In what ways should universities be equipped to drive social development, technological progress and democracy? How should they be governed, organised and financed to ensure the long-term success of Swedish research and education?

These are some of the questions that need to be analyzed in the current climate. The role of universities in society has not been analysed in depth or in a comprehensive manner for a long time, focusing on issues relating to universities as a central and important social institution. While there is often debate about how universities can contribute to school problems or the provision of skills for welfare and industry competitiveness, we rarely ask how universities themselves need to be shaped for such purposes. However, we rarely ask ourselves how universities need to be fundamentally shaped for such purposes.

The major studies carried out in the 1960s and 1970s, which led to far-reaching reforms, were perhaps the last time that the big questions about the university sector were really asked and given space in studies, debates and policy proposals. Today, universities are regarded as little more than a residual societal item that must deliver for the needs of other sectors without considering how they would need to be equipped to do so.

It was therefore gratifying that the government opened the door to an investigation about the universities’ form of association in its welcomed research and innovation bill. This gave me hope that the time had come to address the important issues and regift the question of the form of association, governance, organisation and funding, which has been overlooked since several previous inquiries were carried out without yielding any significant results.

However, a parliamentary majority has now formed that is against carrying out such an inquiry. It is not at all surprising that the opposition is opposed to the government’s policy. For an inquiry into the form of association to be successful, it is important that there is a parliamentary agreement so that a majority still considers the issue important and is willing to participate in the discussion and analysis.

It is therefore disappointing for two reasons that two parties that form a majority in the parliamentary education committee are stopping the investigation. Firstly, it is worrying that there is no consensus on the need to investigate how universities should be organised to guarantee autonomy and the ability to contribute to long-term societal development. Secondly, it is disappointing that this lack of consensus has led to a parliamentary majority not wanting the issue to be investigated at all.

Let us hope that, despite its limited scope for manoeuvre, the government will nevertheless move forward with the issue and devote time to establishing a broad political consensus on the need for change!

Research at universities is largely funded through competitive calls, in which researchers compete with each other for funding. The idea is that this leads to better quality by funding the best applications and rejecting those of lesser quality. However, this has also created a system that is difficult to navigate, with significant costs and time being spent on the application and reporting process itself. Consequently, universities are finding it increasingly difficult to offer long-term conditions to employed researchers.

In 2024, SEK 55 billion was spent on research at universities, of which SEK 22 billion (40 per cent) was direct funding to higher education institutions. The remaining SEK 33 billion was channelled through competitive calls managed by government research councils and agencies, private foundations, EU programmes, and other Swedish and foreign non-governmental funders.

While we are very successful in attracting external competitive funding, working in a system with such a large proportion of external funding is also a great challenge. For KTH, approximately 64 per cent of funding is external and 36 per cent is direct. The current research and innovation bill, which is a very welcome initiative in itself, will provide an even greater proportion of funding to universities via external grants.

The large number of different funders also means that there are many different conditions regarding how the funds can be used and how they should be accounted for and requisitioned properly. As a result, the administrative burden of external funding tends to increase. One might also ask whether the additional quality that external funding brings is worth the extra costs created by the system. As economists would say, the marginal cost is probably higher than the marginal benefit today.

There are many conditions that are difficult to change, not least the question of the share of basic grants. However, this does not mean that the challenges should be overlooked. With the current research and innovation bill, the proportion of external funding will increase further. While the bill’s funding increases are welcome, they also present challenges for higher education institutions as we move towards 70 per cent external funding.

What can be done? Universities need to come together so that researchers can act jointly in slightly broader groups, sharing the financial burden and creating broader research agendas where different research groups can help each other, jointly creating financial goals and working systematically and in the long term. At KTH, we have a few such successful examples and are working to create more initiatives that foster a collaborative and cooperative climate that favours a long-term approach.

Funders can contribute by creating longer, more coherent programmes, with each funding decision being larger and more long-term. This would involve moving away from short-term project funding and towards longer programme funding. In the long term, the government could adjust the balance between external and core funding to create a more balanced relationship. The government may also need to amend the research councils’ regulations to allow for longer grants. This is essentially a reform aimed at improving the quality of research.

At the same time, this is part of a broader development where truth and lies merge and are interchangeable, and where loose opinions and deliberate misconceptions replaces knowledge based on facts and systematically acquired knowledge.

Politicians and opinion leaders sometimes move surprisingly freely between facts and lies, or between knowledge and loose opinion, weaving in conclusions that suit a particular agenda. In this way, everything from the climate crisis to crime statistics or facts about migration and energy supply can be washed clean of truths and made into parts of a coherent agenda that reflects an increasingly polarized society where conflicts rather than debate and democratic conversations become the driving force for change.

Universities have a very special role in the social climate we have today. Our mission is to stand for facts, to report on the frontier of knowledge, to formulate the research questions that can take society forward, and to communicate freely with the surrounding society about what we know as well as what we do not yet know.

KTH is doing just that. The professors we will welcome to their positions today are living examples of how far research can take us and how amazing results we have delivered and will deliver to society.

The dismantling of the United States as a world-leading research nation is now proceeding rapidly, and after only a few months many American research voices have been silenced. This is happening through the withdrawal of funds, banning of certain keywords, expelling foreign students and faculty, and a concerted war on all knowledge creation that contradicts the administration’s views.

The same tendencies, although less extensive, can be found in some of our European neighboring countries and, to some extent, here in Sweden.

As a university community, there is a risk that we become silent. If you are as quiet as possible, you will attract less criticism than if you stand for values that for one reason or another are perceived as provocative by some group in society. The risk of being silenced applies both to the university as an institution and to the individual researcher or research group.

Therefore. Now more than ever, we need to articulate and hold on to our moral compass. Now more than ever, we need to stand up for the values on which we believe universities as an idea is based.

KTH’s vision is to take the lead for a sustainable society. To this powerful vision, we have formulated bold goals to conduct research and education of the highest quality. But we also have two policy areas that we believe all our activities should be based on, regardless of if it is research or education.

One is that sustainability issues must permeate all activities, and the second is that, the pursuit of gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities must be an ever-present ambition.

These are two areas, two values, two moral compass directions that are increasingly being questioned in a fact-resistant debate.

Normally I would say, ‘we should not talk so much, we should do the work instead’. Today, however, I want to say, ‘we should not just do the work, we must dare to talk about the importance of standing up for what we do’.

Therefore, for all the reasons I have just mentioned, I want to say the following today.

KTH stands for academic freedom and strives for institutional autonomy. Our academic freedom and our principles of openness and transparency are fundamental to knowledge development and democracy. We are bold, creative and responsible, driven to enable a sustainable and equal society.

Our faculty and students will lead the transition towards a sustainable world by constantly incorporating sustainability issues into research and education. We will address the major societal challenges without fear or worries of reprisals. The ambition to create a sustainable society is the biggest challenge for us and it is the major challenge facing society today.

Gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities are important and fundamental values. The different characteristics, backgrounds and cultures of our staff and students are an asset that promotes high quality in our activities. We want to provide equal opportunities to different people. We want to promote diversity on campus, in the classroom, among our students and among our teachers, researchers and staff.

We stand by our values. We recognize the need for sustainability in all education and research. We stand for the importance of gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities.

Let there be no doubt about this. Please quote me!

Excerpt from the speech that Anders Söderholm gave at KTH’s academic ceremony on April 11, 2025.

The professors reflect the breadth of KTH’s research through their respective disciplines. These include proteomics, technical acoustics, computer science, mathematics, biophysics, vehicle dynamics, ergonomics, metallurgy, physics, polymer materials, numerical analysis and urban planning, to name but a few.

The almost 400 professors that KTH has, according to last year’s annual report, 368 professors, 84 women and 284 men, are the most highly educated teachers and as such important role models and sources of inspiration for students at undergraduate and graduate level, as well as for the doctoral students they supervise.

This year, three honorary doctorates will be awarded at the ceremony: Uwe Bornscheuer, Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Greifswald in Germany. He has worked with KTH researchers in chemistry and biotechnology for several decades. Gunilla Franzén, PhD, has worked in the field of geosafety and has promoted a safer and more sustainable society by, among other things, paving the way for regulations for construction and infrastructure projects

Göran Sandberg, Professor of Physiological Botany at Umeå University, is being honoured for his successful work as a member of the Board of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. During his time at KAW, several strategic programmes were launched that have been crucial to the scientific success of KTH and Sweden.

Since 1944, KTH has awarded honorary doctorates to a total of 161 people who have made a significant contribution to the development of Swedish society. The list includes many names that are recognisable from the debate and context of each era.

This year, KTH’s Great Prize 2024 is awarded Johan von Schreeb, Professor of Global Disaster Medicine  at Karolinska Institutet. He is being honoured for his contributions as a researcher and coordinator in global crises and disasters, and for his efforts to alleviate human suffering. The prize was made possible by an anonymous donation to KTH in 1944.

It is fantastic to be able to share so much knowledge and academic achievement in one evening – building the society of today and tomorrow – it is the beacon of academic freedom and academic excellence to navigate by at a time when it is really needed.