Uppsala University Innovation Partnership Office
Collaborating with the community for reciprocal exchange is part of the University’s task. This means that collaboration should create value for the University itself and the wider community. Uppsala University collaborates with the community in a wide variety of ways, including sponsored education, collaboration with schools, and projects implemented collaboratively among researchers and external organisations.
The UU Innovation Partnership Office is a unit of the University dedicated to providing support for innovation and research collaborations with organisations outside academia. Our tasks are to support researchers and research groups in their efforts to establish, develop and run collaboration and innovation projects; increase knowledge about innovation within the University through collaboration; and to provide support to University management in strategic collaborative initiatives with external stakeholders.
Combined with UU Innovation, the UU Innovation Partnership Office comprises the University’s innovation office. Within the framework of our task as the innovation office, we also provide innovation and collaboration support to Dalarna University and the University of Gävle.
What can we help with?
Seed financing
The UU Innovation Partnership Office administers a seed financing programme called Verification for Collaboration (VFS), a form of funding for early phase collaborative projects that is open to researchers working at the University. We accept new applications twice a year.
Advice and support for collaborative projects
The UU Innovation Partnership Office shall provide support to researchers and researcher groups to establish, develop and run collaboration and innovation projects with external stakeholders through measures such as providing advice on utilisation through collaboration, process and project management, collaboration agreements, and funding.
More about the UU Innovation Partnership Office
Innovation and collaboration projects
An innovation is something that creates or redistributes value, such as a method, process or model or a product or service. The UU Innovation Partnership Office can help researchers and organisations in their efforts to jointly create value for both the external and academic partners. This might involve, for example, increasing understanding of how we can address a social need, develop new research-based treatment methods, or study tangible issues at a company.
In our work, it is of utmost importance that the collaboration between the researchers and external organisations is reciprocal. This involves researchers working with the external organisation to study the issues and jointly arrive at solutions and paths forward. The project must create value for all parties involved, such as contributing new knowledge, providing access to specific materials or data, or testing models and solutions in a real-life setting.
Researchers work with organisations in the private, public and non-profit sectors in innovation and collaboration projects. Several projects also include researchers from other higher education institutions as well as international organisations.
Uppsala University runs several major centres of excellence and collaboration platforms, which the UU Innovation Partnership Office has supported in the application or start-up phase and sometimes participates as the innovation manager or coordinator during the implementation phase.
Knowledge about and capacity for collaboration
The UU Innovation Partnership Office has a mandate to increase knowledge about collaboration throughout the University. We are accomplishing this by continuously developing and refining models and methods for cross-boundary knowledge exchange and innovation development through collaboration. We also offer internal training and seminars on collaboration, as well as opportunities for researchers to practise and further develop their collaborative skills.
5i-processen ger samverkan struktur
Enheten har tillsammans med Linköpings universitet och Örebro universitet utvecklat en modell för innovationssamverkan mellan forskare och externa aktörer. Modellen heter 5i och utgår från fem stadier: Inspirera, identifiera, initiera, ingå samt intensifiera. Modellen används för att på ett strukturerat sätt välja lämpliga aktiviteter beroende på hur långt i en samverkansprocess som parterna har kommit samt vad syftet och målet med deras samverkan är.
The 5i process provides structure for collaborations
We use 5i as a model for collaborations between the University and external parties. We developed this method in collaboration with the universities in Linköping and Örebro. The name 5i refers to the five I’s: inspire, identify, initiate, implement and intensify. We use these five words to define the model and create structure and focus for our efforts in effectively supporting establishment of new collaborations.
Strategic collaboration initiatives
One of the UU Innovation Partnership Office’s tasks is to support University management and disciplinary domains and faculty management in their strategic collaboration initiatives. This may involve entering into strategic collaborations with specific organisations or participating in national and international initiatives.
The unit is responsible, for instance, for coordinating the University’s strategic partnerships and for accommodating the programme office for the strategic innovation programme Internet of Things Sweden (IoT Sverige), for which Uppsala University is the host. The UU Innovation Partnership Office is also responsible for Uppsala University’s assignment as the Industrial Liaison Office (ILO) for the CERN research infrastructure and for working with the national Big Science Sweden initiative.