The Nordea Scientific Prize 2024 to Johan Frishammar

The Nordea Scientific Prize 2024 by Nordea's Norrland Foundation is awarded to Johan Frishammar, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Luleå University of Technology.

“It is with great gratitude and joy that I accept this prestigious award from Nordea! I am especially happy that Nordea, through the award, has recognised my research in innovation, technology development and entrepreneurship linked to the industry’s need for sustainable transition. Innovation through new products, processes and business models is key to the industry's competitiveness and adaptability. This is also important for the labour market and for maintaining and improving our standard of living and our society,” says Johan Frishammar.

The Nordea Scientific Prize was established by Nordea's Norrland Foundation in 2006 and is awarded to prominent researchers at Luleå University of Technology. It is given to researchers who have considerable development potential and whose research findings contribute to growth and development. The researchers are to be good representatives of the University. The prize amount is SEK 100,000.

The citation reads as follows: Johan Frishammar is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts. He contributes significantly to undergraduate education at the University as teacher of innovation, strategy and economics, programme director of the Industrial engineering and management programme, and supervisor for doctoral students.

In collaboration with others, he has played an important role in the establishment of the research subject Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Luleå University of Technology, now one of the strongest research groups in Sweden, with substantial funding from Formas, Ragnar Söderbergs Stiftelse, Swedish Energy Agency, Vinnova, and the Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research & Charity.

Johan Frishammar’s considerable research output focuses on, among other things, the green and circular transition in northern Sweden. His research is important to Luleå University of Technology, northern Sweden and the activities of Nordea, and covers, for example, innovation, technological development and strategy within and between companies and organisations. He is ranked as one of the most productive researchers in Sweden (top 1%) within “Business & Management” by Research.com.

“Johan Frishammar has, in collaboration with others, built up the research subject Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Luleå University of Technology, a subject that I, as the Head of Business Banking Unit at Nordea, personally have very much at heart. Nordea is one of the large financial actors on the Nordic market, and we see it as both an opportunity and an obligation to be at the forefront as regards technological innovations and solutions, not least within the field of entrepreneurship. It is therefore highly relevant and of great value to present the Nordea Scientific Prize to Johan Frishammar, and I look forward with great excitement and curiosity to his future research,” says Anna Edin, Head of Business Banking Unit at Nordea.