TECoSA is a Vinnova center that brings together KTH and 19 industrial partners. But what are they key aspects behind TECoSA’s strong research and innovation?
We spoke with Pierre Bodin, Senior Research Advisor for strategic initiatives at KTH Research Support Office (RSO), about TECoSA’s journey, its strong academia–industry collaboration, and the long-term work behind the center’s success.
What is the Research Support Office’s role at KTH?
As a research advisor for strategic initiatives at Research Support Office (RSO), I see our role as contributing to strengthening KTH’s position in national and international research funding by supporting the development of strategic research initiatives.
For larger initiatives, the work involves significantly more than the application process itself. We support researchers, research leaders, and university management on issues related to strategic positioning, consortium building, horizon scanning, and the development of competitive research environments.
An important part of the work is also helping researchers formulate a clear vision, establish strong partnerships, and ensure that initiatives align with both funders’ priorities and KTH’s long-term strategy.
What is KTH:s view of Vinnova’s competence centres?
KTH sees competence centres as a very important form of funding because they offer something that is normally difficult to achieve within traditional research projects: long-term commitment and close collaboration between academia, industry, and often the public sector as well.
TECoSA stands out for bringing leading researchers and industry partners together around shared challenges in digitalisation and connected systems, says Pierre Bodin, research advisor KTH
Competence centres create the conditions for building strong research environments over time, while also contributing to innovation, skills development, and knowledge exchange. For KTH, these environments are particularly valuable because they enable high-quality scientific research while allowing results to be translated into practice together with users and industry partners.
What is your impression of the TECoSA centre?
My personal impression of TECoSA is very positive. Under Martin Törngren’s professional leadership, the centre has successfully combined research of high international quality with clear industrial relevance.
What particularly distinguishes TECoSA is its ability to bring together leading researchers and industry partners around shared challenges in digitalisation, communication, and connected systems. At the same time, it has succeeded in creating an environment that promotes both long-term knowledge development and more application-oriented innovation.
The centre has also played an important role in skills development by educating PhD students and building networks between academia and industry.
Anything else to add about TECoSA and its funding?
Finally, if there is one additional aspect I would like to highlight regarding TECoSA, it is the importance of its long-term and successful work over many years of relationship-building, strategic development, and shared commitment among all parties. This has been facilitated by the centre’s specially developed internal handbook.
TECoSA is a good example of how a clear vision, strong partner relationships, and consistent work over time can create a research and innovation environment that delivers value for both academia and society.
From an RSO perspective, TECoSA illustrates very well how long-term collaborative platforms can contribute to strengthening both the quality and impact of research. This is also something we see becoming increasingly important in today’s research funding landscape.