IVA’s 100 List 2024: Sweden’s Most Promising Research Projects

"Sweden has outstanding research with great potential to improve the world through new technology. The high quality of the research has made it particularly challenging for IVA's selection committee to choose the most promising research projects for the 100 List this year," says Professor Sylvia Schwaag Serger, president of IVA.

On this year's 100 List, which is the sixth in order, IVA highlights research projects within society and welfare, infrastructure, deep tech, smart industry, circular economy, resource and energy efficiency, green and blue industries, and business models.

Five examples from IVA's 100 List 2024

Simple Hair Test for Early Cancer Detection

To study the Earth’s history, geologists analyse the chemical composition of fossils. The same method, combined with AI, can be used to detect cancer at an early stage. Instead of fossils, a hair sample from the patient is analysed. A prototype has been trained on prostate cancer, and the first hair test will now be clinically tested.

Project: From hair to health – non-invasive test to find cancer early. 

Sweetener from waste

Tagatos is a sought-after natural sweetener. It's almost as sweet as regular sugar but contains fewer calories. The problem is that it is expensive to produce. Using tailored yeast cell factories, tagatose will be produced at a more competitive price. Whey, a by-product from the food industry, is used as raw material.

Project: Turning waste into sweet taste. 

Rapid test for the right antibiotic against tuberculosis

Every year, 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis, partly because it takes two weeks to determine which antibiotic works for treatment. With a new rapid test, this time can be reduced to 12 hours. A prototype will be tested with samples from patients. The researchers behind the test have previously invented a rapid test for urinary tract infections, which is already sold throughout Europe.

Project: From 2 weeks to 12 hours - Rapid Diagnosis for Tuberculosis 

Microspheres for more effective skin creams

A problem with many skin care products is that only a small portion of the active ingredients penetrates the outer layer of the skin. This limits the possibility of complex treatments for conditions such as eczema. One solution is small spheres with microneedles. These can be added to any cream and increase ingredient delivery by up to 100 times. 

Project: Aperya - Microspheres for more effective skin creams. 

Extending the life of electric car batteries

An electric car battery consists of many interconnected cells. However, during use, the cells age at different rates, affecting the battery’s lifespan. With a new system, the battery can be automatically reconfigured while in use and adapted to each cell’s status. The result is a longer lifespan and higher performance. The battery also becomes easier to reuse for energy storage.

Project: SmartBrain — Batteries with dynamic reconfiguration

Accepted research projects per university

A total of 103 research projects from 22 universities have been accepted to IVA’s 100 List 2024.

Several of the research projects are conducted in collaboration between multiple universities – the division below is based on the primary affiliation of the research project.