The Competence Centres Programme was initiated in the early 1990s by the former NUTEK, the National Board for Technical and Industrial Development. The programme constituted the first generation of competence centres in Sweden. 28 competence centres at 8 Swedish universities (see list) were funded during ten years.
The Swedish Energy Agency was formed in 1998 and then took over the financing of 5 centres. In 2001 the responsibilities for management of the programme and financing of 23 centres were taken over by VINNOVA. The programme was carried to its conclusion during 2005-2007 when the ten-years financing from NUTEK/VINNOVA was finished.
The parties behind a Competence Centre on average contributed Euro 2.1 million/year; the industrial partners 0.8 million, the host university 0.65 million, and VINNOVA or the Swedish Energy Agency 0.65 million. The total investments in the programme were Euro 550 million.
The experiences and results of the programme are very positive. This is mainly due to the combination of a sustainable governmental funding and the active involvement by companies in the research collaboration. The success of the programme had certainly an impact on the decisions of the government during the last years to focus on efforts to create strong academic research and innovation milieus.
Both the Swedish Energy Agency and VINNOVA are making new investments in competence centres. VINNOVA has launched two programmes - VINN Excellence Center and Berzelii Centra – the last one in collaboration with the Swedish Research Council.
Here you will find information about the programme and its results:
