Bachelor thesis – Textile Engineering – IKEA of Sweden

Hej thesis student,    

Do you want to furnish the future to make room for everyone?   

With us, you can feel at home at work while sharing that feeling with millions of people around the world. We encourage you to stand up for yourself and others, creating an environment where everyone feels welcome. We invite you to open new doors, embrace mistakes, and grow from them. As our thesis student, you’ll have many opportunities to try things you’ve never done before.   

We are now looking for two students who want to write their Bachelor thesis at IKEA of Sweden (a part of Inter IKEA Group) from the 30th of March to the 7th of June 2026. Your key assignment is to investigate dimension stability after washing, focusing on natural fiber materials.    

Your new assignment  

IKEA has committed to making life at home for our customers easy, by offering home furnishing products and accessories at a price many can afford. We do this by sticking to our well tried tested and proven ‘Democratic Design Principles’. The five dimensions of Democratic Design are sustainability, quality, low price, form and function: none on of which are negotiable.  

When it comes to the function of our curtains, we see that not all our customers are satisfied due to the length changes during their lifetime due to shrinking. Your task will be to investigate how domestic washing affects the shrinkage on curtains made from cellulosic fibers such as cotton, jute, lyocell etc. The aim is to understand what parameters affect shrinkage and how we can advise our customers to maintain the curtains to prevent or minimize the shrinkage.  

The deliverables are:  

• Insight on how different cellulosic fibres behave after 1, 3, 5, 10 washes. 

• Insight on how parameters such as temperature, construction, yarns (virgin and recycled) impact the shrinkage. 

• Insight on how shrinkage can be prevented or minimized during use. 

• Insight of customer behavior around the use of curtains. 

• An end report written in English and presented to the development team.  

 

What we’d like you to bring to the table   

We think that you:   

• Are studying textile engineering.  

• Are curious and self-driven.  

• Like to work in international and diverse teams. 

• Are fluent in English . 

More information   

Inter IKEA Group is the group of companies that connects IKEA franchisees with range development and suppliers and aligns the overall IKEA strategic direction. Every day, we strive to develop, produce, and sell products and services that are affordable and accessible to everyone. With us, you contribute to building a democratic brand and workplace that has a positive impact on both the planet and people's lives.   

This assignment belongs to Product Engineering department in the Range Area Home Textiles and Rugs. The work will partly be carried out on location in Älmhult and can partly be done remotely. Therefore, you have to be able to travel to Älmhult several days a week/or month depending on the assignment need. 

Please note: To apply for this thesis assignment, you have to be enrolled in a thesis course at university level at a Swedish University.  

  

We welcome your application   

Get ready to assemble something new! We look forward to receiving your application by the 8th of February. Please submit both your CV and motivation letter in English. We will start reviewing applications as they come in, so don’t wait to apply!   

In case you are two students wishing to write this thesis together, we ask you to please submit one application each and clearly state the other person’s name your wish to collaborate with.  

At IKEA, we are looking for people who believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. You’re welcome no matter where you come from, what you believe, or what you look like. We don’t even care how you have furnished your home. We’re interested in you simply because you’re you. We believe that people’s different perspectives, backgrounds, and personalities make us better at understanding our customers’ dreams and needs.    

If you have a special need that requires accommodation in the recruitment process, just let us know.     

For any questions about the role please contact [email protected]. If you have any questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact [email protected].   

We look forward to hearing from you!