Swedish universities seek better funding balance

Core support should be increased to ease reliance on external financing, universities say

Public research in Sweden is too dependent on external funding, which hampers the development of free and scientifically driven research, the nation’s universities have warned.

For some institutions, basic funding from the state is only enough to cover co-financing of research designed by, and dependent on, external support, a study by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) has found.