Goals and objectives

The Swedish Research Council's and Vinnova's joint goal for 2035 is that Sweden has a number of clusters of excellence that conduct top-class technology research. At the same time, they  must have established a broad innovation ecosystem with capabilities and results ranking among the top five in the world in comparison to similar environments. 

In their ongoing follow-up and evaluation the clusters of excellence will measure themselves against their comparable environments according to key performance indicators (KPIs) that the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova has decided on.

Read about the key performance indicators (KPIs)

The objective of the initiative involves very high demands. It is the whole, from research and technology development to innovation, entrepreneurship, capital attraction and large-scale utilisation, that must have the potential to reach international world class. 

A leading position requires scientific excellence on the global research front and a research base that can generate breakthroughs with high innovation potential. At the same time, strong innovation environments and collaboration structures are required with the ability to gather a large number of companies, entrepreneurs and investors around a common direction. Strategic and actionable leadership is crucial to be able to position the cluster internationally, build strategic partnerships and attract important investments to Sweden. 

A cluster of excellence should attract the best talent internationally and have access to equipment and other infrastructure to conduct research and innovation at the highest level. To secure future competence, a graduate school can also be included.

Establishing international leadership over time requires a critical mass of resources and capabilities that can drive major investments, take risks, change and quickly scale successful initiatives. A successful cluster of excellence will eventually multiply the capital from the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova through other public, industrial and venture capital-based sources of funding. The agencies' funding should therefore be seen as seed capital to  something significantly larger. 

Clusters need to consider the rapid development of AI for research and technology development, and how it can be relevant for each cluster of excellence. The impact of technology and its impact on society will also be investigated using social science and humanities research.

Only clusters of excellence that can reach the above-described capacity and performance level are relevant within the initiative. 

Read about the characteristics required to achieve the call's requirements