses in French linguistics and general linguistics. Her research concerns semantics, reformulation, argumentation and polyphonics in various verbal interactions and text types such as everyday speech and EU parliamentarian debates. Between 2008 and 2014, she was head of the Academic Senate and between 2014 and 2020 Dean of the Faculty of Languages.

Professor Charlotte Platzer Björkman

Charlotte Platzer Björkman is Professor of Solid State Electronics at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Her research revolves around solar cells, especially new materials and production processes. She has received funding as a Wallenberg Academy Fellow, SSF Future Research Leader and an SSF Framework Grant. She also has experience of innovation work such as patenting, industrial collaboration and technical due diligence. In the her role as Deputy Vice-Rector, she is coordinator for energy research and representative in the University’s reference group for the KAW Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability (WISE).

Håkan Englund, private investor

Håkan Englund studied business and chemistry at Uppsala University and polymer technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He has over 30 years of experience from leading positions in commercial enterprises in the Life Science sector, such as Pharmacia Biotech and Phadia. For the last 10 years, he has been a private investor with his own company, JDS Invest AB, with investments in Life Science and IT. He is on numerous boards such as BioArctic AB, Prostatype Genomics AB, Ultimovacs and SecureAppbox. Earlier roles have included chair of Connect Uppsala, Uppsala Bio, Uppsala Chamber of Commerce and BIO-X Advisory Board.

Docent Lars Jonsson

Lars Jonsson is an MD and docent in anaesthesiology and intensive care at the Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University. He was CEO of Uppsala University Holding Company from 1998 until 2018, and head of business relations and head of UU Innovation between 2007 and 2013 in parallel with his work at the holding company. In his role, he has contributed to the start-up and development of around 60 companies based on research at Uppsala University. Thirteen of them are now listed. After his retirement in 2018, he has remained associated with the University as visiting researcher at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, and board member of Friends of Uppsala University. He is a member of the Royal Society of Sciences and of the investment committee for the newly started equivalent to a holding company at the University of Tartu in Estonia.

Christina Frimodig, BSc, MBA

Christina Frimodig holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology, and an MBA in international business, both from Uppsala University. She has pursued a career for over 30 years in the Life Science industry: diagnostics and medical technology in smaller and larger companies. Her focus has been in marketing and sales as well as holding various management and CEO positions in these companies. In the final years before retiring in 2018, she was CEO of STUNS, the foundation for collaboration between the universities, business and the public sector in Uppsala. In this role, she also chaired the business incubator Uppsala Innovation Centre (UIC), as well as repeatedly serving as a mentor in Mentor4Research.