How KTH bridges academia and industry for impact
The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) has more than a decade of experience in building a robust approach towards strategic partnerships with industry. Their journey reveals that forming strategic partnerships is a deeply personal endeavour, rooted in trust and transparent communication. KTH’s approach to strategic partnerships is characterised by a strong vision, structured processes, and a forceful commitment to aligning leadership and mutual goals. These elements have collectively fostered robust, sustainable collaborations that significantly enhance the university’s research and educational impact. As KTH continues to refine and expand its alliances, the lessons learned offer a guiding light for other universities aspiring to transform their external engagement practices.
KTH’s strategic vision: A commitment to excellence
KTH is Sweden’s largest technical University and a beacon of innovation, and has gone through an intriguing evolution in its approach to strategic partnerships. In its efforts to drive technological progress for societal advancement, KTH embraces the responsibility of fostering innovation and societal benefits through education and research. KTH’s focus on sustainable development and digitalisation impacts every facet of its operations—from academic programs to external collaborations. Strategic partnerships are integral to this mission, ensuring that KTH stays ahead in delivering top-tier education, pioneering research, and contributing to society at large.
The importance of fostering such collaborations for the benefit of society at large is recognised and integrated in KTH’s strategic vision. Their vision is a result of the leadership’s values and goals, which means that periodically, as the leadership is renewed, the priorities may shift. For instance, a stronger emphasis may be placed on partnerships for the benefit of research rather than education, or vice versa. In its 2024-2028 vision, KTH underscores the urgency to strengthen and expand its strategic partnerships to not only maintain world-leading research standards but also to foster innovation through collaboration. By bridging academia and industry, KTH co-creates solutions to modern challenges while industries reap the benefits of cutting-edge research, advanced knowledge, and a pipeline of skilled professionals.
From centralisation to hybridisation of partnering models
KTH began its partnership journey with a centralised model, laying down a strong foundation for collaboration. However, evaluations from 2020 to 2022, including as part of UIIN’s Strategic Partnerships Program, highlighted the potential for a more dynamic structure, leading to the adoption of a hybrid model. This innovation allows KTH’s five subject-based schools to engage more broadly and deeply, stimulating faculty involvement in school-specific partnerships while maintaining institutional oversight.
Between 2011 and 2015, partnerships with industry members (incl. Scania, Ericsson, ABB, Skanska, Saab and Vattenfall) were initiated thanks to KTH leadership’s personal connections. These partnerships were built on existing relationships, shared interests, and mutual understanding and commitment of the leadership of both parties.
Today, the initiation of strategic partnerships is still based on a personal approach where individuals from both the company and university take time to align, build trust and work out the base for transparent collaboration. However, this is supported by a rigorous evaluation process of potential partners, typically spanning six to nine months. This period allows KTH to thoroughly assess the culture, long-term benefits, and leadership alignment of the prospective partner. Strong leadership buy-in and mutual trust between the parties are seen as the cornerstones of a sustainable partnership, outweighing specific quantitative metrics.
Key considerations, sustainability and scalability in partnerships
KTH recognises two critical factors for the success of strategic partnerships: sustainability and scalability. Ensuring that alliances are not overly reliant on specific individuals mitigates risks associated with personnel changes. Scania, one of KTH’s longstanding partners, exemplifies this robustness, having weathered three CEO transitions since 2011 without losing the partnership’s strategic depth.
To scale partnerships effectively, KTH builds trust on multiple levels with the partner. Through its partnership governance framework, relationships exist between researchers, managers, and executive staff at both organisations. This is supported through the mobility of staff, which leads to more cultural awareness and understanding. At the same time, collaboration and partnerships being integrated into KTH’s core long-term planning makes them sustainable and reliable. The continuous communication with partners keeps the momentum alive, ensuring that engagement remains as vigorous as when the partnership was first formed. Through the evaluation of its partnerships through some core KPIs, KTH is able to assess their current and future partnerships.
Success stories with Scania and Ericsson
KTH’s legacy of impactful partnerships is best illustrated by its collaborations with Scania and Ericsson. The strategic partnership with Scania played a crucial role during its acquisition by Volkswagen, ensuring sustained operations in Sweden. When the company was first acquired by the German automotive company, efforts to move operations to a different country were being assessed. The collaboration between Scania and KTH was utilised to demonstrate the importance for the company to still have a base in Sweden to directly benefit from cutting-edge knowledge produced at KTH.
The KTH-Ericsson alliance also secured significant public research investments, culminating in annual funding of 8 million euros for KTH’s digitalisation initiatives. This was achieved thanks to the influence of the business partner on politicians to invest on the public sector and meet the private investments in digitalisation. This way, the university secured more funding and Ericsson secured the opportunity to be granted access to knowledge in the future.
These partnerships go beyond financial transactions; they foster profound integration with KTH’s educational and research programs. Industry professionals often serve as adjunct professors, blending practical insights with academic theory and further solidifying these collaborations.
Challenges and future directions
Despite its successes, KTH still faces significant challenges in scaling its partnerships. Currently, with 15 strategic partners, the university struggles to maintain the strategic depth of these collaborations. Balancing this depth with breadth remains an ongoing challenge. Additionally, KTH recognises the increasing necessity for cross-disciplinary collaborations, particularly involving the public sector and integrating social sciences and humanities into its technical focus. This broader engagement is crucial for tackling complex societal challenges.
An underlying, and unavoidable, challenge is managing staff turnover, both within KTH and its partner organisations. Key to overcoming this hurdle is establishing robust structures that ensure continuity and alignment with partnership goals, even amidst personnel changes. Clear frameworks exemplified by the resilient partnership with Scania highlight the importance of structural clarity in sustaining collaborative efforts.
Ready for more?
If you want to learn more about KTH and how they build their strategic partnerships, our case study KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s strategic partnerships for societal impact takes a deeper look into how KTH prioritises collaboration with private and public sector stakeholders to create breakthroughs and social benefits locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
Feel inspired by another of UIIN’s members, KU Leuven has built an ecosystem where academic brilliance seamlessly blends with industry innovation, all geared towards bettering society. Read all about it in our case study KU Leuven: Pioneering partnerships and innovation in academia.
Luca Barbera (author) is a Junior Project Officer at UIIN. His work encompasses a broad spectrum of research topics, including sustainability, deep tech, engagement practices for universities and academics, with a particular emphasis on the valorisation of results.
