Martin Jakobsson: A new council for managing research infrastructures
In November 2025, the President established the Council for Research Infrastructure, which is commonly referred to as the RFF as an acronym of the Swedish name. The term “research infrastructure” covers a broad area. It includes equipment, platforms such as ships and field stations, collections, databases and other resources needed to conduct high-quality research. In other words, research infrastructure concerns both the humanities and the natural sciences and is therefore university-wide.
Photo: Rickard Kilström
The rationale for establishing a council to address issues relating to research infrastructure is based partly on the fact that the need for such infrastructure in research has increased dramatically and partly on the fact that funding bodies often require co-funding, which we must manage at the university level. One example is the Swedish Research Council, which requires 50 per cent co-funding for grants to research infrastructures of national interest. How to handle this in a transparent manner within the framework of our resources has therefore become more and more a topic of discussion.
To minimise the risk of reinventing the wheel or heading down a dead-end street, we often look at how other higher education institutions handle similar issues before starting something new. The experience that our President, Hans Adolfsson, brought with him from Umeå University has been valuable in this regard, as they have developed an organisation to handle these issues.
The President has also appointed a Senior Advisor for Research Infrastructure, Henrik Cederquist. As Advisor to the President, he acts as a link between the university’s Senior Management Team and the two academic areas in infrastructure issues, and he chairs the RFF. Council members include one appointed infrastructure representative and one representative of management (such as a deputy vice president or dean) from each of the two academic areas. The heads of the faculty offices (or persons appointed by them) and research officers from the Office for Research, Engagement and Innovation Services attend RFF meetings. The latter are responsible for the main support to the RFF. The full composition of the RFF is listed below. If necessary, the council has the option of co-opting additional persons to its meetings.
A very important component is the model we are now working with for co-funding Swedish Research Council grants for infrastructures of national interest. The co-funding is divided into three parts, with one part funded centrally, one part by the faculty and one part by the department(s) or equivalent concerned. The aim of this is to provide stable conditions for the departments responsible for operating and developing such infrastructure.
What has the RFF done so far? A comprehensive inventory of existing research infrastructures at Stockholm University has been initiated. In preparation for the Swedish Research Council’s needs assessment of research infrastructures of national interest, we have also set priorities that have been communicated via the national reference group URFI (Universities’ Reference Group for Research Infrastructure). The Senior Advisor for Research Infrastructure is our representative in the URFI.
Like other higher education institutions, we are facing major challenges. The need for research infrastructures is increasing as research becomes more advanced, which leads to increased costs and demands for long-term funding. Research infrastructures also require staff with high-level technical qualifications. The list of challenges is long. Ultimately, all research infrastructure of common interest to universities will be brought together within the RFF’s remit, which will give us better conditions for working in a coordinated and long-term manner.
Council for Research Infrastructure
Chair
Henrik Cederquist, Senior Advisor for Research Infrastructure
Representative from each area leadership
Stefan Helgesson, Deputy Vice President for Human Science
Lena Mäler, Dean of Faculty of Science
Infrastructure representative appointed by the Board of Science and the Board of Human Science
Martin Jakobsson, Deputy Vice President/Deputy Dean of Faculty of Science
Magnus Nermo, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences
Representatives from the Office of Science and the Office of Human Science
Katariina Kiviniemi Birgersson, Head of the Office of Science
Susanna Lindberg, Co-ordinator, the Office of Human Science
Office for Research, Engagement and Innovation
Alexandra Blomkvist, Research Secretary
Carl Sandberg, Research Secretary
This text is written by Martin Jakobsson, Deputy Vice President. It appears in the section ”Words from the University’s senior management team”, where the management team take turns to write about topical issues. The section appears in every edition of News for staff.