Through the Wallenberg Launch Pad (WALP) researchers are offered support in exploring and validating what impact their idea could make in industry or in society.
Through the Wallenberg Launch Pad (WALP) researchers are offered support in exploring and validating what impact their idea could make in industry or in society. To be eligible to apply, the researcher must be active in the areas of AI, Autonomous Systems and Software, Quantum Technologies or Data Driven Life Science, and be financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg (KAW) Foundation.
The WALP program consists of two phases. The first phase aims to clarify, describe, define and verify the idea and is centered around personalized innovation coaching. Formulating a strong project pitch is the goal here. After a successful pitch presentation to the WALP Team, phase 2 is initiated and researchers can be eligible for research validation grant from the KAW foundation. If granted, the journey of a Research Validation Project is initiated.
All funding in WALP Phase 2 are handled through the university and are a non-conditional innovation support.
The WALP Organization
WALP is run by Sandor Albrecht and Pontus De Laval. They both have a long experience working with technology research in the forefront and have a broad network in both academia and industry.
Pontus de Laval is a senior advisor to Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Before this assignment he served as Chief Technology Officer of Saab AB from 2005 until 2019. Before this he served as head of the company’s Electronic Warfare division from 2000 to 2005. In his career he has also served in various managerial positions, all related to product development. Mr. de Laval started his career in 1986 as an Electronics Engineer working with radar technology.
Mr. de Laval received his master degree in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In addition, he has an Executive MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Mr de Laval serves in the boards of various companies and the Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology (WACQT).
Sandor Albrecht is a driver of the Wallenberg Launch Pad at the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation. Before this assignment he was Vice President, and the head of Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS) at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, a position he held 2018-2019. Prior to joining RISE, Albrecht worked at Ericsson for 20 years in several leadership positions in product development and corporate research. As the Director of Research Area Networking Technologies, he was responsible for Ericsson’s corporate research agenda in areas such as 5G transport, software defined networking and optical hardware research. He was also the founder and head of Ericsson Garage, Ericsson’s global innovation and incubation platform.
Albrecht received his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 1993, and his PhD from the same institution in 2004. He also holds a Master of Applied Science from the University of British Columbia in Canada and a Master of Business Administration from Central European University Business School, Budapest, Hungary.
Contact
Are you a researcher in WASP or with other funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and want to know more about WALP? Please contact the WALP team: walp@kaw.se