Hans Hellsmark

Entrepreneurial transformations in the Swedish University system: the case of Chalmers University of Technology

Abstract Since the beginning of the 1990s, Sweden has been transforming its national research policy into policy for innovation. One of the bottom up responses to this top d initiative has been an attempt on the part of some Swedish universities to transform themselves into entrepreneurial institutions. This paper uses a case study of one particular Swedish University; Chalmers University of Technology’s transformation process to reflect on the new research policy. Chalmers’ journey is examined against the backdrop of the changing national climate for universities as well as local factors within the university itself. The case confirms existing knowledge in that it shows that creating an entrepreneurial university takes several years as both infrastructural and cultural changes are necessary to achieve success. The case also shows that despite the long history of public–private in Sweden, the new emphasis on commercialisation and commodification of knowledge creates some degree of role uncertainty for universities. The paper concludes that one of the elements required for Swedish innovation policy is macro (policy vision and implementation) and micro (university organisation) level flexibility and diversity.

The role of pilot and demonstration plants in technological development: synthesis and directions for future research

Pilot and demonstration plants (PDPs) play important roles in technological development. They represent bridges between basic knowledge generation and technological breakthroughs on the one hand, and industrial application and commercial adoption on the other. The objectives of this article are to synthesise and categorise existing research on PDPs, as well as to suggest an agenda for future research. We review the PDP phenomena in three literature streams: engineering and natural science research, technology and innovation management, and innovation systems. The analysis highlights clear differences in e.g. conceptions of system boundaries and what the literature streams seeks to accomplish, but also similarities such as the key ideas of using PDPs for technology scale-up and uncertainty reduction.

Enacting knowledge exchange: a context dependent and ‘role-based’ typology for capturing utility from university research

One of the key research and policy problems in innovation studies is the development of tools for understanding and measuring the impact of academic research on society. The paper contributes to resolving this problem by providing a typology that helps us to understand and analyse the roles researchers take on in order to make academic knowledge useful. A key finding is that utility creation is context dependent and varies between individual researchers and research groups. Attempts to measure impact ought therefore to allow for diversity with regard to the individual researcher or research group in the context of knowledge creation.

Innovation in the bioeconomy – dynamics of biorefinery innovation networks

ABSTRACT The bioeconomy has become a central concept in many strategies for future economic development, emphasising an increasing need for collaboration across industries and sectors for innovation. This paper unpacks aspects of collaboration in the bioeconomy by looking at the development of innovation networks for biorefinery technologies from 2004 to 2014 based on innovation project data from Swedish public funding agencies using a stochastic actor-oriented model for network analysis. The analysis shows that although the network grew significantly during the time period, indicating an increasing interest in biorefinery technology innovation, inter-sectoral collaboration is not favoured over intra-sectoral collaboration. As is known from previous work on social networks trust-building is a key driver for collaboration, as actors tend to form collaborations with previous partners or indirectly connected partners, creating clustered networks.