Imperial and Sweden's Lund University have signed a strategic agreement to deepen collaboration in science, education and innovation.
The new partnership will see the two leading universities form closer ties in key areas such as AI, materials science, medical technology, climate, medicine, and public health.
The new partnership will also provide a platform for connection between Lund University's Innovation District, which includes the Medicon Village life sciences cluster, and Imperial's West Tech Corridor, a new competitive ecosystem that is driving growth across West London
The agreement was signed by Imperial's President Hugh Brady and Lund University Vice-Chancellor Erik Renström in Brussels where European leaders, policymakers and academics had gathered for the launch of a new report setting out the vision for the future of European scientific collaboration
The report, Towards an Ambitious FP10 - launched by Imperial, Wellcome, and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) - provides recommendations for the EU's upcoming tenth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10).
Tackling global health challenges
Both Imperial and Lund University share a commitment to addressing global health challenges, with plans for further work on translating healthcare innovations into practical applications.
An example is the joint Horizon Europe project, AD-RIDDLE, which is developing cutting-edge health technologies to detect early signs of Alzheimer's and provide personalised prevention. The project aims to make early detection more accessible, cost-effective, and scalable, with the potential to transform dementia care across Europe.
Imperial and Lund are also members of a multi-institution network to research bacterial cause of sepsis and heart damage in children.
The newly launched iSpy Network (immunity to Streptococcus pyogenes) brings together 28 investigators from 11 countries worldwide, including experts in immunology, infectious disease, epidemiology, vaccinology and experimental medicine.
World-leading materials science
Imperial and Lund University are world-leading research institutes in materials science and the new partnership will provide opportunities for closer collaboration
Lund University is a central partner in the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), a collaboration of Swedish universities and research groups to build a sustainable future through materials science.
Lund is also home to the MAX IV synchrotron facility, the world's first 4th generation synchrotron light source facility and brightest in the world. The facility provides modern X-ray spectroscopy, scattering, diffraction, and imaging techniques to contribute to solving scientific questions in a wide range of areas.
The European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) a multi-disciplinary research facility is also currently under construction in Lund. The facility will benefit a large network of researchers across a range of scientific areas including new materials (nanomaterials), energy and climate (fuel cells, batteries, biofuels, solar energy and superconductors), health (tissues, proteins, enzymes and other complex biological materials) and many more.
