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History and funding

The School of Industrial Design currently receives half of its funding from Lund University, and the other half from the IKEA Foundation.

A meeting at the kitchen table, with lots of coffee and snus. And a donation of SEK 250 million. That’s what happened when Ingvar Kamprad met LTH’s dean in 1998 to talk about the future of industrial design education at the University. 

The first donation from the Kamprad Foundation in 1998 made it possible to build the Ingvar Kamprad Design Center, known as IKDC. The building, finished in 2002, is home to the School of Industrial Design, but also the Department of Design Sciences at the Faculty of Engineering (LTH), which conducts research and education related to the interaction between people, technology and design. 

"The idea is to educate designers who can create greater competitive advantages for industry and society and generate greater customer value," said Ingvar Kamprad in connection with the decision to make the donation. 

Ingvar Kamprad Design Center in Lund

Continued support

The original support from the IKEA Foundation was a unique way to develop industrial design education, however, the donation did not imply any involvement by IKEA in the educational program. Ingvar Kamprad emphasized that the IKEA Foundation is a separate legal entity and completely independent of IKEA. 

In 2019, the IKEA Foundation donated an additional EUR 33 million to the school, and a new foundation by the name “The Ingvar Kamprad Design Foundation (IKDF)” was established. 

IKDF aims to support education, research, teaching and administrative staff costs of the Lund School of Industrial Design, in order to secure the school’s position as a top global school of Industrial Design. This foundation is completely independent from both IKEA and IKEA Foundation and is advised by independent advisory board members.

Ingvar Kamprad at the inauguration of IKDC in 2002. Photo.

“LTH has Ingvar Kamprad to thank for his extremely important contributions to our operations. The donations to education and research in industrial design, as well as the building named after Ingvar Kamprad himself, have strengthened LTH and made us an even more diverse and creative faculty of engineering.” 

– Viktor Öwall, dean at LTH in 2018.   

The IKEA Foundation donations

1998: 250 million SEK

2018/2019: 350 million SEK 

Ingvar Kamprad Scholarship

Students admitted to the Master’s Programme in Industrial Design can apply for the scholarships.

  • Scholarship for living expenses
  • Scholarship for tuition fees for non-EU/EEA students

Read about the Ingvar Kamprad Scholarship at Lund University. 

Learn more

Last updated: 24 Apr 2026 | info [at] design [dot] lth [dot] se