The decision by the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova to grant funding for Chalmers’ two competence centres is a strong recognition of Chalmers’ research excellence in the area of wireless components and systems - an area of critical importance for Swedish industry and to address major societal challenges in health, energy, environment, safety, and security.
Prof Erik Ström“There is great potential to address societal challenges with wireless technologies. Our research and innovation efforts contribute to efficient medical diagnosis and treatment systems, advanced safety and security applications in many different contexts, as well as to enable sustainable communication systems,” says Erik Ström, principal investigator for ChaseOn (as the Chase follow-up center is called).
The unique combination of academic excellence and close industrial collaboration has proven very successful for knowledge transfer. A total of 20 companies and organizations take part in ChaseOn and GigaHertz Centre - telecom, defense, automotive, space, and medical technology companies as well as the public sector. The Swedish partners include Ericsson, RUAG Space, Saab, Volvo Cars, and Västra Götalandsregionen. The international partner companies include Ampleon, Infineon Technologies, Keysight Technologies, and National Instruments. In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises are joining, several of them spinoffs from Chalmers.
Strengthening a leading position
A total of 29 competence centres applied to Vinnova for funding continued operations, and five were granted. After an extensive evaluation with the help of international experts, Vinnova selected two of Chalmers’ centres. According to Vinnova, the competition was fierce, with several high quality proposals. ChaseOn and GigaHertz Centre will receive 70 MSEK of cash funding from Vinnova during the period 2017-2021. In addition, Chalmers and the partner organizations will contribute cash and in-kind to a value exceeding 200 MSEK.
“Vinnova's decision is an acknowledgment of Chalmers research excellence, and demonstrates the strategic importance for Sweden to strengthen its leading position in microwave electronics and smart antenna systems,” says Paul Häyhänen, RUAG Space, and Chairman of the Chase board.
Prof Jan Grahn“At Chalmers, we are delighted over Vinnova's decision to support both GigaHertz Centre and ChaseOn. We look forward to doing research with companies from various wireless sectors in one of the single largest Swedish efforts in the area so far,” says Jan Grahn, Director and principal investigator for GigaHertz Centre.
Internationally attractive
Gothenburg is internationally recognized for its academic and industrial excellence in microwave technologies. At Chalmers, more than a hundred researchers are engaged in microwave-related research on components, devices, systems, and applications. Moreover, the field employs over 5,000 people in the region, in large companies such as Ericsson, RUAG Space, Saab, as well as in many smaller companies.
“Now we can continue the successful efforts in Chalmers competence centres, where we gather research resources in these key areas in close cooperation between industry and Chalmers. The great interest from international companies is concrete proof of our global attractiveness,” says Peter Olanders, Ericsson, and Chairman of the GigaHertz Centre board.
Contact:
Professor Jan Grahn, GigaHertz Centrum, [email protected], +46 730-34 62 99Professor Erik Ström, ChaseOn, [email protected], +46 31-772 51 82
Receive the Funding Newswire each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.
