Margareta Bäckström Lindgren

About me

I have worked as a Senior Research Advisor at the Grants Office since 2015.

Responsibilities

I provide support and guidance to all of the university’s researchers by:

• Helping to plan external funding at various levels (postdoc, early-career researchers, established researchers)
• Identifying current calls that fit the researcher’s field/project
• Assisting throughout the application process, i.e., reading and commenting on proposals
• Being responsible for processes related to strategic calls where the university is the main applicant
• Serving as the case officer for matters related to Research Centres at Luleå University of Technology

Funders within my area of responsibility

• National: FORTE, FORMAS, the Swedish Research Council (VR), Vinnova, SSF, Mistra, the Swedish Energy Agency
• Horizon Europe: Pillar II (Clusters 1–6)

Assignments and memberships

• Member of SWARMA (Swedish Associated Research Managers and Administrators)
• Member of the European Association for Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA)

Background

My background is in process engineering, primarily within the pulp and paper industry. I hold an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Luleå University of Technology (LTU). After graduating, I worked at one of the research institutes, Innventia (now RISE), as a project manager, facilitator within Materials Processes, and as a specialist at Innventia’s Grants Office.

I have experience from FP7 as a specialist in, among other things, FBS—Support for EU research. This was a support function for the forestry, pulp & paper, and bioenergy sectors, a collaboration between Innventia, SP Trä, and Skogforsk, and a representative body for FTP (Forest-based Sector Technology Platform). The Grants Office assisted during the application process with administrative matters, proposal reviews, and budgeting. Swedish companies participating in the proposals also received support as needed. Innventia’s Grants Office was closely linked to the Swedish research platform (NRA Sweden) and to the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform (FTP). In that role, I took part in numerous partnering events as a company representative, as well as in EARTO conferences.

I also have experience as an assistant coordinator for SustainComp, a large-scale project with 17 partners. The project developed new types of sustainable composite materials and demonstrators for several applications. SustainComp was listed as one of the success stories under FP7 (“SustainComp – Planning for a sustainable plastic future”).

As a project manager at Innventia, I was responsible for multiple projects together with our researchers and customers to create innovative process solutions within the pulp and paper industry. The projects were either direct for an end customer or collaborations funded by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency, or the EU.

Feel free to contact me by email!