Yesterday afternoon, the government research bill was presented in full. Five areas were singled out for increased commitments:
- Climate and environment
- Health and welfare
- Digitalisation
- Skills supply and working life
- A strong, democratic society
Several new ten-year national research programmes were announced: Marine environment and water, Viruses and pandemics, Mental health, Digitalisation, Crime and Segregation. In addition, some existing research programmes will receive increased funding: Climate, Sustainable community development, Food, Antibiotic resistance and Research on working life. Substantial investments are proposed in research infrastructure and innovation systems.
The bill allocates increased basic funding to SciLifeLab (SEK 150 million over a four-year period), plus an additional SEK 130 million over four years to build up increased laboratory capacity for pandemics in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
The bill, which is expected to be processed by the Riksdag in the spring, also contains gradually increasing direct government funding for universities up to a total of SEK 900 million in 2024. It is not yet clear how this will be distributed; that will be clarified later in the spring. According to the proposal, the pilot programme for practice-based school research (ULF – Education, Learning, Research) will be permanently funded.
You can read the government bill “Research, freedom, the future: knowledge and innovation for Sweden” in full here. (in swedish)
The details of the bill and its consequences for Uppsala University will be analysed when the distribution per higher education institution has been communicated.