KI student receives the Global Swede Award

The 2016 Global Swede award goes to KI student Hugo Morales. In the two years he has studied at Karolinska Institutet, he has not only distinguished himself academically but also proved adept at creating networks.

This is the successive year of the Global Swede award, which is presented to international students who have distinguished themselves through their innovative spirit and entrepreneurship. Hugo Morales, who is on the final semester of a master’s degree in bioentrepreneurship, was nominated by Karolinska Institutet.

“It’s such an honour to be recognised for what I’ve achieved as a student at KI,” he says.

The Global Swede award is a joint initiative by the Swedish Institute and the ministries of Enterprise & Innovation and Foreign Affairs. Mr Morales received his diploma along with 21 other students at a ceremony on 18 May from the hands of Oscar Stenström, state secretary at the Department of Enterprise and Innovation.

“Overseas students are a valuable asset for Sweden in terms of growth and future competitiveness,” Mr Stenström declared during the ceremony. “Apart from contributing new knowledge and perspectives, they are also a vital resource for building bridges between Sweden and the rest of the world.”

Hugo Morales has been studying at KI for almost two years, having entered tertiary education back at home in Mexico. Also attending the ceremony was the Mexican ambassador, with whom he was able to network: “It was really great to meet the ambassador,” he says. “I hope there’ll be more such exchanges between students and researchers. It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet the other students and tell them about my work.”

In KI’s statement explaining its choice of nominee, Hugo Morales is praised as a “social entrepreneur” possessed of an “inclusive leadership” style.

“To my mind it’s about creating value through people’s skills and abilities,” he explains. “I like helping other students to grow and to see them swap skills with each other. And I always try to integrate every member of a team.”

At present, Mr Morales is in Germany where he is writing his master’s dissertation “Regulatory environment and margins as market entry factors for small and mid-sized enterprises”.

Although he is reaching the end of his education, Mr Morales has still not decided what his next step will be or even whether he will remain in Stockholm.

“I want to either start my own company or work for a company committed to creating value in our society rather than just making a profit,” he says.

For more information, please view the Swedish Institute's website.

Text: Maja Lundbäck