This week: gene therapy funding, equality in gaming and economic growth for North Jutland

In depth: The rector and vice-rector of the University of Oslo have defended their institution’s academic cooperation with China, following the arrest of a Norwegian citizen accused of spying for China.

Full story: University of Oslo defends collaboration with China

Also this week from Research Professional News

Plan to alleviate administrative tedium enters first stage—Government’s policy change is designed to give Swedish universities more time for research

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Health tech researcher receives Lundbeck Foundation grant  

Ditte Jæhger, a researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, has received a grant of €670,000 from the Lundbeck Foundation, the university has announced. Thanks to this support, Jæhger will spend the next 18 months researching gene therapy for knee osteoarthritis. 

Tampere University reports good progress in game research

A project in Finland that is researching problems of equality and inclusion within the computer gaming world has completed its first stage. During the spring of 2024, stakeholder organisations such as Female Gaming Finland helped to identify the main problems in gaming culture. The project will now move on to workshopping solutions, according to an announcement from Tampere University. 

Aalborg University brings growth to North Jutland

As Aalborg University enjoys the 50th anniversary since it was founded, the university has said it brings growth and economic opportunity to the North Jutland region of Denmark, where it is located. Aalborg University said it generates a benefit of €1.2 billion per year for North Jutland, which equates to 4.9 per cent of the region’s GDP.

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Government’s policy change is designed to give Swedish universities more time for research

Swedish universities burdened with administrative tasks will now have more time to dedicate to research, following government plans that aim to alleviate administrative load.

The first stage of these reforms involves a review of current administrative burdens that universities face. Universities and colleges will be asked to indicate which administrative tasks are particularly onerous, and to suggest measures to improve efficiency. The plan was announced on 22 July and the results of this initial stage are expected in September 2025.

Universities in Sweden already have more independence from the government than other public bodies, both in terms of how they operate and how they spend money, but they still they have administrative obligations to fulfil.

The Swedish Agency for Public Management has been tasked with proposing measures to reduce these burdens. “Researchers and university [lecturers] must focus on conducting world-class research and building outstanding research environments. They should not spend too much time on burdensome reporting,” said education minister Mats Persson.

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Rector and vice-rector argue against cutting ties with Chinese researchers

The rector and vice-rector of the University of Oslo have defended their institution’s academic cooperation with China, following the arrest of a Norwegian citizen accused of spying for China. 

The suspect, who denies any wrongdoing, was apprehended at Oslo airport after returning from China. The case has sparked a debate within Norway about the extent to which the country should cooperate and collaborate with China across a number of areas, including research and higher education.

“Caution is required, but panicked reactions demanding that all cooperation with China be broken and that scare Norwegian students from travelling to China are counterproductive,” wrote rector Svein Stølen and vice-rector Mette Halskov Hansen in an online statement.

‘End to research collaborations’

The statement from the University of Oslo goes against arguments from the Progress Party, which has called for an end to research collaborations between Norway and countries it says put Norwegian national security at risk. “It is difficult to understand why it is so important for the government to allow Russian and Chinese researchers access to our technology. The understanding of security seems to be absent. We invite espionage by not limiting who we work with,” reads a statement from the right-wing and populist party.

The Norwegian domestic intelligence service, PST, has classed China as an increasing and significant intelligence threat to Norway in its most recent assessment. In an interview with Norwegian news outlet Verdens Gang, the leader of PST’s counterintelligence department, Kristian Takvam Kindt, said Norwegian students going to China are at risk of being recruited as spies.

‘China on equal footing with US’

But the University of Oslo has strongly defended its research collaborations with China. Stølen and Hansen argued that China is on equal footing with the United States in terms of its significance as a research nation. Therefore, Norway simply cannot afford to not cooperate with China.

“It is about more than academia. With a population of 1.4 billion and very rapid economic development, China is central to solving many of the global societal challenges—not least climate problems,” they wrote. “It is absurd and downright dangerous to imagine that we will not have any research collaborations with Chinese institutions and researchers.”

Stølen and Hansen did praise the PST for keeping a close eye on China’s activities, but they said universities should be trusted to assess the risks of cooperation with Chinese partners for themselves.

“We must be selective and not uniformly dismiss all research when we urge caution because of the real threat that some forms of knowledge transfer could be used militarily or industrially in China. Instead, we must make concrete risk assessments of the collaboration we choose to develop.”

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This week: innovation investments, patented research, and grant money for wound treatment

In depth: Research Sweden, along with six universities, has called for the government to establish clear guidelines for how academics should use and handle health data. The full potential of Sweden’s health data has not yet been exploited by researchers because well-defined rules are lacking, the organisations have argued in an opinion piece published in a newspaper.

Full story: Swedish academia asks for clearer rules on using health data

Also this week from Research Professional News

Cost-cutting on the horizon at the University of Bergen—Government’s plans to force all foreign researchers to learn Norwegian are to blame, says rector

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Call for ambitious RDI investments in EU

The Research Council of Finland and Business Finland have issued a joint statement calling for ambitious investments in the EU’s research, development and innovation activities. This is necessary, they argue, to safeguard the union’s global competitiveness and to bridge the innovation gap between EU countries.

Parkinson’s research patented

Neuroscientist Mark Denham, of the Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience at Aarhus University, has obtained a patent for his stem cell research on the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Now that he has the protection of a patent, Denham hopes to establish a spinout company and attract significant financial investments for his research.

Grant for Karolinska Institute researcher

For the second time, researcher Georgios Sotiriou, of the Swedish Karolinska Institute, has been awarded a Proof of Concept grant from the European Research Council. With his photocure project, he will investigate whether a light-activated nanocomposite film can be an effective treatment for severely infected wounds. “Grants from the ERC show us that we are on the right track, and our work has the capacity to convince important stakeholders of its potential to solve medical challenges,” Sotiriou said.

The post Nordic news roundup: 15-22 July appeared first on Research Professional News.

Government’s plans to force all foreign researchers to learn Norwegian are to blame, says rector

To train foreign post-doctoral researchers in the Norwegian language, the University of Bergen will have to make cuts elsewhere, its rector has said. It comes after the government has introduced new rules, set to come into force in August, that all foreign researchers need to have an adequate understanding of Norwegian.

“We are an international university: approximately 40 per cent of the scholarship holders are recruited from outside the Nordic countries. These language requirements mean that we have to cut back on something else,” wrote Margareth Hagen, the university’s rector, in a blog post.

From 1 August, foreign doctoral fellows and postdocs will need to complete at least 15 credits of Norwegian language training. The measure aims to prevent English from becoming the main language in Norwegian higher education. Hagen added that she is not against this aim for permanent employees.

“Knowledge of Norwegian is good for the collegial working community, and for wider participation in the university’s diverse activities,” she said. Her argument is that the imposition of this requirement on postdocs, who have a set period of time to complete a research project, is a high burden.

Hagen said the University of Bergen supports the idea that postdocs who do not speak Norwegian at the time of employment should be offered Norwegian training, but not to the tune of 15 credits.

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Current guidelines are deemed too complicated, leaving researchers reluctant to undertake studies

Think tank Research Sweden, along with six universities, has called for the government to establish clear guidelines on how academics should use and handle health data. 

The full potential of Sweden’s health data has not yet been exploited by researchers because of a lack of well-defined rules, the organisations argued in an opinion piece published in a newspaper.

“A national framework is required with guidelines for the handling and use of health data linked to social security numbers,” the open letter said.

The article was signed by 34 representatives from healthcare, research, patient organisations and the pharmaceutical industry. They included rectors, deans and professors of the Karolinska Institute, Linköping University, Örebro University, Umeå University, Uppsala University and the Luleå University of Technology.

Current laws and guidelines surrounding the use of health data are convoluted, the signatories argued, which is having the effect of stifling researchers’ ability to take full advantage of valuable data.

“Sweden has unique conditions to turn health data into patient benefits, thanks to the social security number system and the fact that the population wants to share their data,” the letter said. “But the potential is not used to the full, which affects the patients. 

“This is due, among other things, to the fact that the law for the area is complex and the guidelines for use unclear. It makes it difficult for staff to collect the data.”

Political support

The authors referenced a questionnaire ahead of the 2022 parliamentary elections, in which close to 80 per cent of parliamentary candidates and all political parties said they believed the government had to prioritise measures to enable the collecting, sharing and use of health data.

If scientists were to use more healthcare data, the resulting research could help to improve existing treatments, according to the opinion piece.

“Health data provides knowledge about how, for example, medicines and medical technology are used and their effect in everyday clinical life,” wrote the signatories. 

“It is an important step in ensuring that patients receive the right treatment at the right time. At the same time, ineffective treatment methods can be identified and phased out.”

The article also said that better use of health data could make care more equal. A 2024 opinion poll published by Research Sweden showed that just 6 per cent of respondents completely agreed that care in Sweden was equal. A sizeable 49 per cent did not agree at all.

“With common national standards for the storage and exchange of data, it will be possible to follow and analyse the care of patients in a uniform way throughout the country, and act on deviations,” said the signatories.

“Patients, healthcare providers, researchers and companies must be better able to contribute to the collection, sharing and use of data, and this must be done in an ethical, privacy- and information-safe, and structured way.”

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This week: rising university applications, space exploration and quantum computers

In depth: Higher education institutions in Sweden should have more control over their educational offering, to be able to meet the country’s skills needs of the future, experts appointed by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions have argued.

Full story: Swedish universities should decide curriculums, says report

Also this week from Research Professional News

Finland gets a new education minister—Anders Adlercreutz takes charge of general education and vocational training

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Danish university applications rise by 1 per cent

In Denmark, 85,152 students have applied for higher education this year. This is 1,079 more than in 2023, which corresponds to an increase of 1 per cent. The increase was mostly in science and engineering fields. Civil engineering is now the most sought-after subject.

New space centre for Arctic University of Norway

The county council of Nordland has awarded a grant of €347,000 to the Arctic University of Norway to establish a Center for Sustainable Space Operations. The centre, due to be operational in 2026, will have a lifespan of eight years and is tasked with contributing to the development of a space industry in the region.

University of Copenhagen partners with MIT in quantum research

The University of Copenhagen has signed a four-year collaboration agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The goal is to accelerate research in the development of advanced quantum computers. Two identical quantum laboratories will be built, one at UCPH and one at MIT. Both will be financed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme.

The post Nordic news roundup: 9-15 July appeared first on Research Professional News.

Anders Adlercreutz takes charge of general education and vocational training

Following a cabinet reshuffle, Finland’s president appointed Anders Adlercreutz as the country’s new education minister on 5 July. 

The 54-year-old is the leader of the Swedish People’s Party of Finland (SPP), a centrist party that seeks to defend the interests of the country’s Swedish-speaking minority.

The governing National Coalition party is supported in government by an alliance of smaller parties that includes the SPP, the Christian Democrats and the right-wing populist Finns Party.

The new education minister replaces Anna-Maja Henriksson, who was elected to the European Parliament last month.

Before becoming education minister, Adlercreutz was minister for European affairs, a position that is now filled by fellow SPP member Joakim Strand.

As minister of education, he is responsible for general education and vocational training, as well as as well as early childhood education and care. 

Science minister Sari Multala will retain responsibility for higher education.

Adlercreutz, a trained architect who lives in his hometown of Kirkkonummi, has noted similarities between the work of an architect and that of a politician. 

“Both are about finding solutions and reconciling a wide range of different needs,” he said. “Both require creativity and a long-term approach, and both require the ability to package your thoughts and sell them to the parties in the project again and again.”

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Experts argue flexibility is needed to meet student demands

Higher education institutions in Sweden should have more control over their educational offering, to be able to meet the country’s skills needs of the future, experts appointed by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions have argued.

The association tasked Ingeborg Amnéus, an analyst at Uppsala University, and Pam Fredman, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Gothenburg, to determine areas where improvements could be made in Sweden’s academic life.

The aim was to create a resource for universities and colleges to improve themselves, but also act as a means of influencing policymakers. The result is a series of reports, the latest of which was published on 8 July. It looks chiefly at the question of how universities can take greater responsibility for ensuring that the Swedish economy has the skills it needs in the future.

The report said that universities do not have enough room currently to act strategically on designing their curriculum. This is because the government is targeting investment in specific areas of education.

“Such directed investments mean that the assessment of how the educational offer should be designed is moved and centralised from the universities to the government, which evaluations have shown is not always appropriate or effective,” said the report.

Amnéus and Fredman argued that higher education institutions should be trusted to develop their own curriculums, based on student demand and the evolving needs of working life. With strengthened institutional autonomy, universities could be more proactive in adapting to changing predictions of future labour-market needs, they said.

The report also emphasised the need to establish strong links between research and education, so students can get a better sense of the kind of skillset that is currently valued and used by science and wider society. This could be achieved with a joint budget for research and education to underline the connection, the report argued.

It also said that higher education requires more resources to increase teaching time and enhance quality. More money for lifelong learning is especially pressing. “If no resources are added, lifelong learning in higher education cannot expand without displacing other education. This may lead to fewer beginners having the opportunity to study and obtain a first degree.”

The report also appealed for mutual understanding and respect between those in higher education and government. “Higher education institutions must understand politics’ need for results and efficiency, the labour market’s need for competence and the students’ need for high-quality education. At the same time, politics and the labour market must respect the role of higher education in the skills chain and the responsibilities of higher education institutions, academic integrity and conditions.”

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This week: foreign research requirements, job cuts and new head of Danish National Research Foundation

In depth: Danish research libraries have yet to effectively integrate artificial intelligence into their systems, according to a pilot study, which identified a disconnect in collaboration between libraries and technology companies as one of the causes.

Full story: Danish research libraries have yet to exploit AI 

Also this week from Research Professional News

Union says Sweden’s constitution should protect academic freedom—Manifesto promises of academic freedom protections should be honoured, says SULF

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

‘Norwegian language requirements will be costly’

Universities Norway has joined others in criticising a new policy that foreign doctoral fellows and postdocs will need to complete 15 credits of Norwegian language training. According to the organisation’s president, Sunniva Whittaker, this is discriminatory for international PhD students because it will mean less research time for them. It will be expensive for universities as well, she argued, because this lost research time might lead to longer employment contracts.

University of Vaasa could cut 35 jobs

The Finnish University of Vaasa has announced it will renegotiate employment conditions with its entire staff, the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science FUURT announced. In its press release, the university said its board has calculated that the university needs to save €1.6 million. The renegotiations could lead to the termination of up to 35 employees. 

New president for Danish National Research Foundation

The Danish minister of education and research, Christina Egelund, has appointed climate scientist Dorthe Dahl-Jensen as the new president of the Danish National Research Foundation. In this role, the Niels Bohr Institute professor will support Danish research at an international level. She takes office on 1 August. The independent fund was established by the Danish parliament in 1991 to strengthen the development of Danish research.

The post Nordic news roundup: 2-8 July appeared first on Research Professional News.

Libraries are confused about how to interact with technology companies, according to a report

Danish research libraries have yet to effectively integrate artificial intelligence into their systems, according to a pilot study, which identified a disconnect in collaboration between libraries and technology companies as one of the causes. 

The report—carried out on behalf of the Danish Research Library Association (DFFU) and the Association of European Research Libraries (Liber)—drew on interviews with representatives of Danish research libraries and technology companies such as Elsevier, ExLibris*, ChronosHub and Keenious. Liber published the study on 1 July.

The report says there are only a few examples of AI being properly used in managing research library systems. Chiefly, these are the use of image-to-text transcription when digitising materials and using AI for back-office tasks related to cataloguing. 

‘Tip of the iceberg’

Libraries are also interested in using AI to enrich metadata, according to AI companies. In short, libraries are woefully underusing AI at present. “We have only seen the tip of the iceberg,” said a university library worker quoted in the study.

There is a widespread mismatch between how Danish research libraries and technology companies think they should best work together. Libraries tend to view themselves as clients and thus seek a “traditional customer-supplier relationship”, says the report. 

Technology companies, on the other hand, are attempting to build more intricate relationships that create user communities, rather than purely selling their products. The report says this hampers collaborations and that “libraries have shown confusion regarding their recent partnerships with technology providers”.

Danish research libraries are looking to organisations such as DFFU and Liber to help guide them in applying AI to their operations in a responsible and beneficial manner, the study report says.

Identifying suppliers

“Organisations like Liber can collaborate with suppliers to qualify who the good suppliers in the market are,” said someone linked to a university library. DFFU and Liber can help distinguish between technology companies that wish to become engaged in the scientific environment and those who are indifferent to the scientific process, they added.

For now, discussions on AI in research libraries remain general in scope and do not yet focus on the specifics and practicalities of AI use, according to the report. 

“There is the challenge of new technologies such as chatbots, ChatGPT, and speech-to-text. All these new possibilities raise the question: How can we work with them? We not only experience the impact of the technology but also the ability to apply it in certain areas. These new technologies impose new demands on employee competencies,” said a Royal Danish Library associate quoted in the report.

AI advantage

Norwegian startup Keenious has noticed that libraries feel compelled to engage with AI because it is widely utilised by students and researchers. But Keenious said many potential partners are more interested in the subject of AI than in doing actual business.

The technology companies, for their part, say there is a growing recognition among libraries that they need to be less conservative and more willing to experiment with AI technologies to meet evolving user demands. “I think they are now coming to an understanding that AI will not replace them as librarians. Instead, librarians that use AI will be at an advantage,” an ExLibris associate said. 

*ExLibris is owned by Clarivate. Research Professional News is an editorially independent part of Clarivate

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Manifesto promises of academic freedom protections should be honoured, says SULF

The Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers (SULF) has urged one of the government’s ruling parties to make good on its pledge to include academic freedom protections in the country’s constitution.

The union’s president, Sanna Wolk, penned an opinion piece on 4 July to express her frustration and growing impatience with higher education minister Mats Persson and his centre-right Liberal Party, which forms part of the governing coalition. “It is time for the Liberals to fulfil their election promise,” wrote Wolk. “A first step towards a new constitutional committee should be taken in the autumn research bill.”

Research Professional News has asked the party for comment.

Constitutional protection

Sweden has already enshrined the freedom of research in its constitution, but the same legal protections have not yet been extended to the content of teaching on university campuses. In their 2022 manifesto, the Liberals pledged to ensure that “academic freedom be constitutionally protected in its entirety”.

Wolk cited a recent report on academic freedom from the Swedish Higher Education Authority in which more than half of researchers said their academic freedom is being challenged, mainly due to political influence. “Amending the constitution takes time,” wrote Wolk. “Therefore, it is urgent to start the process.”

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This week: AI research facilities, funding for young researchers and more medical students

In depth: The Norwegian government has said it will oblige all doctoral and postdoctoral fellows in Norway who do not speak Norwegian to take language classes.

Full story: Foreign researchers in Norway will have to learn language

Also this week from Research Professional News

Chinese funders require students in Sweden to return home—UKÄ report finds that terms of scholarship include obliging students to return to China

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

AI centres galore 

Norway is planning to establish four to six artificial intelligence centres by 2025, as part of the €87.7 million fund that the government has set aside for AI research over the next five years. The Norwegian Research Council has already received input from some 122 parties, mostly universities and colleges, who want to help establish these centres.

More than €31m for Denmark’s young and promising researchers

The Independent Research Fund of Denmark announced it has awarded grants worth €31.4 million to 38 young researchers. The awardees are working on a broad spectrum of scientific fields, ranging from multilingualism among agricultural workers to the optimisation of batteries.

Finland to boost medical student places to remedy doctor shortage

The Finnish ministry of education has signed an agreement with five universities to increase the number of medical student places by 70; veterinary medicine will also get 20 more places. A total of €23.4 million in additional funding has been earmarked for the increases.

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UKÄ report finds that terms of scholarship include obliging students to return to China

More than 100 Chinese PhD students who received funding from the China Scholarship Council to study in Sweden were obliged to go back to China after finishing their courses, according to an investigation carried out by the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ).

The UKÄ asked all of Sweden’s higher education institutes whether any of their PhD students had unreasonable conditions imposed on them by scholarship providers between 2020 and 2023.

Most replied that funders had reasonable expectations of their students, but a significant minority of responses detailed a requirement for students to return to their countries of origin.

“Most of the reported cases concern Chinese doctoral students with scholarships from the China Scholarship Council,” said the UKÄ in an online statement on 25 June, adding that just over 100 such cases were reported. There were also 10 cases from countries including Iraq, Singapore, Sudan and Thailand.

Several Swedish universities have now decided to stop or pause the admission of doctoral students with scholarships from the China Scholarship Council, according to the UKÄ.

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Oslo wants to prevent English from becoming leading language on campus, despite strong pushback

The Norwegian government has said it will oblige all doctoral and postdoctoral fellows in Norway who do not speak Norwegian to take language classes.

“We are taking necessary measures to preserve Norwegian as a professional language and to prevent English from becoming the main language in Norwegian higher education,” the research and higher education minister Oddmund Hoel said on 26 June.

“The new rules will ensure that employees receive better Norwegian training and are better integrated in the workplace. It will also help ensure that the students receive good instruction in Norwegian.”

The ministry of education estimates that close to half of Norway’s research fellows and three-quarters of the country’s postdoctoral fellows come from other countries.

From August 2024 onwards, doctoral fellows and postdocs will need to complete at least 15 credits of Norwegian language training, which equates to about three months’ work, according to one of the policy’s critics, Pierre Lison, chief research scientist at the Norwegian Computing Centre.

The hope, according to the government, is that the move will improve foreign researchers’ integration in the workplace and make them more likely to stay in Norway in the long run. Many foreign nationals return to their home country after finishing their doctorate.

“Society invests many billions annually in the recruitment of these positions. To ensure that we actually get good recruitment both for academia and for Norwegian working life, we must do a better job of integrating foreign employees and ensure that they qualify for further careers in Norway,” said Hoel.

Sector unhappy

The measure has, however, received strong pushback. Lison said the government has simply ignored the opinion of academia and research institutions in pursuing the strategy.

“The new directive went through an extensive consultation round, and all academic institutions in Norway were unanimous in indicating that this proposal was a very bad idea, which would subject them to large additional costs and lead to various practical problems for those foreign PhDs and postdocs, who are already under heavy time pressure,” he told Research Professional News.

“The Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, which had the responsibility of preparing this new directive, took those comments in consideration, and recommended to the government that they drop this requirement.”

Although Lison agrees Norwegian needs to be preserved as a professional language, he believes the language requirements for foreign researchers are “possibly the worst possible measure one could think of”.

The policy is beset with impracticalities, he said. “It’s going to be very expensive to implement and lead to substantial delays in many research projects.”

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This week: Nordic cooperation, more researchers for Sweden and a rector proposal at Stockholm University

In depth: The Norwegian government has purchased a new supercomputer in a deal worth almost €20 million, in the hope of boosting the country’s artificial intelligence research.

Full story: Norway orders AI-boosting supercomputer

Also this week from Research Professional News

Finland outlines plans to boost R&D funding—Government recommits to target of 1.2 per cent of GDP by 2030

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Nordic collaboration funder hails successful year  

Projects that received funding from NordForsk—an organisation that facilitates Nordic cooperation through research—generated 2,829 publications last year. According to the organisation’s latest impact report, more than 300 projects also received awards and recognition. These numbers prove that NordForsk-funded research is high quality, the funder said. 

More postdoctoral fellows in Sweden 

The number of people employed by Swedish universities continues to rise, according to the annual report of the Swedish Higher Education Authority. In 2023, there were 55,660 employees, an increase of 610 full-time equivalent posts on 2022. The number of postdoctoral fellows and assistant lecturers increased by 19 and 9 per cent respectively. 

University board proposes next rector

Stockholm University’s board has unanimously agreed to put forward Hans Adolfsson, currently rector of Umeå University, as its new rector. The final decision will be taken by the Swedish government. If approved, the university will get “a confident and trustworthy president who has experience of leading another broad university”, said board chair Mats Melin.

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Government hopes new multimillion-euro computer will facilitate high-tech research

The Norwegian government has purchased a new supercomputer in a deal worth almost €20 million, in the hope of boosting the country’s artificial intelligence research.

The HPE Cray EX Supercomputer was ordered from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Norway on 13 June and is set to be the most powerful computer in Norwegian history when it comes online in the summer of 2025. The ministry of education and research has said the computer will be made available for any researchers who need high-power computing to complete their work.

This latest procurement is part of the government’s promise to spend at least €88 million on AI technology over the next five years. The spending spree is justified, ministers have said, because AI is a matter of national security.

“This is a big step forward for Norway as a knowledge economy. To keep up with the AI race, we must be less dependent on foreign players. We must make sure that we have enough computing power ourselves. It is crucial to ensure Norwegian knowledge readiness and national security,” Oddmund Hoel, the research and higher education minister, said in a statement.

The computer will be housed underground in the Lefdal mine. Since 2021, this old mine has functioned as a data centre deep inside a mountain off the west coast of Norway.

The supercomputer is much faster than ordinary computers and can perform complex calculations. The ministry considers it indispensable for data-oriented research in areas such as medicine, climate, language and AI. So vast is the scale of the computing power that such a device is beyond the purchasing power of any individual university in Norway.

“Heavy-duty computers are expensive, challenging to operate and require special expertise to use. It is therefore appropriate that the state itself owns national supercomputers that can be used by researchers, regardless of the research institution or field of study they are associated with,” the ministry said.

The new computer will be jointly operated by the University of Bergen, University of Oslo, University of Tromsø and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Even with the addition of the HPE Cray EX Supercomputer, Norway is still likely to need further computing power in the near future. “Much more is needed,” said Gunnar Bøe, manager of the state-owned company Sigma2, which operates the Lefdal mine facility. “Access to advanced technology like this, and specialised expertise to use it, will be essential for digital transformation in a number of sectors going forward.” 

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Government recommits to target of 1.2 per cent of GDP by 2030

The Finnish government has detailed a multi-year plan for how it intends to make good on a previous commitment to increase state funding for research to 1.2 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2030.

The hope is that private investment will also increase during the same time period to bring total research spending to 4 per cent of GDP.

The new guidelines include improving the conditions for ambitious science and strengthening cooperation between businesses and the research sector.

“Although Finland is facing a difficult economic situation, we have decided to allocate what little room for manoeuvre we have to research and development. This is an important choice, as it will give Finland the conditions for growth based on a high level of competence. In the future, we want Finland to be one of the most attractive places in the world to create new things, conduct research and bring about commercial innovations,” said prime minister Petteri Orpo (pictured) in a statement.

The 1.2 per cent target was signed off during the previous parliamentary term and became law last year. The legislation stipulates that government spending on research needs to be increased annually by approximately €280 million each year until 2030. It also obliges each new government to adopt a multi-year plan on how research funding should be used for the next eight years.

“Some allocation decisions have already been made and some will be made later on. Some of the allocations are made as permanent increases and some as fixed-term increases,” Antti Pelkonen, chief specialist at the secretariat of the Research and Innovation Council, told Research Professional News. The council is still in the process of identifying fields of research that it wants to invest more money in.

The multi-year plan stipulates that government investments in science and research should be made strategically, with a view to stimulate private investment in research. It also details the need for Finland to increase the number of academics and research staff to accelerate productivity in the coming years.

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This week: data leaks, oversubscribed PhD applications and a push to commercialise research

In depth: 

The Norwegian government has said it will streamline the process by which a higher education institution can win recognition as a university.

Full story: Norway wants to make it easier to gain university status

Also this week from Research Professional News

Almost half of PhD students in Sweden come from abroad—Four in 10 PhD places were taken by international students in 2023, says Statistics Sweden report

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

University of Copenhagen staff had unauthorised access to personal data

The University of Copenhagen announced that groups of university staff for several years had too broad access to the data of around 310,000 individuals associated with the university. This included confidential data such as civil registration numbers and home addresses. The error was discovered by a staff member, but the university said there is no evidence of personal data misuse.

Five candidates for every doctoral researcher position at the University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki has said that it received a record number of applicants for 236 available doctoral researcher positions: five applications for each available spot. These roles are part of a pilot in which the doctoral research should be completed within three years.

Danish government wants more research to lead to spinout companies

The Danish government wants to strengthen universities’ innovation efforts so that more research translates into commercial solutions. Universities will, for example, receive funds to commercialise their research, and incentives will be created for researchers to collaborate with businesses. The government has allocated €281 million for this to cover 2024-26 and €147m per year from 2027.

The post Nordic news roundup: 11-17 June appeared first on Research Professional News.

Government plans to relax criteria for higher education institutes to become universities

The Norwegian government has said it will streamline the process by which a higher education institution can win recognition as a university.

The plans, announced on 11 June, will come into effect in 2025. They include reducing the number of doctoral programmes a university must offer to be able to call itself a university from four to one. Other accreditation requirements will also be updated to make the process less bureaucratic.

Norway currently has 10 full universities, nine specialist universities and almost 30 university colleges. Oddmund Hoel, the minister of research and higher education, wants to reduce what he says is needless red tape that higher education institutions face when trying to become universities.

The specialist universities, for example, will be able to apply for accreditation as a full university through a simplified procedure, with a transition period of five years.

“We need rules that ensure the institutions can use their resources to solve needs in society, not to participate in an unnecessarily bureaucratising competition to be able to call themselves a university. We do not benefit from building up as many doctoral programmes as possible just to meet a formal requirement,” said Hoel.

Not all rules will be overhauled: institutions with a wide range of subjects will still need to offer more than one doctoral degree.

Aspiring universities will also still need to have at least five doctoral candidates graduating each year over a three-year period and have admitted at least 15 doctoral students per year on average over a period of five years.

The government hopes the simplified procedures will save Norway’s higher education institutes time and money through increased administrative efficiency.

Initial welcome from universities

The proposals come on the back of the recommendations of an expert panel, which was tasked with investigating how the requirements to become a university could be made more reasonable. The government is currently consulting stakeholders, who have until the end of September to answer. Afterwards, the rules will be laid down in law, before coming into force from 1 January 2025. 

The board of Universities Norway (UHR), an interest organisation for 32 universities and university colleges, will discuss the proposal at its meeting in September, chairperson Sunniva Whittaker told Research Professional News. She said UHR supported a lot of the proposals made by the expert panel in its report of January last year, which the government’s proposal is based on.

“One key point in the report is that instead of requiring four distinct doctoral study programmes, the doctoral programme(s) must cover significant parts of the most important educational and research fields at the institution. UHR is in favour of this change, and also supports the recommendation that doctoral education can be given in collaboration with other educational institutions,” Whittaker said.

UHR also agrees that specialised universities should be able to apply to become universities through a simplified process.

Update 17/6 – This article was updated with the comment from Whittaker

A version of this article also appeared in Research Europe

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Four in 10 PhD places were taken by international students in 2023, says Statistics Sweden report

Foreign students in Sweden accounted for 41 per cent of all PhD students who started in 2023, according to a new report from Statistics Sweden. The number of PhD students coming to Sweden last year rose by 5.6 per cent on 2022.

The most popular disciplines for foreign PhD students in Sweden are in the natural sciences, followed by technology. In both these areas, foreign students outnumber Swedish PhD students. The report also showed that most foreign PhD students are funded by employment at their host university.

Despite the numbers, observers say Sweden’s immigration system is still cumbersome, making it difficult for the country’s universities to compete for global talent.

“The current legislation works directly against our universities, when there is so much uncertainty as to whether or not you will get a resident’s permit. Then you apply to other countries such as Germany, where it takes two to four weeks,” Sanna Wolk, union president of the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers, said in a statement.

This is not the case for students who come to Sweden from other EU countries, because they do not need an  immigration visa or work permit.

In response to criticisms of Sweden’s immigration policy on non-EU PhD students, education minister Mats Persson has ordered an assessment of the migration regulations.

“Sweden is a strong research and innovation nation, and international collaborations are central to us being able to maintain this,” he said. “A very important part of that is to ensure there are good conditions for foreign researchers to come to Sweden and share their knowledge.”

The inquiry’s findings will be presented by the end of the year.

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This week: polar research, simplified exams and animal testing

In depth: To ensure equal opportunities for all genders, funders should focus more on the merits of a grant application than on the applicant, according to the Swedish Research Council.

Full story: Funders urged to focus on applications, not applicants

Also this week from Research Professional News

Copenhagen to get new quantum research centre this year—Denmark hopes to attract foreign talent and investment with opening of new facility 

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Norway to open research office in Svalbard

The Norwegian government is establishing a research office in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with the aim of strengthening Norwegian polar research. “There is a need for more coordination, better cooperation and more sharing of infrastructures, data and research results,” said research and higher education minister Oddmund Hoel.

Entrance exams to be simplified in Finland

The Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities has decided to reform the written entrance exams for universities from 2025. The number of exams will be reduced from 120 to 9. The goal is to reduce the burden that applicants experience and to make it easier for them to apply to several different fields of study and different universities.

Funders urged to take animal welfare seriously

The Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development has backed a statement from the National Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes that urges research funders to take more responsibility in ensuring that animal welfare is respected in experiments. Funders should make sure that animal tests are replaced with alternatives where possible; they should try to reduce the number of animal tests; and they should increase the welfare of animals in experiments.

The post Nordic news roundup: 4-10 June appeared first on Research Professional News.

Denmark hopes to attract foreign talent and investment with opening of new facility

The Danish capital is to get a new quantum research centre in 2024, which the government hopes will attract foreign researchers and funding by bringing industry and academia together.

The Copenhagen facility, which will be known as Quantum Denmark, is to include a test centre for private businesses, scientists and students to validate their quantum theories and technologies.

“This is needed if we are to continue to be at the forefront of the international elite, and we must because of the great potential of quantum technology and the security threats such as cyberattacks and protection of critical data,” said research minister Christina Egelund in a statement on 3 June.

“We have long had great ambitions for the development and application of quantum technology in Denmark. This initiative stands on the shoulders of world-class research, and the quantum house will contribute to making Denmark an international quantum hub.”

The new centre is part of a wider 2023-27 quantum technology strategy launched by the Danish government last year.

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Swedish Research Council says that a strong focus on applicants favours male researchers

To ensure equal opportunities for all genders, funders should focus more on the merits of a grant application than on the applicant, according to the Swedish Research Council.

When research funders consider an applicant’s experience, publishing record and other set criteria, they tend to disproportionately favour senior researchers, according to a council report. Senior researchers are more likely to be male, so focusing on the applicant puts women at a disadvantage.

The council reviewed the gender equality of its grant assessment procedures in 2023, with the results published on 30 May. “When the assessment led to gender inequality, the observation material shows that this was probably due to the panel placing too strong a focus on the applicant’s accumulated achievements,” said project leader Lisbeth Söderqvist.

The problem is especially acute within the fields of medicine and health research, according to the report, where greater importance is placed on an applicant’s seniority and achievements at the expense of their research proposals. Söderqvist urged research funders to consider whether overly focusing on an applicant’s achievements and CV may have unintended consequences.

“The gender equality observations capture factors that are otherwise difficult to see, and are an important tool for improving our process,” said Anna Vallstedt Haeger, head of the council’s review process unit.

Solutions

The report recommends that grant assessors should be informed that if they pay too much attention to an applicant’s credentials and experience, they risk overlooking women. That alone might be enough to shift their focus.

Interestingly, the assessment of humanities and social sciences grant applications offers a positive case study. The report notes that in these fields of research, “the focus was often on the scientific quality of the proposed project, as well as the project’s novelty value”.

Grant reviewers should be told not to add informal or irrelevant information during the discussion of an application, according to the report. This is often intended to support the applicant but it also results in information that cannot be confirmed entering the assessment process, threatening objectivity.

Ultimately, the report wants to raise awareness of the problem among reviewers and grant-giving organisations.

Awareness is already on the rise, said Söderqvist. “We have seen that the gender equality observations are noticed by other research financiers, both nationally and internationally, which is positive. This means that our work can contribute to greater equality in the assessment of applications elsewhere as well.”

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This week: a pay dispute, rules on international researchers and criticism of a publishing deal

In depth: The Swedish Higher Education Authority has reported back to education minister Mats Persson following his request last year for an investigation into perceived threats to academic freedom.

Full story: Swedish academics fear political meddling and funding issues

Also this week from Research Professional News

Minister ‘exploring solutions’ to data protection concerns—Researchers in Denmark left frustrated after clinical trials are put on hold
 

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Industrial action at Norwegian universities

Researchers and teachers have gone on strike at several of Norway’s universities. The Unio confederation of unions has 1,610 members employed by the state out on strike, joined by 700 members of the Akademikerne union. Both organisations say they will not accept an offer they claim is less favourable for their members than the existing agreement. The government has said it wants the collective agreement for all professionals employed by the state to follow the agreements reached with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.

Concern for international researchers

The Finnish researchers’ union Tieteentekijät has expressed concern about proposed changes in working permits for international researchers in the country. Around 20 per cent of the union’s members have an international background, many of whom will be affected by planned changes, especially to the requirements for citizenship and permanent residency. A webinar organised by the union highlighted the likely effect of the proposals on its members. “We consider it important that Finland is an attractive country for international researchers,” the union said.

Researchers warn over ‘predatory publishers’

An agreement between the National Library of Sweden and more than 80 other libraries, four research foundations and the publishing house Frontiers has been accused of promoting “predatory publishing”. The agreement aims to facilitate researchers’ publications on open-access platforms run by Frontiers, with the costs covered by the four foundations. But critics say Frontiers has a bad track record with sloppy or even non-existent peer reviews. The agreement with Frontiers threatens scientific integrity and should be abolished, claimed Göran Arnqvist and Pär Ågerfalk, two professors at Uppsala University, in Curie, an online publication from the Swedish Research Council, one of the foundations involved in the agreement. Frontiers defended its record, saying it is “carefully vetted and indexed by all major bibliometric databases”. The publisher added: “We have rigorous review processes, 56 per cent of submissions were rejected in 2023 and our retraction rate is comparable to that of other responsible publishers. Our flat-fee agreement supports author choice at outstanding value.”

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Researchers in Denmark left frustrated after clinical trials are put on hold

Denmark’s health minister has said that she is exploring possible solutions after a number of clinical trials were put on hold because of data privacy concerns.

In a statement on 21 May, the Danish Data Protection Agency clarified that an exemption in the current rules, which are based on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, does not allow clinical researchers to use personal health data when researching the side effects of a specific treatment.

This use of data from national health registers would go beyond the exemption, which only allows for the use of personal data in statistical or scientific studies, the agency said.

Although using their data to research side effects “is unlikely to worry many of the affected citizens”, there is a risk that broadening the exemption would undermine the rules and open it up to abuse by organisations for purposes that are not in the public interest.

However, the agency added that it would discuss the matter with the Ministry of Health and that a legal basis for the research to continue could be found elsewhere.

In comments to the newspaper Politiken, health minister Sophie Løhde (pictured) said: “The national health registers have a big potential for research that can give us new knowledge and better treatments. I understand that researchers are frustrated when a number of clinical trials have now been put on hold. I have therefore asked my ministry to explore possible solutions.”

Danish health registers are based on individuals’ personal ID codes and enable medical scientists to conduct large-scale research projects. For example, 200,000 Danes are currently involved in a study in which traditional influenza vaccines are compared with high-dose vaccines.

Anton Pottegård, a professor in the department of public health at the University of Southern Denmark, called the Danish Data Protection Agency’s interpretation of the rules “devastating for free research” and demanded a “grown-up opinion” on the matter.

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‘Wokeism’ and ‘cancel culture’ barely feature in survey responses on threats to academic freedom

The Swedish Higher Education Authority has reported back to education minister Mats Persson following his request last year for an investigation into perceived threats to academic freedom.

Persson’s call was based on concerns over the apparent growth of “wokeism and cancel culture” in higher education and research institutions. However, the authority’s findings show that those threats have been greatly exaggerated and that what academic staff fear most is political interference in their work.

The authority compiled four case studies and carried out a survey with 4,000 participants, a consultation process and an international comparison.

Its report says that half of researchers believe academic freedom is under threat, with a third having experienced problems themselves. In response to those challenges, a third said they had changed the focus of their own research and a quarter said they had avoided carrying out research on controversial topics.

Asked to list challenges to academic freedom, the most common responses were political interference (29 per cent) and the funding system (28 per cent). A further 10 factors were mentioned, including pressure for uniformity and to rectify dissenting views (10 per cent), the short-term mandates of review boards (5 per cent) and harassment or threats (3 per cent).

Those categories were based on free text answers, meaning that respondents could mention more than one factor and the total sum would be bigger than 100. Less than 1 per cent of respondents mentioned cancel culture, wokeism and identity politics.

‘Culture of silence’

The minister did not comment on the report when it was presented, but he was asked by several media outlets whether his plans for the investigation had backfired and if he still believes there is a problem with cancel culture.

To the public service television company SVT, the minister said: “These are two different issues. Political control always needs to be discussed; for example, we are currently reviewing the ethical review system, where many researchers have criticised a lot of political control. But the report shows that there is a culture of silence and tendencies towards self-censorship that are very problematic.”

To the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Persson (pictured) said that he finds the report worrying: “The fact that researchers feel compelled to self-censor, that there is a culture of silence. It’s worse than I thought.”

And to the student paper Lundagård, published by Lund University, the minister said: “What is new about this report is that many researchers perceive the environment as standardised and a place where there is a low ceiling. The freedom to choose your research question is at the heart of academic freedom and is enshrined in the Higher Education Act.”

Different perceptions

Project leader Caroline Tovatt said in a press release that the responses to the survey and the report showed different perceptions of what academic freedom is. It is difficult to discuss something that everyone has a different definition of, she said.

The law regulating higher education stipulates that academic freedom is the right for individuals to freely conduct research and education without undue influence. This implies freedom to choose the research topic, freedom to develop research methods and freedom to publish the results.

The issues of political control and how the funding system is organised will be further discussed when the government puts forward proposals for new research legislation in the autumn.

A version of this article also appeared in Research Europe

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This week: student miscalculations, international student fees and declining social mobility

In depth: In the latest iteration of the Academic Freedom Index, Norway has fallen from 23rd place to 38th place out of a total of 179 countries since 2022.

Full story: Norway’s academic freedom rating slips
 

Also this week from Research Professional News

Nordic universities under pressure over Gaza conflict—Universities are grappling to maintain a balance over calls to cut ties with Israel
 

Here is the rest of the Nordic news this week…

Non-European students to pay full costs

Finland’s government will introduce tuition fees for students from outside the EU and European Economic Area, who will have to cover the full cost of their education. The change will also see the introduction of an application fee for such students. This will apply to degree programmes whose instruction is given in a language other than Finnish or Swedish. “Charging fees for tuition at full cost aims to improve the finances of higher education institutions,” said science minister Sari Multala.

International students left out in calculations

The Danish government previously announced a controversial plan to cut student places by 10.4 per cent in a bid to streamline the country’s labour supply, but it is now clear that international students were not included in the cut. This will make it less likely for the plans to succeed because about one third of international students stay in Denmark to work after they graduate and will therefore become part of the labour supply, according to the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs.

Less social mobility among young Norwegian researchers

In 2022, 66 per cent of academics had parents with a higher education qualification, but younger researchers had a significantly higher proportion of parents with qualifications than older researchers, according to a study by Norwegian Statistics. This could indicate that fewer people from disadvantaged backgrounds are forging a career in Norwegian academia in new cohorts of researchers.

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Academic Freedom Index downgrades Norway to 38th place

In the latest iteration of the Academic Freedom Index, Norway has fallen from 23rd to 38th place out of a total of 179 countries since 2022.

The ranking is based on assessments from 2,329 experts from around the world. The index considers five key indicators: freedom to research and teach; freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; the institutional autonomy of universities; campus integrity; and the freedom of academic and cultural expression.

The Czech Republic tops the list and, perhaps unsurprisingly, North Korea occupies the bottom spot. Other Nordic countries rank higher than Norway: Sweden is in 10th place, Finland in 13th place and Denmark in 29th place.

Stagnation

Although Norway has slipped in the ratings, this does not necessarily mean that academic freedom in the country has declined; it is just that it has not kept pace with improvements made in other countries. Still, academics in Norway have expressed their concerns.

Six Norwegian professors have published an open letter addressed to Norway’s university rectors to accuse university administrators of “abuse of power” and “failing management”, which they say is hampering academic freedom in Norway. The academics also say that calling out such behaviour is increasingly difficult because the investigation process is imperfect.

“We have seen that some managers do not follow their own rules of the game when conflicts are investigated and that the management supports the strongest party, so young researchers often do not get through successfully with justified complaints,” reads the letter.

Global decline

Similar criticism has repeatedly been raised in Denmark, Sweden and Finland from researchers and unions. These experiences in the Nordic countries chime with a wider development that is highlighted in the Academic Freedom Index, which is that academic freedom is under threat, globally, after reaching a zenith in 2006.

But there is good news too; 56 countries now have significant higher levels of academic freedom in 2023 than they did in 1973.

The more worrying trend, however, is that academic freedom has decreased more considerably in other countries, such as Bangladesh, India, Türkiye and the United States, which is now ranked as number 87. Many more people are affected by restrictions of academic freedom today than 50 years ago.

The Academic Freedom Index report suggests there is a link between the growing polarisation of societies and the fall in academic freedom, citing a body of literature that demonstrates how democratic principles have been eroded over the past 20 years by nationalist parties. This can lead to a climate of fear that discourages scientists from asking controversial research questions or sharing their findings with policymakers and the public, the report said.

Research on the connection between polarisation and restrictions of academic freedom is still in its infancy, however, but it promises to be an important field of research, the authors concluded.

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Universities are grappling to maintain a balance over calls to cut ties with Israel

Universities in the Nordic countries are struggling to continue walking a tightrope over the conflict in Gaza, amid several on-campus protests.

The University of Helsinki has confirmed that it has no plans to restrict research collaborations with Israel, but it has decided to pause exchange programmes.

“The university’s board and rector are shocked by the civilian casualties of the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the catastrophic deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” the university said in a statement.

“The university has been asked to suspend research cooperation with Israeli entities. However, we believe that in the absence of international sanctions and other restrictive policies, the choice of collaborators is primarily one of academic freedom, which is central to the operation of the university.”

Direct engagement

Norwegian universities have taken a similar stance. Administrators at Copenhagen University had meanwhile taken a more direct route to engage with protesters by meeting with them, but some activists later blocked the main entrance to the university and talks subsequently stalled.

“Swedish universities and university colleges do not have an assignment or a mandate to take sides in foreign policy issues,” reads a statement from Sweden’s University and College Association (SUHF). Some Swedish institutions are waiting on instructions from the government over whether to act or not.

“For the university to suspend all cooperation with a country, the Swedish government must instruct the university to do so. This was the case, for example, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a comparison that is often made. Even then, however, we emphasised the importance of continued opportunities for researchers and individuals to have contact and cooperation,” said Malin Broberg, rector at Gothenburg University.

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