Today I signed a petition addressed to the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament. I signed it as one of the researchers who recognise that there are risks associated with not investing sufficiently in research and higher education under the next framework programme.
In my role as Vice-Chancellor, I am usually cautious about signing petitions, but not in this case. I signed it in my capacity as a researcher, as Vice-Chancellor, but also in my role as Chair of the Guild – the network with which Uppsala University works to raise awareness of our issues within the EU. The fact is that a broad-based commitment to European research is of the utmost importance for the sake of our collective competitiveness. At Uppsala University, we have, of course, also just adopted a new mission, goals and strategies in which we make it clear just how important our relationship with the EU is. In Uppsala University: Mission, Goals and Strategies, we set out our second goal as follows:
“We will strengthen our position as a leading international research university by placing greater emphasis on quality criteria when allocating direct government funding and by increasing external funding, particularly from the EU.”
What we, the signatories of this petition, are saying is that we want Europe’s leaders to ensure that at least 200 billion euros is allocated to research and higher education through Horizon Europe over the period 2028–2034 – a sum that the experts in our network have determined is necessary for Europe to remain competitive.
This is an important issue for me as researcher, for me as Vice-Chancellor, for our university, for research in Sweden and Europe, and for the future of Europe as a whole.
Read more about the petition here: https://www.the-guild.eu/news-and-blog/news/2026/fund-rd-i.-fund-the-future.-add-your-voice!.html
