Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research Activity Report 2006
Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research Activity Report 2006
Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research Activity Report 2006
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– The <strong>Swedish</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Strategic</strong> <strong>Research</strong> • <strong>Activity</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2006</strong>n Collegium meeting of 15 MarchA meeting of the <strong>Foundation</strong>’s Collegium was held on15 March, when the <strong>Foundation</strong>’s strategy was discussed.n <strong>Strategic</strong> research <strong>for</strong> SwedenIn conjunction with the Collegium meeting, an openseminar was held where Lars Rask presented hisintentions and where three of the leaders of the newlyestablished strategic research centres gave their visions.The recipients of the Ingvar Carlsson Award weregiven their diplomas by Ingvar Carlsson.n Chronic inflammationIn 2005, Five research funding bodies – the Knutand Alice Wallenberg <strong>Foundation</strong>, the Knowledge<strong>Foundation</strong>, SSF, VINNOVA (the <strong>Swedish</strong> GovernmentalAgency <strong>for</strong> Innovation Systems) and the Vårdal<strong>Foundation</strong> – took the initiative to a series of hearingson how a research and development programme <strong>for</strong>chronic inflammation could best be designed. Thebackground is that a relatively large portion of thepopulation – not just in Sweden but throughout thewestern world – suffers from diseases where chronicinflammation is an important component. Examples ofsuch diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerous colitis,multiple sclerosis and asthma. These diseases causegreat suffering <strong>for</strong> their victims, but also great costs <strong>for</strong>society – mainly due to sickness absence. A workinggroup has there<strong>for</strong>e devised a research and developmentprogramme in which both researchers and careproviders such as pharmaceutical companies andpatient associations collaborate so that research resultscan be translated into new <strong>for</strong>ms of treatment anddrugs as quickly as possible. The programme, whichwill extend <strong>for</strong> five years starting in 2007, has a budgetof about SEK 85 million, of which the <strong>Foundation</strong> iscontributing SEK 20 million.n Environmentally sound product realisationSmall and medium-sized enterprises have been identifiedby Mistra (<strong>Foundation</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Strategic</strong> Environmental<strong>Research</strong>) as important <strong>for</strong> an investment in researchon environmentally sound product realisation. Mistrafound that SSF/ProViking is a suitable cooperationpartner <strong>for</strong> such a programme due to their experienceof managing production science research in direct collaborationbetween industry and academia. Environmentallysound product realisation is judged to be anProfessor Hans Forssberg talks about his visions <strong>for</strong> the Stockholm Brain Institute. Photos: Katarina Wos.
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