2009 law on innovation and research
As every four years, the government published a bill on the organization of research. Approved by parliament in late January, he directs research policy for the next four years. The research budget of Sweden will increase by 1.5 billion Euros over 4 years and a new method of distribution of funding will be implemented: strategic investments.
1. Main features of the Swedish public research
1.1 A focus on universities and based on competition
Almost all research in Sweden is located in the private and public universities. Most research funding is in direct payments to universities, 17 institutions of higher education and research is conducted 1.2 billion euros for research and research training. A series of agencies and foundations to supplement that funding. The total funds allocated by the Ministry of Education and Research for research reached 2 billion Euros for 2009. The total funding will reach 2.8 billion Euros in 2009.
Swedish research is based on the independence of researchers and on the competition. Universities and funding agencies have extended freedom. Researchers depend entirely on the funding they receive. They finance all their wages as well as their doctoral and post-docs as well as their research. The proportion of doctoral students in research groups in Sweden is very important, moving between 50% and 90%. The research training is well known in Sweden. In addition, many applicants are attracted to Swedish universities with good financial conditions and working conditions copies.
1.2 A network of agencies and foundations
To preserve maximum independence of researchers, the Swedish government has sought to diversify sources of funding. Besides universities, there is a large network of agencies and private foundations and public.
The research councils are the traditional means of funding research. Funded by each department, they were reorganized in 2001 into a smaller number of agencies, including:
- The Council for Scientific Research , which is the main agency for funding research, distributing over 300 million euros in grants. Specializes in basic research, he also responsible for ensuring the quality of research. Most donors are in fact their choices and orientations. It also advises the government and publishes magazines for information on research in Sweden; - The Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning supports research in environment, agronomy and spatial planning;
- The Research Council for Working Life and Social Sciences for research in economics, public health and social sciences;
- The Agency for Innovation Systems , the government agency for innovation systems, finance applied research in technology, transport, communication and economic and development projects clusters.
150 million Euros in grants are distributed by 6 Foundations for Research. They have the capital of the Investment Fund of the Employees, an initiative of democratization of the financial sector, dropped in 90 years. 6 The foundations are:
- The Foundation for Strategic Research ;
- The Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research ;
- The Knowledge Foundation ;
- Foundation for studies on the Baltic and Eastern Europe ;
- The Foundation for Public Health Research and allergies ;
- Foundation for the Internationalization of Research and Higher Education .
You should also add a network of private and public research funding (Foundation Wallenberg Foundation, the tercentenary of the Bank of Sweden, the Cancer Foundation, Winner-Green Foundations, Foundation Volvo, etc.). Independently of the government directly, they try to coordinate with other funding sources.
2. The reforms of the bill
2.1 A massive financial effort
The government proposes to increase by 1.5 billion Euros over 4 years the research budget. The sum of public investment for research in Sweden will, in 2009, 1% of GNP, reaching one of the objectives of the Lisbon process.
The bill provides that the increased budget is 500 million Euros in 2012, including 150 million in direct funding for universities, 70 million for the Research Councils, 30 million for research infrastructure and 30 million for research institutes. The increase of resources is very important for universities, representing an increase of 14%. This should enable universities to fund positions for research and promote more easily the careers of researchers.
The Government proposes that this additional funding is distributed among the universities according to quality criteria. It also proposes that 10% of their funding for 2009 be redistributed by 2012, according to the quality of research. The criteria are half the effectiveness of researchers to attract external funding, and half the number of their publications, modulated by the number of times these papers are cited by peers (Crown Index). In addition, the government proposes to abolish the tax that universities pay on external funding received by their researchers. This tax is considered by the scientific community as an important obstacle to innovation. This tax credit is approximately 30 million Euros per year.
2.2 A new system of funding: Strategic Investment
The government proposes to create a third system of financing, along with direct payments to universities and research agencies: strategic investments. These are areas of focus defined by the Government on the proposal of the Research Councils. For the year 2009, 180 million euros will be devoted to these strategic investments divided between universities and research agencies, depending on their investment in these areas.
Strategic investments proposed for the next four years are gathered around two themes: the areas of competitiveness of Swedish industry and the major challenges facing humanity. Competitive areas proposed by the government are mainly information technology and communications, and transportation. Research on major challenges facing humanity as it covers:
- Studies related to climate change, mainly in the field of energy;
- Medical research, mainly molecular biology and cancer research, diabetes and neurology;
- Different sectors of political and social sciences.
2.3 Other innovation
The government is proposing further improvements to the system of research and innovation. Thus, he wants a legal framework is available to allow private sponsorship for research.
The innovation support should be reviewed, involving greater cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Research and the Department of Enterprise, Energy and Communications. The system of support to innovation will have an important part of increasing the research budget is 35 million euros in 2012.
An informal council should improve cooperation between different agencies and foundations. It will also include coordination of partnerships with foreign countries.
