Major boost for Swedish research

Nieuws | de redactie
22 oktober 2012 | “Investments in research are key.” Swedish Minister for Education Jan Björklund announced a new €450 million boost for research and higher education in the Research and Innovation Bill. “I want Sweden to be successful in the coming generations as well.”

Last week the Swedish Ministry of Education and Research presented a bill that contains investments raising the level of appropriations for 2013-2016 by 4 billion Swedish crowns (€450 million). In the next eight years the Governments will increase its appropriations by more than 30 per cent.

Attracting research talents

The main part of the investments will be targeted at research and research programmes at universities and other higher education institutions. The new funds will be distributed according to quality criteria and a large share of existing resources will also be redistributed under the same system. A peer review system should be introduced over time.

In order to sharpen Swedish research, the Government has announced two huge investments. A special programme will be created to help the most outstanding young researchers getting the financial resources to build up independent research. The Government will allocate special funding for the recruitment of these top international researchers.

Additionally Sweden will strengthen its world-class position in life sciences. The Government will invest €70 million in research in antibiotic resistance, clinical treatment research and register-based research. The Stockholm and Uppsala-based bioscience centre for medical research SciLifeLab will get the largest share of this investment.

Industrial investments

According to the Government “research infrastructure is an important part of creating conditions for outstanding research.” In Sweden there will also be targeted investments in several areas that are particularly important to industry and society: mining, minerals and steel, sustainable urban management, forest products and biomass.

The Government is also enhancing the current innovation programme of the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems. The aim is to enhance the use of research findings through the new strategic innovation areas programme in collaboration with the business sector. The programme focuses on solving key challenges facing society. The Government is also investing in the development of the innovation offices at higher education institutions.


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