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Though the central role of Gösta Mittag-Leffler in the promotion of specialized, research-oriented mathematics at Stockholms Högskola is widely acknowledged, the specific social and technical means by which he sought to cultivate a fledgling research community there during the early- to mid-1880s have received little attention. In particular, a detailed study of the relationship of his own research activity to that of his first Swedish students is absent from the existing literature. Through the juxtaposition of their research activities and unpublished correspondence, this paper explores Mittag-Leffler's active and deliberate efforts to engage his students Ivar Bendixson and Edvard Phragmén in open problems within his own research agenda, support them through his institutional connections, and instill within them norms concerning research ideologies, practices of communication and criticism, and frameworks for shared knowledge. It also illuminates the extent to which his teachings took root in at least one student to emerge from his program, who would perpetuate the mathematical practices set in place by his teacher and set forth on the international stage to promote his newly-acquired system of values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]