Cooperation Projects

FOI has several cooperation projects as well nationally as internationally. For example, we lead several EU projects.

Research is often conducted in the form of collaboration, where various types of organisations with different competencies work together to achieve results. FOI collaborates with other research institutes, universities, companies, authorities and international organisations, both in Sweden and internationally. EU projects take place within the Commission’s research framework programmes, which run for seven years at a time.

The type of cooperation projects that FOI participates in at EU level can be initiated, for example, through the European Commission’s research programme calls. The objective is to strengthen European competitiveness and harmonise certain activities within the Union. FOI has long experience working in this kind of context and has a well-established network with other actors. The Commission’s next framework programme for research and innovation is called “Horizon Europe” and runs from 2021 to 2027. During the coming programme period, the new European Defence Fund is also expected to have major significance. The purpose of the fund is to promote competitiveness and innovation in defence and technology. During the programme period, the fund will be supporting various research projects with a total of approximately 8 billion euros, which corresponds to just over SEK 80 billion.

Examples of cooperation projects

ENTRAP is one of the cooperation projects that FOI coordinated. The focus of the project was what is usually called IED (improvised explosive devices) as well as HME (homemade explosives). IED can be built by using either part, or all, of a conventional military explosive. A total of 16 partners, from different parts of Europe, were in the project. Partners have not only included research institutes such as FOI, but also companies, universities and authorities. The project’s goal was to evaluate the benefits of methods and tools developed within research carried out with the intention of counteracting the illegal use of improvised explosives.

EXERTER is another EU project coordinated by FOI. It is a network project comprised of 20 partners in the field of security of explosives, for the purpose of discussing issues and ideas, and exchanging experiences, in dealing with the use of explosives within terrorism and other serious crime.

More examples of cooperation projects that FOI is participating in can be found in the link menu on this page.