A Word from the Dean, February 2025

Lena Mäler. Photo: Sören Andersson

The Research and Innovation bill – what can we expect?

Much has already been written about the Research and Innovation bill, and universities across the country are analysing what we can expect over the next four years. I, too, thought I would dedicate this text to what this means for the Science academic area and what we will need to focus on in the future.

The Faculty's last meeting for Heads of Departments, held about three had the privilege of having Ulrika Bjare from the Office of the President with us, who summarised the content. The bill predominantly emphasises technology, excellence, and innovation. The word ‘innovation’ appears around 300 times and ‘technology’ about 200 times, while ‘natural sciences’ is mentioned fewer than 20 times—roughly as many times as ‘humanities’ in some form.

The first thing to note is that a relatively large increase in funding for research is suggested. It should be emphasised, however, that most of the new funds are directed towards external research funding bodies, rather than directly to institutions of higher education. A reduction in the total proportion of direct research funding to institutions of higher education means on the one hand that the predictability and long-term stability of these activities is reduced. On the other hand, we believe and hope that we will have good opportunities to benefit from these competitive initiatives.

A greater exposure to competition for the basic appropriations is also proposed, with new parameters for evaluating this, such as strategic recruitment. It is encouraging to note that several initiatives directly impact our field. Nordita will receive an additional SEK 8 million, SciLifeLab will receive SEK 90 million, and there is mention of an investment in a new icebreaker to replace Oden, although no details are provided.

Of the funds allocated to the Swedish Research Council (VR), several initiatives will be introduced, including new strategic research areas (SFO), excellence initiatives focused on ground-breaking research, centres of excellence, and career support initiatives. SFOs will be available in eight specified areas, five of which are of particular interest to our field. Although the details are not yet known, the call for new SFOs will be issued already this year.

It is therefore crucial that all our researchers are aware of this and begin exploring opportunities for collaboration with other researchers. During our meeting with the Heads of Departments, we agreed that the departments will start working on identifying areas of interest, which will provide valuable information for the future application process. The existing SFOs will later be evaluated by VR.

This was a brief summary, and I am aware that activities are already underway at the departments to ensure they are fully prepared when the call for SFOs is made.

Hälsningar Lena

Read about the Research and Innovation Bill 2024 on the Government Offices of Sweden's webpage