Do you have an innovative idea based on your research? Can your research make an impact outside the lab? Through the WALP program, researchers are offered support to explore and validate what impact their idea could make in industry or society.
All doctoral students, postdocs and senior researchers funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation are eligible to apply for research validation support by the Wallenberg Launchpad (WALP).
WALP Phase 1 – Exploration
The first phase is centered around personalized innovation coaching. Together with the WALP team the applicant works with the idea and explore how it can make an impact outside academia. Central keywords here are to clarify, describe, define and verify the idea. The researchers can simply apply to the WALP program by sending an email to the contact found at the end of this page, describing their idea.
When closing the Exploration phase, the applicant has formulated a project pitch to apply for admittance to phase two.
WALP Phase 2 – Research Validation
To continue, the applicant pitches the project to the WALP Phase 2 Entry Board. If successful, the WALP team proposes the KAW foundation to award a grant to the applicant. The researcher then applies for a KAW research validation Grant. If the application is granted, the journey of a Research Validation Project is initiated.
In phase two, the goal is to advance the research to the next technology readiness level. Except developing the research, possible activities are to build a team of needed competences, establish relationships with potential users and perform pilot tests.
All funding in WALP Phase 2 are handled through the university and are a non-conditional innovation support.
WALP Explained
An introduction webinar about WALP was held at Linköping University in February 2021. In this webinar, the WALP program is explained and a couple of researchers engaged in WALP tells about their projects and their journey. The recording is available below. Please note that also other types of innovation support available for researchers at Linköping University is presented. If you want to know more about local possibilities please contact you university’s innovation office.
The WALP Organization
WALP is run by Sara Mazur, Sandor Albrecht and Pontus De Laval. They all have a long experience working with technology research in the forefront and have a broad network in both academia and industry.
Sara Mazur is Director Strategic Research at Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and Chair Wallenberg Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems and Software Program, WASP.
Prior to taking up these positions, Mazur was Vice President and Head of Research at Ericsson, responsible for all research at Ericsson globally and leading the global research organization Ericsson Research, a position she held 2012-2018. Mazur worked 23 years for Ericsson on advanced technology and research to strengthen Ericsson’s technical excellence and has held many management positions in the group.
Mazur is since 2013 member of the Board of Directors of Saab AB and since 2018 member of the Board of Directors of Investor AB. She is also member of the boards of Combient AB and Nobel Media AB.
Mazur holds a Master’s of Science degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. She is also an appointed Associate Professor in Fusion Plasma Physics in the same institute. 2015 she was appointed Honorary Doctorate Luleå Tekniska Universitet.
Mazur is the inventor of 69 granted patents and has authored several journal articles in international physics journals and conference papers on international conferences. She is the co-author of the book Handbook of antennas in wireless communication.
Mazur maintains close ties with academia and research institutes. She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), department XI, Education and Research, and previously member of the boards of Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Chalmers Technical University, and the School of Electrical Engineering at KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology.
Pontus de Laval is a senior advisor to Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, SEB and Saab. Before this assignment he served as Chief Technology Officer of Saab AB from 2005 until 2019. Before this he served as head of the company’s Electronic Warfare division from 2000 to 2005. In his career he has also served in various managerial positions, all related to product development. Mr. de Laval started his career in 1986 as an Electronics Engineer working with radar technology.
Mr. de Laval received his master degree in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In addition, he has an Executive MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Mr de Laval serves in the boards of various companies and the Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology (WACQT).
Sandor Albrecht is a driver of the Wallenberg Launch Pad at the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation. Before this assignment he was Vice President, and the head of Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS) at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, a position he held 2018-2019. Prior to joining RISE, Albrecht worked at Ericsson for 20 years in several leadership positions in product development and corporate research. As the Director of Research Area Networking Technologies, he was responsible for Ericsson’s corporate research agenda in areas such as 5G transport, software defined networking and optical hardware research. He was also the founder and head of Ericsson Garage, Ericsson’s global innovation and incubation platform.
Albrecht received his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 1993, and his PhD from the same institution in 2004. He also holds a Master of Applied Science from the University of British Columbia in Canada and a Master of Business Administration from Central European University Business School, Budapest, Hungary.
Contact
Questions and idea proposals should be sent to: walp@kaw.se