NEWS When Umeå University sums up this autumn's allocation of research grants, it is clear that the university's researchers have been more successful than last year, which will strengthen the university's research for many years to come. "It is gratifying that the information we have received so far points to an increased allocation in several areas," says Katrine Riklund, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Umeå University.
Lars-Anders Carlson, Associate professor at Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, was one of all researchers at Umeå University that recieved research grants this autumn. Photo: Mattias Pettersson.
The Swedish Research Council's funding for applied educational science stands out as one of the biggest successes. Almost 14 per cent of national research funding in the field went to Umeå University, an increase of five percentage points from last year. This puts the university in second place after the University of Gothenburg.
Other areas have also received larger allocations from the Swedish Research Council this year, based on Umeå University's share in the country. Science and Technology shows an increase of 2.2 percentage points, Medicine and Health 1.8 percentage points and Humanities and Social Sciences 1.9 percentage points.
Within Humanities and Social Sciences, Umeå University receives 8.5 per cent of the national allocation. Natural Sciences and Engineering and Medicine and Health have both so far received around 6 per cent of the national research funding from the Swedish Research Council, and in total, researchers at Umeå University have so far received SEK 229 million.
Researchers at Umeå University also received increased support from Forte. This year, the university was awarded just over SEK 42 million, which corresponds to around six per cent of the national grants. Last year, the proportion was 3.3 per cent and the amount was SEK 36 million.
On the other hand, the Swedish Cancer Society's support decreased by 4.5 percentage points compared to last year. Despite the decrease, the total allocation of SEK 35.8 million puts Umeå University in fifth place among Sweden's higher education institutions.
Finally, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond allocated just over SEK 15.7 million to four projects at the university, which corresponds to 4.2 per cent of the national grants and sixth place in the country. It is difficult to compare this with the previous year, when the research programme Det nya framtidslandet received an unusually large grant for research on the transformation of society in 2022, while the university was only awarded one smaller project in 2023.
EU funding has also gone well so far this year, with four projects approved by the European Research Council (ERC) and other collaborative projects within the EU totalling just over EUR 9 million. However, far from all of the allocations there have been decided, which means that there will probably be more positive decisions from the EU.
Katrine Riklund, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Umeå University. Photo: Mattias Pettersson.
"Overall, I think we are on the right track and that the efforts we are making to strengthen research are producing results. We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our congratulations to Lars-Anders Carlson, who received an award from both the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and from the Swedish Research Council's allocation for research in interdisciplinary research environments." concludes Katrine Riklund.
"I am convinced that all the knowledge that this research money contributes to will help to make the world a better place tomorrow."