How it works

In order to be eligible for selection to become a Preferred Research Partner, a university must first get the support of one of our Business Areas or Units. All of our Preferred Research Partners are selected on the basis of academic excellence and their willingness to work with the industry in an area that involves Volvo Group. The formal application is submitted to the Volvo Group Headquarters from one of our Business Areas or Units.

Mutual commitment
The cooperation is not built around financial commitments on our behalf. But the Volvo Group company that nominates the partner commits to favour and promote that university or research institute. The exact details of the support may vary and not necessarily be the same in all parts of the world. But every Preferred Research Partner will have a Volvo Business Area or Unit that connects them to the Volvo Group. This Volvo company also appoints one or more dedicated contact persons and arranges regular meetings. More importantly, however, we engage in the initiation and performance of projects of mutual interest.

Benefits of being selected
Our Preferred Research Partners can benefit from the cooperation in many ways, not the least from getting the opportunity to discuss important strategic issues in the area of cooperation and getting an insight in strategic plans and knowledge of our views and priorities. Having an established partnership with an industry leader such as the Volvo Group makes universities more attractive to students and more competitive when applying for public funding.

Other benefits include the possibility to use our senior specialists as lecturers, invitations to the Volvo Group Tech Show, regular cooperation meetings and the right to use the title of Volvo Group Preferred Research Partner.

Other collaborations
The Volvo Group has a great number of collaborations with academia that lies outside the Academic Partner Program and these contacts can continue just like before. If any Volvo company wishes to take such cooperation to the next level and to form a long-term strategic partnership, then the Academic Partner Program offers the structure to be used