Activities and Strategic Development

1. Focus and Specialization
2. Global, National, Regional and Local Collaboration
3. Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation

1. Focus and Specialization

Jönköping University has a unique organizational model based on its foundation structure. The foundation uses a combination of its own funding, government contributions for education and research, and the highest external share of funding for research among Swedish universities, to support a cutting-edge portfolio of specialities in higher education and research.

Common themes for this portfolio centre on entrepreneurship, innovative and life-long learning, better management for wellness and health, and product development in an economy where networks of small- and medium-sized enterprises are becoming increasingly important.
Jönköping University comprises four schools with specialities that complement each other and relate to the overall themes of the university.

Jönköping International Business School: internationalization, entrepreneurship and business renewal, and a leading international centre for media economics.

The School of Education and Communication: Innovative learning and special needs education, and the National Centre for Lifelong Learning.

The School of Engineering: A unique focus on providing technological competence to small- and medium-sized enterprises, developing robust and intelligent products, and a leading European centre for casting technology.

The School of Health Sciences: A holistic approach to health and wellness, and a unique competence in ageing research and education.

2. Global, National, Regional and Local Collaboration

Jönköping University has developed a comprehensive approach to combining excellence in education and research together with maintaining a highlt successful interface with society. A professional and well-structured agenda combines the establishment and continuous cultivation of key partnerships at local, national and international levels. Throughout, emphasis is placed on complementarities between external links and processes of competence development strengthening the focus and specialization of the university itself.

Interaction with the surrounding society is manifested in the unique mentorship programmes where companies follow students at Jönköping International Business School and the School of Engineering.

20-25 week internships within teacher training and health care programmes, as well as a close interaction with schools and hospitals in the region, make a stable foundation for collaboration in both undergraduate studies and contract education.

Jönköping University is characterized by an intensive exchange of students with partner institutions all around the world. In 2010, 31 percent of students took part in exchange programmes and studied abroad. The average among universities in Sweden was 17 percent. At Jönköping International Business School 90 percent of the students on some programmes spend at least one semester abroad — that is the highest rate of student exchange in the Nordic countries. More than 1,000 international students come to Jönköping University every year as exchange students or as so called free movers.

External relations of strategic importance for each of the schools include:
Jönköping International Business School takes an active role in international research collaboration. One example is the STEP-project which is conducted in close collaboration with leading business schools such as Babson College, University of St. Gallen, Imperial College London, HEC School of Management, ESADE Business School and Bocconi. Another example is the Business of Science and Technology Initiative, conducted in close collaboration between Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and The National University of Singapore. JIBS also runs two interdisciplinary research centres: the Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies together with Royal Institute for Technology; the Centre for Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Syracuse University and Queensland University of Technology. Further, JIBS serves as co-organizer of international research gatherings such as the Babson Kauffman Entrepreneurship Research Conference and the annual Uddevalla Symposium, together with George Mason University and University West.

The CHILD research programme is supported by EU-funds and connects the School of Health Sciences and the School of Education and Communication to research networks in Europe and the United States. Through Encell, the national centre for lifelong learning, the School of Education and Communication participates in the global networks International Research Group on Social Representations and Transformation of Knowledge and Foucauldian Studies of Adult Learning. The School of Engineering collaborates with universities and research institutes and participates in several strong research groups around the world. Fraunhofer ISST Berlin has established a dynamic centre, focusing on information logistics, at the School of Engineering, and within Casting a close collaboration has been established with University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Research into ageing at the School of Health Sciences is conducted in close collaboration with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Penn State University and University of Southern California in the United States. The School of Health Sciences also participates in research networks with, among others, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Australian National University at Canberra and the University of Jyväskylä. Within Health Care, researchers are involved in collaboration with universities in South Africa, Great Britain and China.

3. Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation

As a part of its specialization in entrepreneurship, Jönköping University has established unique opportunities for students to start a business during their period of study, notably in connection with the Business Lab located at the neighbouring Science Park Jönköping. In 2010, about 85 enterprises were started by students at Jönköping University.

Through its position as a global centre of the International Academy of Entrepreneurship, which brings together a distinguished network of senior fellows, and also mentors for students, from some of the world's most well-known international companies as well as from renowned academic institutions in various parts of the world, Jönköping University hosts a series of complementary international events and seminars which contribute to strengthening the links between academic, environmental and real-world business opportunities on a global scale.

The Student Union is highly active in developing a meeting place on campus between students from different parts of the world. The project serves to enhance the interface between Swedish and international students on campus, and represents a fabric for integration that is unique in Sweden.