Who will win the next Innovation Award?

Tomas Nygren and Christel Bergström are both members of the award committee that will select next year's winners. They are looking for one or more individuals who have commercialised or otherwise exploited a discovery or innovation based on research or education at Uppsala University.

“They should be people who have identified something useful that could add value to society, a patient, a customer group or the environment. We want to create role models, which is very important. Hopefully, it will give researchers or students the idea that they can do something more than research or education, that they can help create benefits for society,” explains Nygren.

Recognising innovators

Nygren is a board member of UU Invest and has worked on early-stage innovation and investment for the past 15 years at Industrifonden (the Swedish Industrial Development Fund), Almi and Innovationsbron. Bergström also has extensive insight into Uppsala as an innovation environment, as a professor and innovator in drug development.

“This very small town offers a broad range of scientific expertise of the highest quality” she says.

Uppsala combines a strong tradition of academic excellence with a developed culture of collaboration between universities, industry and society.

“There are a lot of great ideas emerging from research in this region. We want to recognise innovators and entrepreneurs, but also highlight the innovative force located here for our financiers,” explains Bergström.

Anyone can nominate

The Uppsala University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award was established in 2021 and has been presented twice so far. On the first occasion it went to Ulf Landegren, Björn Ekström and Jon Heimer – the trio behind the successful biotech company Olink Proteomics.

The following year, software company Imint was recognised for its innovative solutions for video stabilisation on smartphones. The winners that time were Andreas Lifvendahl, Johan Svensson and Harald Klomp.

The winners share SEK 500,000 and are celebrated with an award ceremony in the Grand Auditorium followed by a festive banquet.

It’s therefore that time again and everyone is free to nominate someone. Nygren reminds us that an innovation can include many things – not merely a product, but also a technology, a service or a smarter way to solve a problem. “We are keen to receive nominations for a wide range of winners. Anyone who feels compelled to do so is welcome to nominate.”

Focus on Uppsala's innovation environment

Nygren notes that the innovation environment in Uppsala has recently produced second and third-time innovators. Experience is built up and new generations are trained in research. This also gives Uppsala a competitive edge.

“We now want to identify some of the best innovators and say ‘thank you’ from the University. Doing this will not come for free, as it requires a lot of hard work. We cannot take innovation for granted – it is an environment that we need to maintain and value,” notes Bergström.

Annica Hulth