Strategic cooperation essential for LiU and VTI

LiU's vice-chancellor Jan-Ingvar Jönsson and VTI's director general Tomas Svensson.

Good neighbours. LiU's vice-chancellor Jan-Ingvar Jönsson and VTI's director general Tomas Svensson photographed just before the interview below. Photo: Fotograf Satu

VTI and Linköping University are united by much more than just their geographical location – the Valla district on the outskirts of Linköping. This year marks the tenth anniversary of a strategic partnership agreement, and good neighbourly relations are continuing.

VTI and Linköping University have been working together for a long time – in fact, ever since the university was founded in 1975 and VTI moved to its current site in the same area that same year. Over the years, the two organisations have collaborated on countless research projects, exchanged and shared staff, and worked together to utilise the results of their research.

Not least, Linköping University has helped in various ways to enhance skills in VTI’s research activities. In the 1970s, only about ten employees had doctorates – but in 2024, 110 VTI employees hold PhDs. This is an important change that’s largely taken place on the quiet.

In 2014, the collaboration between the two was formalised in a strategic partnership agreement, one of eight embarked upon by Linköping University and the only one involving a research organisation. So how have things gone? Tomas Svensson, Director General of VTI, and Linköping University Vice-Chancellor Jan-Ingvar Jönsson exchange travel tips and bicker good-naturedly about which football team is better (Arsenal or Leeds) when they meet – but they’re very much in agreement when it comes to their partnership agreement.

“It’s been a real driving force for us, and it’s had a massive impact on joint research projects, not least in the EU. Of our eight agreements, this is one of the ones that has led to the most practical results,” says Jan-Ingvar Jönsson.

“We’ve actually been working together for 49 years, but this agreement is allowing us to step up our cooperation and make it more apparent. We’re also paving the way for new partnerships going forward,” says Tomas Svensson.

A look at the annual survey shows that two of VTI’s eight professors are affiliated with Linköping University, that ten researchers have been promoted to professor or docent and that 23 doctoral students are active in both organisations. And all this has happened in 2023. That same year, 33 joint research projects were conducted and six Linköping University students did their degree projects at VTI.

One of many successful joint projects, and perhaps the most renowned, involves Ride the Future’s autonomous buses. This project would hardly have been possible if Linköping University and VTI had not collaborated, not least because it was much easier to get other parties on board when the project was based on what was already an established partnership.

Both Tomas Svensson and Jan-Ingvar Jönsson feel that the way in which their collaboration is formalised and structured is one of the major advantages of the agreement. It provides a solid foundation on which to build specific projects.

Has anything not worked quite the way you hoped?

“I wouldn’t say anything hasn’t worked as such, but certainly there are areas that aren’t as developed. There’s more to be done in terms of partnership when it comes to areas such as AI, digitalisation and visualisation, where both we and Linköping University are strong,” says Tomas Svensson.

“We’re also working to increase the proportion of research projects funded by the EU. This is a Linköping University strategy, and I know it’s important for VTI as well. I also think we could develop joint test beds in different areas,” says Jan-Ingvar Jönsson, taking out his mobile phone to quickly check the action plan for the current year.

This document, which is adopted by the DG and the Vice-Chancellor every year, also highlights the efforts of the Swedish Electromobility Centre, transport economics, airborne transport, cybersecurity and resilience/preparedness as a number of priority areas for 2024. There are several, in fact. In the longer term, several joint demo facilities or system demonstrators somewhere in the region would be a clear and exciting example of partnership.

Both Linköping University’s Vice-Chancellor and VTI’s DG emphasise how important, even vital, their partnership is.

“Essentially, a university has two main missions: to teach, and to research. We need to collaborate with others if we’re going to succeed in both. Linköping University has a strong tradition, and I’d say we’re quite good at what we do,” says Jan-Ingvar Jönsson, adding that collaboration is in Linköping University’s DNA.

Tomas Svensson:

“For VTI, we need collaboration if we’re going to do what we do. Applied research requires cooperation and collaboration if it’s to be relevant and useful, and it’s becoming increasingly important for collaboration to work as effectively as possible.”

They also believe the benefit of a formal agreement is that it elevates the matter to management level, making it strategic and giving it greater significance. Moreover, it’s less reliant on specific individuals than it might have been otherwise. A clear framework is now in place for efforts going forward, outlined through annual action plans that are created by a joint collaboration group.

The tenth anniversary of the Linköping University–VTI partnership agreement was celebrated at an event held at the Universitetsklubben restaurant at the university on 24 October.

Text: Mikael Sönne

Translation: CBG

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