Funding allocated to research projects totaled SEK 2.2 billion in 2017. Most of the funding awarded by the foundations comes from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, which focuses on basic research in the fields of medicine, science and technology. But the Wallenberg Foundations also award substantial grants to the social sciences, humanities, education and archaeology.
The Wallenberg Foundations is the umbrella name for 16 foundations formed by the Wallenberg family or established in memory of family members.
Out of the total of SEK 2.2 billion, the three largest foundations – the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation – awarded research funding of SEK 2.1 billion.
Starting this year, the Wallenberg Foundations will be publishing a list outlining the grants awarded by the three largest foundations during the year. The aim is to provide an overall picture of the funding awarded by the foundations to Swedish research and education.
“We think it is important to provide a coherent overall picture of the grants awarded by the Wallenberg Foundations. This is new for this year. We are proud of the depth and breadth with which the foundations can support Swedish higher education institutions in the research and education they conduct,” says Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chairman of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Contact person:
Oscar Stege Unger, contact person for the Wallenberg Foundations
Tel: +46 (0)70 6242059
oscar.stege.unger@wfab.se
Grants awarded by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation:
Strategic initiatives
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Jubilee Donations 2017
Time and time again, the Foundation awards grants specifically for basic research, thereby supporting the development of new technology capable of furthering Sweden’s long-term development as a center of research and industrial nation. During the year the Foundation decided to make a Jubilee Donation to increase funding for the Wallenberg Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP) by SEK 1 billion over ten years. The aim is to build competence in various areas of AI. A ten-year grant of SEK 600 billion was also awarded for quantum technology and the establishment of the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT).
A jubilee grant totaling SEK 150 million was also awarded to inspire young people to become interested in research. The grant goes to five Science Centers around Sweden.
- WASP support for artificial intelligence, SEK 1 billion up to 2027
- Quantum technology, SEK 0.6 billion up to 2027
- Visualization technology, and pedagogical development and production at Science Centers, SEK 150 million
Wallenberg Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP)
This research program represents a huge commitment to basic research, postgraduate education and recruitment in the autonomous systems and software development sectors. The program is intended to contribute to knowledge development in a large number of areas, in which intelligent vehicles, robots and complex software-intensive systems achieve autonomy in interaction with humans. This knowledge is essential if Swedish research is to keep up with developments towards the internet of things, in which more and more systems will also become autonomous. A key part of the program is the establishment of a platform for academic research and education that can interact with Swedish industry.
- SEK 1.3 billion up to 2025
Life Sciences
Large grants have been awarded in this field for many years. As a result, the Foundations have helped Sweden to become a prominent life-science nation. A decision was made in 2014 to make a further major concerted commitment to life sciences.
- SEK 2.5 billion up to 2026
Protein Research
Wallenberg Center for Protein Research (WCPR) is a center of excellence in research on proteins and biodrugs. Biodrugs are made from the body’s own proteins, and have revolutionized medicine, making it possible to treat advanced diseases in a new way.
In future it is expected that many more diseases will be treatable with the help of biomolecules, mainly based on antibodies.
- SEK 340 million up to 2023
Wallenberg Wood Science Center
Research at Wallenberg Wood Science Center focuses on making new products possible from Swedish forest raw materials by utilizing more of the wood. Sustainable packaging, electronics and surgical implants are some potential products.
- SEK 850 million up to 2028
The MAX IV Laboratory
The MAX IV Laboratory at Lund University has received funding of SEK 280 million for beamline tubes and expanded data storage capacity, Since the first Max Laboratory was built, the Foundation has contributed over SEK 1 billion to the MAX facilities.
- SEK 280 million
Education for increased Integration
The “Education for Increased Integration” program is a ten-year commitment to educational initiatives designed to improve integration in Swedish society. The program is supported to the tune of SEK 300 million by the three largest Wallenberg Foundations in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Swedish Academy.
- Joint initiative by the Foundations totaling SEK 300 million over ten years
Read more about the strategic funding initiatives
Individual grants
Wallenberg Academy Fellows
The program supports young researchers. They are given long-term resources, enabling them to concentrate on their research. The program also helps to make the Swedish research environment more international.
- 24 young researchers were admitted as fellows in 2017, receiving grants totaling SEK 240 million.
- 17 young researchers received extension grants totaling SEK 170 million
Wallenberg Scholars
Funding under this program for established researchers was available during the period 2009–2012. The program lasts for five years, with the possibility of an extension for a further five years.
- A total of 18 senior researchers have received extended funding for five years, totaling SEK 290 million.
Postdoctoral Scholarships
13 young researchers have received two-year postdoctoral scholarships at different departments of Stanford University. After two years abroad they are eligible to apply for two years’ funding of a research position at a Swedish higher education institution.
- SEK 30 million
Three young researchers have been awarded two-year postdoctoral scholarships in life sciences at the Broad Institute, Cambridge, U.S. After two years abroad, they will be eligible to apply for two years’ funding of a research position at a Swedish higher education institution.
- SEK 10 million
Wallenberg Clinical Scholars
The aim of the program is to boost Swedish clinical research by identifying the best clinical reearchers, giving them ample scope to conduct their research, so their findings will have an impact, both in the scientific world and in medical care.
- Two senior researchers were awarded grants in 2017, SEK 30 million.
Wallenberg Clinical Fellows
The purpose of the project is to stimulate clinical research by younger Swedish doctors. The proram enables doctors to devote much of their working time to medical research over a three-year period.
- Three researchers were awarded grants in 2017, SEK 15 million.
Program for mathematics
Pre-eminent researchers in mathematics are being supported during the period 2014–2022 so that Sweden can regain a leading international position in mathematics. The funding totals SEK 340 million.
- 14 positions were awarded under the program in 2017, SEK 32 million.
Grants
Wallenberg Advanced Bioinformatics infrastructure at Stockholm and Uppsala Universities – has been granted further funding of SEK 75 million for the period 2021–2025.
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 44.7 million for a project entitled “Interconnected quality (IQ) control – role in organelle structure-function, ageing, and longevity assurance”
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 43.2 million for a project entitled “Transforming microbiome research”
Karolinska Institutet, funding of SEK 36.8 million for “The Achilles’ heel of breast cancer” project
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 36.3 million for a project entitled “Attosecond chronoscopy of electron wave-packets probing”
Stockholm University, funding of SEK 35.2 million for a project entitled “Solving the Higgs fine-tuning problem with top partners”
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, funding of SEK 34.8 million for the “Quantum Sensors” project
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 34.5 million for a project entitled “Mitochondrial genome separation and segregation”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 34.3 million for a project entitled “Mast cells and their proteases: future targets for asthma therapy and diagnosis”
Lund University, funding of SEK 34.2 million for a project entitled “Controlled atomic scale 3D ordering for exotic electronic phases”
Swedish Museum of Natural History, funding of SEK 31 million for a project entitled “Comparative Insect Biomics”
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 29 million for a project entitled “Molecular structure of mucin domains and role of their interactions”
Karolinska Institutet, funding of SEK 27.5 million for a project entitled “Understanding malaria-parasite survival in the human body for developing new antimalarial drugs”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 27.5 million for a project entitled “Random Structures and Algorithms”.
Lund University, funding of SEK 26.2 million for a project entitled “Pinning down the origin of collective effects in small collision systems”
Karolinska Institutet, funding of SEK 25.2 million for a project entitled “Deciphering spatial signaling of protein clusters at the membrane”
Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), funding of SEK 34.5 million for programs at the institute during the period 2018–2022
Stockholm University, funding of SEK 20 million for a project entitled “Deciphering the physicochemical codes for cellular function”
Stockholm University, funding of SEK 19 million for a project entitled “Fundamental research in biosphere-based sustainability science”
Karolinska Institutet, funding of SEK 18.4 million for a project entitled “Elucidating the principles of allelic expression and regulation using single-cell genomics”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 18 million for a project entitled “Development of new therapeutic strategies based on the discovery of STINP”
Lund University, funding of SEK 10 million for a pre-study: “The Soft X-Ray Laser @ MAX IV”
Foundation for the Young Academy of Sweden, funding of SEK 10 million for the Academy over a five-year period
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Software Development Academy: Programs aimed at training new arrivals in Sweden in programming, and post-training support to help them find work in the IT sector, SEK 10 million
The Jubilee Donation – inaugurated 1967 to commemorate the Foundation’s 50th Jubilee. The donation gives financial support to higher education institutions to fund travel scholarships for scientific exchange, mainly for younger researchers, SEK 7 million.
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 6 million for a project entitled “The need for increased understanding of the United States in Sweden”
Stockholm University, funding of SEK 5.5 million for a project entitled “The great green transformation: politics, markets, and civic society in the Anthropocene”
Research Institute of Industrial Economics, funding of SEK 5.1 million for a project entitled “Labor market regulation, the demand for labor and marginal groups”
Lund University, funding of SEK 5 million for a project entitled “Longer working lives and informal caregiving: Tradeoffs and economic value”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 5 million for a project entitled “From dust to dawn: Multilingual grammar extraction from grammars”
Lund University, funding of SEK 5 million for a project entitled “CHRONOS - Chronology of Roots and Nodes of Family Trees. Fine-tuning the instruments of linguistic dating”
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 4.8 million for a project entitled “Digital scaling” – exploring social impact in contemporary collective action”
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, funding of SEK 4.5 million for a project entitled “The right question: New ways to elicit quantitative information in surveys”
Umeå University, funding of SEK 4.5 million for a project entitled “Gender and morbidity: Individual sickness trajectories of women and men in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century”
Umeå University, funding of SEK 4.5 million for a project entitled “Design philosophy for things that change”
Swedish National Committee for Pure and Applied Chemistry, funding of SEK 4.5 million for a project entitled “Chemistry in context – freely available online study materials in chemistry for secondary school/junior high school”
Lund University, funding of SEK 4.4 million for a project entitled “Digitalization and legal responsibility”
Linköping University, funding of SEK 4.4 million for a project entitled “Programming didactics – Learning and assessing programming in primary education”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 4.3 million for a project entitled “Didactical models and learning study”
Stockholm School of Economics, funding of SEK 4.1 million for a project entitled “Urban sustainability, sustainably urban?”
Umeå University, funding of SEK 4.1 million for a project entitled “Identities in flux: Digital cartographies for revisiting Pausanias’ description of Greece”
Lund University, funding of SEK 4 million for a project entitled “Migration, integration and development: The role of transnational immigrant organizations in Sweden”
Royal Swedish Academy of Music, funding of SEK 4 million for a project entitled “MITIS – Musical IT in school”
Lund University, funding of SEK 4 million for a project entitled “The Magical Garden – Supporting early mathematics for preschoolers with different linguistic backgrounds”
Lund University, funding of SEK 4 million for a project entitled “Musical Transformations”
Stockholm University, funding of SEK 3.9 million for a project entitled “Toward a typology of connection: Social cognition in grammar”
Karolinska Institutet, funding of SEK 3.8 million for a project entitled “Health and mortality in older Europeans – a matter of cash and care?”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 3.8 million for a project entitled “Governing public professions: Performance management and professional autonomy in the police and military”
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 3.8 million for a project entitled “Collectively Intelligent and Creative Teams - Co-ICT”
Umeå University, funding of SEK 3.8 million for a project entitled “EndoSisters – Information work and peer support in a digitally embodied patient movement”
University of Gothenburg, funding of SEK 3.8 million for a project entitled “The rise of the platform economy”
Stockholm School of Economics, funding of SEK 3.7 million for a project entitled “Are current regulatory tools effective in preventing the next financial crisis?
Fulbright Commission, funding of SEK 3.5 million for Fulbright Distinguished Chairs in Alternative Energy Technology, at Chalmers University of Technology
Umeå University, funding of SEK 3.3 million for a project entitled “Occupations and regional economic transformation: Quantifying the evolution of workforce interdependence across regions”
Stockholm University, funding of SEK 3.2 million for a project entitled “Hidden events in turn-taking”
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, funding of SEK 3.2 million for a project entitled “Technology supported storytelling for engaged student learning”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 3 million for a project entitled “Promoting education and research in decisive areas of law”
Ester Foundation, funding of SEK 3 million for a project entitled “Dynamic enterprises based on empirical research for women of different ethnic origin living in social exclusion”
Gundua Foundation, funding of SEK 3 million for a project entitled “Student and women education in entrepreneurship in Kenya”
Uppsala University, funding of SEK 3 million for Equipment and furnishings for the exhibition hall at Uppsala University Library
Institute for Futures Studies, funding of SEK 2.9 million for a project entitled “Sequences of democratization”
Swedish Institute of International Affairs, funding of SEK 2.8 million for a project entitled “National independence and European integration: The democratic challenges for Scotland and Catalonia in the face of the EU’s political order”
Research Institute of Industrial Economics, funding of SEK 2.8 million for a guest researcher scholarship
The Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Foundation, funding of SEK 1.8 million for production of “The internet phrasebook – Safer internet use through better communication between parents and children”
Royal Swedish Academy of Music, funding of SEK 1.5 million for a project entitled “Living Musical Heritage”
Foundation for Jurisprudential Research, SEK 1.1 million for the Nordic Law Prize – The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Prize for scientific contributions to jurisprudence
More about Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation project funding