Recap of JU’s research for 2023

Jönköping University is a strong player in research, and the schools actively contribute to shaping the future through their focus and specialisation. JU's focus areas have enabled dynamic and interdisciplinary research environments with a good reputation both nationally and internationally.

Important issues of high societal relevance

At the School of Health and Welfare, research is conducted that sheds light on important issues of high societal relevance, which has been particularly noted by the media during 2023. Some examples of this are research on lipedema, restless legs syndrome, how work-related stress and physical activity - as well as yoga - affect aging, youth and sleep, and culture on prescription. (links)

In 2023, a new research environment was also established named Studies of Integrated Health and Welfare at the School of Health and Welfare. The new research environment is based on the school’s profile area for research. In line with this, the first doctoral candidates were also admitted to the research school in Primary Care in which the School of Health and Welfare participates, and which is funded by the Swedish Research Council. The research school in health and welfare is very active, with no less than 14 new doctoral candidates enrolled during the year.

How research and development can contribute to socially sustainable societies

At the School of Education and Communication, the research profile EduCom: Educommunicating Social Sustainability was initiated. EduCom focuses on exploring how research and development can contribute to creating socially sustainable societies.

Within the framework of research at the school, two doctoral dissertations and three licentiate seminars were conducted, and 94 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 46 conference contributions, three books, and 11 chapters were published. The proportion of external research funding was 30.7 per cent. An example of a successful application is EXPECT, a Nordic research project funded with ten million SEK by Nordforsk. The project aims to draw lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to promote social sustainability in the face of future challenges, but other applications were also successful.

The School of Education and Communication and its researchers received significant media exposure, with, for example, Marco Nilsson having regular visibility, both locally and nationally, as a prominent expert in terrorism and on international security policy.

The daughter effect makes companies more gender equal

At Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), several international research conferences took place, organized by the school's research centres. The Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO), one of the world's strongest research environments in family business, the Media, Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC), and the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE) all hosted international conferences within their respective research fields.

JIBS research also received a lot of attention in the media. For example, studies on the so-called "daughter effect," which makes companies more gender equal, and on how "wage penalties" lead mothers to start businesses, garnered significant media attention. Another research study that received media attention was an investigation into how fast-growing companies, so-called gazelle companies, contribute to burnout.

When the esteemed research portal research.com ranked the top researchers in Business and Management, three JIBS researchers were among the top twenty in Sweden. Moreover, when Ekonomisk debatt examined the scientific impact of Swedish professors in business and economics, the school ranked at the top in both subjects. In the field of business administration, JIBS is the Swedish institution with the highest median citations per professor.

Regarding research funding, it was particularly gratifying when The Hamrin Foundation, based in Jönköping, provided over twenty million SEK to finance new socially beneficial research at JIBS. Over the years, they have contributed with more than 200 million SEK for research at Jönköping University.

Strengthening the expertise in e-commerce

The School of Engineering received several major grants for exciting future research during the year. For example, the Kamprad Family Foundation provided 16 million SEK for environmental initiatives within the wood processing industry. The project focuses on increasing the lifespan and knowledge of timber products for future generations and is a collaboration between the School of Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Linköping University, Linnaeus University, and several companies within the wood industry.

E-commerce has become the fastest-growing sales channel in retail, and in Jönköping a new project is underway to strengthen expertise in e-commerce, with a specific focus on the manufacturing industry in Jönköping County. The project, named M2C E-commerce, is a collaboration between the School of Engineering and Science Park Jönköping, and is financed with twelve million SEK from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Region Jönköping County.

The School of Engineering is also making a major investment in AI research, including the ETIAI project (Efficient and Trustworthy AI). The project will study, among other things, how to test and rapidly develop secure and reliable software that implements AI methods and will be of great benefit to the manufacturing industry in particular. ETIAI was granted over twelve million SEK from the Knowledge Foundation.