Education and research

The OECD presents its new report on the Swedish economy today. In the report, the OECD notes that Sweden has a stable economy and strong state finances, but also points to problems with increasing income gaps and the need to reduce gaps in schools to improve school performance.

On 29 March, the Ministry of Finance will host a press conference and follow-up seminar to present the most recent OECD Economic Survey of Sweden. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, Minister for Finance Magdalena Andersson, Minister for Education Anna Ekström and experts from the OECD and Sweden will take part in the seminar. Ms Andersson and Mr Gurría will hold a press conference before the seminar. The press conference and parts of the seminar will be held in English.

A temporary exemption from application and tuition fees at institutions of higher education will be introduced for certain British citizens to mitigate the consequences of the United Kingdom leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

The Swedish Government has identified the need to develop a national approach to AI in Sweden. The purpose of this document is to identify an overall direction for AI-related work in Sweden and lay the foundation for future priorities.

A new research collaboration for climate and security will be launched today in connection with World Water Week in Stockholm. The Stockholm Climate Security Hub brings together four Swedish research institutes that are world leaders in the area of climate and security. The aim is to promote knowledge development and policy dialogue in the area, not least to support the UN and other multilateral actors with evidence-based analyses.

The Esrange Space Centre should remain a strategic resource for national and international research, and the Government and the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) are therefore investing SEK 80 million in a new test facility at the centre in Kiruna.

Alleged research misconduct should not be investigated by research organisations themselves, but rather by the new independent Research Misconduct Board. This is the Government’s proposal referred for consideration to the Council on Legislation.

The Barents cooperation has laid the foundation for far-reaching people-to-people cooperation and high-level political dialogue in the European Arctic. The 25th anniversary of cooperation was marked by a seminar at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the European Union on 5 June to highlight cooperation in an EU perspective and to look ahead.

Supplying skills to the labour market, and to society at large, has been a recurring issue since the Government’s National Innovation Council started meeting in 2015. When the Council met on 28 May at Harpsund, the meeting opened with the issue of lifelong learning in the workplace.

Climate change is one of the Government’s top-three issues, alongside jobs and education. The Government has adopted a guest researcher programme under which US environment and climate researchers can be invited to conduct research in Sweden for a period of up to three years.