North Sweden European Office is the shared EU Brussels office of the three universities of northern Sweden: Luleå University of Technology, Umeå University and Mid Sweden University.
The office is also shared with the regional authorities and business organisations of the regions Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland Härjedalen and Västernorrland – the four northernmost regions of Sweden.
Since the opening of the office in 1995, research and innovation policy has been one of the key priorities with a dedicated senior policy officer to monitor the policy field on behalf of the universities and its related parties.
In the field of R&I, the North Sweden European Office aim for a strong presence of science and education in EU policy-making and emphasise the importance of universities in order to reach the union’s ambitions – especially the fulfilment of the ambitions stated in the COP25 SDG and the EU’s efforts for the green and digital transition.
The office also helps its owners to navigate on the EU arena to find relevant initiatives and to connect with policy makers and interest organisations, both in terms of funding and in policy. The work is not limited to EU R&I policy but extends also to the policy areas where the universities have strong research interests to help the experts shape the agenda and to benefit from Brussels as a meeting point.
The universities contribute both to world leading excellent knowledge as well as applied research in close collaboration with industry partners – both in the regional innovation ecosystem as well as in the global context. Together the three universities cover a broad range of scientific areas including AI, medicine, bioeconomy, mining and metallurgy, space technology, ICT and distance spawning technologies, smart machines and materials and risk and crisis research.
The three universities have in total 44.000 students, which represents 14% of students enrolled for higher education in Sweden spring of 2020.
Total revenues for research and postgraduate education are €400 million where the contribution from EU’s different programmes and initiatives constitutes €25 million.