Vinnova: SciLifeLab receives €70M in EU funding for research collaborations in life sciences

SciLifeLab, a national research center for molecular life sciences, has received just over SEK 70 million from the European Commission. In a unique collaboration, with the help of the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, you can now employ 48 postdocs spread across nine Swedish universities. In the work with proposal to the European Commission, SciLifeLab has received support from Vinnova with, among other things, planning grants and advice.

This is in many ways a unique programme, which enables interdisciplinary collaboration and bridges institutional barriers. Gathering nine universities in a joint recruitment process and a uniform model for salary setting is not entirely easy. It is very interesting that a Swedish strategic effort is expected to produce such good results that the EU steps in and takes half of the costs, says Erik Litborn, national contact person (NCP) at Vinnova for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action. This effort is an Horisont Europa-program offering funding for free research and international mobility all over the world.

Competence-enhancing cooperation with business

The universities collaborate with the business world in this strategic effort regarding skills enhancement and the use of the national infrastructure. The investment is close to entrepreneurs and will mean an opportunity for innovative small and medium-sized companies to increase and maintain research and innovation competence.

Here we have a successful example of how to work to build up the skills supply that Sweden and Europe really need. The collaborative working method can be used in several sectors, not only in academia but also in industry, says Erik Litborn.

This article was first published on 28 August by Vinnova.