Hans Adolfsson: Several challenges affect the university’s activities

It has now been just over four months since I took over as President, and it feels really good to be back at Stockholm University again. In the spring, University Director Åsa Borin and I visited the university’s central administrative units. We had a lot of stimulating meetings with staff, which also gave me the opportunity to answer and comment on the questions that naturally arise when someone new steps into the role of President. The university’s new Vice President, Jane Reichel, will take up her post this summer, when Clas Hättestrand steps down after nine years in the role. It has been a real pleasure to work with Clas during my initial months, and I have benefited greatly from his knowledge and wisdom concerning how the university operates. I would like to thank him in particular for this, and wish Clas all the best in his future endeavours after his vice presidency. I also look forward to working with Jane when she takes up her post. Our plan is to start visiting all the departments at the university together in the autumn, to both learn more about their respective activities and hear about the challenges that have been identified.

In terms of challenges, there are several at the moment that affect the university’s activities in different ways. The highly uncertain geopolitical situation, with wars and armed conflicts in many parts of the world, naturally affects our ability to collaborate internationally. At the same time, international collaboration is probably the best way for us as a university to be able to contribute new knowledge and influence democratic development in the world. We need to collaborate internationally, but in a responsible way.

The debate on academic freedom and institutional autonomy is also alive both internationally and here in Sweden. This is highlighted in the latest research and innovation bill, Research and Innovation for the Future, Curiosity and Benefit (Forskning och innovation för framtid, nyfikenhet och nytta) (Government Bill 2024/24:60). In the spring, a special investigator was tasked with analysing the current regulatory framework and, if necessary, proposing changes aimed at better protecting the individual academic freedom of researchers and teachers. While it is good for individual academic freedom to be taken into account, it is closely linked to institutional academic freedom, and thus also to the autonomy of higher education institutions. The two entities cannot be divorced from each other. So it is positive to read in the same bill that the Government is proposing an inquiry to analyse the appropriateness of the current form of authority for public-sector higher education institutions. The proposal for this inquiry met with strong opposition from both the Social Democratic Party and the Sweden Democrats when the bill was debated in the Swedish Parliament. However, it is up to the Government to decide which inquiries are to be carried out. Personally, I sincerely hope that an inquiry of this kind will be conducted and that its terms of reference will be as transparent as possible. There are a number of forms of association that would give Sweden’s higher education institutions greater freedom to better fulfil their mission of contributing to societal development by seeking and generating new knowledge and skills. The hope is for a form of association with less detailed political governance, thereby providing greater academic freedom for both individuals and institutions.

The spring semester has now come to an end and summer awaits us all. I am sure that many of us are anticipating and looking forward to a much-needed break, with a change of scenery and the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for all the great work you do to ensure that Stockholm University is and remains a fantastic place to work and study. I wish you a really great summer!

This text is written by President Hans Adolfsson. It appears in the section “Words from the Management”, in which members of the university’s management team take turns to write about topical issues. The section appears in News for staff which is distributed to the entirety of the University staff.