Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research Activity Report 2006

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10 – The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research • Activity Report 2006Per Andersson – information, communication andsystems technologies (hardware),Sven-Christer Nilsson – information, communicationand systems technologies (software)Jan-Otto Carlsson – materials development includingbiomaterialsIngegerd Palmér – the interdisciplinary panelExisting programme committees will continue theirwork, for example by participating in half-timeevaluations, during the remainder of the relevantprogramme’s lifetime, except for the programme committeefor strategic research centres in the life sciences,which was disbanded in the autumn. The ResearchCollegium, which has good contacts with the researchcommunity, currently has some 45 members and willbe enlarged slightly.n Strategic research centresThe Foundation has engaged SISTER (the SwedishInstitute for Studies in Education and Research) to followthe strategic research centres that were establishedin December 2005 by means of follow-up research.The follow-up research will above all shed light on thestructure of the different centres, how they conducttheir activities and how they interact with the rest ofsociety. Their first report will be submitted in early2007.Certain areas – materials, production and energy– have felt unfairly treated. Since “only” 17 centreswere established, many sectors were left without a centre,but a review shows that no area can be consideredto have been unfairly treated by the actual form of thegrant.The breadth in the call for proposals – theFoundation’s total sphere of responsibility – createdcollaborations, for example between engineering andmedicine, that would otherwise not have come about.But judging the proposals was extremely complicated,and perhaps if a new call for proposals is issued thefocus should be on defined societal goals or a specificarea.A very positive aspect of the process, which tookplace in three stages, was the contacts with the universities.The viewpoints of the university administrationswere weighed in, and the hearing that was held wasvery constructive, though time-consuming.SISTER has also reviewed the selection process. Anoverall judgement is that the process is well executedwith a relevant mix of forms of assessment and bothformal and informal assessment criteria. It can benoted that the evaluees’ own picture co-varies with theanalysis made by SISTER.n Ingvar Carlsson AwardIn December 2004 the Foundation decided to establisha recurrent homecoming programme for youngpostdocs – the Ingvar Carlsson Award. The first callfor proposals in the spring of 2005 resulted in 103applications, and in December 2005 twelve researchersreceived the Ingvar Carlsson Award.In the spring of 2006 there was a new call for proposalsin the programme, whose purpose is to identifyand support young homecoming postdocs who hopeto start independent and creative research careers inSweden. This resulted in 38 applications, including 11from female applicants. The programme consists ofeight to twelve grants of SEK 2–4 million each, plusa personal stipend of SEK 50 000, for a total of SEK36 million. Special funds have also been set aside for aleadership programme.
The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research • Activity Report 2006 – 11Two calls for proposals have previously been carriedout within the programme Future research leaders.The first in 2001 included 20 individual grants of SEK10 million each for six years and the second in 2004included 18 grants of SEK 6 million each for fouryears, with the possibility of a two-year extension afterevaluation. The first three years of research activitiesunder the four-year grants will be evaluated by a groupof Swedish evaluators, and those researchers who receivea positive evaluation will receive further fundingof SEK 3 million for an additional two years, or SEK1,5 million per year. The programme has aroused greatinterest and been well received within the researchcommunity, and experience from the programme isvery positive. With this in mind, a third call for proposalswas carried out during the year including 20 grantsof SEK 8,5 million each for five years, plus SEK 4 millionfor leadership training for the grant recipients – atotal of SEK 174 million. A total of 190 applicationswere received, which is scarcely half of the numberfor the previous call for proposals. One-third of theapplicants are women, and the average age of theapplicants is 35 years. One-fourth of the applicants areforeign nationals.Karin Lindkvist receives the diploma from Ingvar Carlsson.Photo: Katarina Wosn Information technologyIn the spring of 2001, SEK 190 million was allocatedfor strategic research on information technology. InJune 2002, funds were approved for fourteen frameworkprogrammes, and a programme committeewas appointed for the main purpose of promotingexploitation of the achieved results. In April 2005, theGoverning Board resolved to allocate SEK 60 millionfor a two-year continuation of some of the frameworkprogrammes, and ten ongoing framework grants weregranted extensions during the year. According to a previousdecision, a small programme to promote mobilityin the IT programmes was also announced during theyear.n Future research leadersn Seminars in Lund, Göteborg and LinköpingSeminars with programmes similar to the one carriedout in Stockholm on 15 March – with presentations ofthe strategic research centres that have been establishedat each locality and up-to-date information fromthe Foundation – were held in Göteborg on 3 May,Lund on 9 May and Linköping on 22 May.n Institute Excellence CentresInstitute Excellence Centres are a joint project withVINNOVA and the Knowledge Foundation. A total of
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Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research Activity Report 2006

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