About us
STUNS Life science promotes the growth of a strong and sustainable life science sector. We make life science more competitive. Every day.
Collaboration for sustainable regional growth in the fourth industrial revolution
The Foundation for collaboration between the universities of Uppsala, business and society – STUNS was initiated in 1983 and has conducted operations in the Uppsala region since 1985. STUNS’s purpose is to develop the collaboration between the universities of Uppsala, the businesses, and public organizations.
Life science has a strong position in the Uppsala region with leading research at both universities, a business community consisting of large and medium-sized established and exporting companies, and a large number of innovative, smaller companies. In addition, the University Hospital and the University Animal Hospital at SLU offer competent user environments.
In life science, universities, business, and society are united in joint pursuit of goals that are literally vital for society and individuals – not least in the emerging field of health and prevention. Through collaboration and co-creation, full potential can be achieved, which makes life science an important area of activity within STUNS.
History
STUNS dates back to year 1983, when Governor, Ingemar Mundebo, called together the key actors from the universities of Uppsala, business and society. The aim was to establish a technology park and to collaborate between different actors STUNS was founded.
The idea was that the foundation would be dissolved when the building of the technology park began, but the founders saw great value in meeting regularly to discuss and decide on common regional growth issues in the borderland between academia, business and politics. Uppsala had by chance, and through far-sighted decision-makers, identified and started what would much later be called the regional innovation system, Triple Helix, and public-private partnerships. STUNS became an innovation in itself, and the first part of the regional innovation support system.
In 2003 STUNS created the focus area of Life science, and called it Uppsala Bio. Since then, STUNS Life science has been a strategic hub for collaboration between private and public actors to contribute to sustainable knowledge-based growth – in life science, health and adjacent disciplines. In 2020 STUNS decided to change the name Uppsala Bio to STUNS Life science to more accurately show that the focus area is a part of STUNS as a whole.