Competition terms and conditions

Who can apply?

Only employees and students of Lund University can apply for the award.

If you are several people involved in one idea, at least one of you must be an employee or student at Lund University.

If the group represents both competition categories, you will compete in the Employee category. If one of you has conducted doctoral education at Lund University or any other university, you also belong to the Employee category.

You are allowed to compete with the same idea several times unless the idea has been one of the winners in previous years.

Employee

You are entitled to compete if you are an employee at Lund University by the time of application. Researchers working at the Skåne University Hospital but affiliated with Lund University may also participate in the competition.

Students

Students competing must have completed at least 1 ECTS credits at Lund University during the academic year of 2020/2021 or 2021/2022. Doctoral/PhD students belong to the Employee category.

Prize

The prize amounts to a total of SEK 500 000, and will be distributed as follows:

Employee category

One award of SEK 150 000.
Two honorary awards of SEK 75 000 each.

Student category

One award of SEK 100 000.
Two honorary awards of SEK 50 000 each.

The prize is awarded in the form of a grant allocated to the main applicant and is normally not subject to tax. The grant is to be used to develop the idea described in the application. The prize is funded by Sparbanken Skåne through its owner foundation, Sparbanksstiftelsen Finn.

Winners are not required to report back how the grant was used; however, we would like to receive a summary of the grant’s impact on the idea or project within the year of receiving the award.

Assessment criteria

We are looking for ideas that have not yet been realised. Perhaps you have a promising research finding or a solution to a problem that you have been pondering or working on for a while. The definition of what qualifies as an idea is not crystal clear – but you are not to have made any money from it yet.

The assessment of ideas will focus on:

• NEED The need is of crucial importance. Does the idea solve a real need for people, society, companies or the planet?
• SOCIETAL BENEFIT What benefit does the idea provide for society? Alternatively, what savings could the idea entail in terms of costs, life or suffering? How many people are affected, locally and globally?
• SUSTAINABILITY We need ideas that are socially and environmentally sustainable. In what way does the idea help to meet one of the global Sustainable Development Goals?
• UNIQUENESS How is the problem currently solved? Is there a solution already? Is your idea better than the existing alternatives? 
• SCALABILITY What is the potential for reaching all those who are in need of your idea? Are there market opportunities or possibilities to scale up the societal benefit? Will it inspire others to do the same thing?

Because the person or people behind an idea or project are always crucial to its success, the final selection of grant recipients will be based on interviews with shortlisted candidates by representatives from the jury. These interviews will take place on September 19, 2022.

All grant recipients will have an opportunity to present their ideas in some form at the award ceremony held in Lund on October 25, 2022.

Jury

In order to select the winners, we have a jury with experience in entrepreneurship, sustainability, social innovations, investment, and company-building:

Jan Abrahamsson, Manager Coompanion Sverige, cooperative enterprise and social entrepreneurship

Annika Alenfall, Corporate banking, Sparbanken Skåne

Charlotta Falvin, Professional board representative, active in the startup ecosystem in Skåne

Ebba Fåhraeus, CEO SmiLe, extensive experience from life science businesses 

Nicholas Jacobsson, Senior Advisor SLU Holding, background in the innovation system

Erik Renström, Vice-Chancellor Lund University

Sara Thiringer, Data scientist, active in PinkProgramming, former student representative the Lund University Board

Eva Vati, Founder and CEO Vati of Sweden, background in tech and IT, now sustainability entrepreneur

Caroline Wigren-Kristoferson, Professor Business Administration, entrepreneurship and innovation, Malmö University

What will happen to my idea?

All applications are treated as confidential. Competing in this contest does not come with any obligations, and does not entail that you hand over your idea to Lund University.