Welcome back!

I hope that every one of you has had a nice summer, and despite the heavy rainfall in July and August, has been able to enjoy everything that summer has to offer. On my part, I've spent a lot of my time in my summer house in Ångermanland – picking berries, fishing, and after the rainfall, I also spent time on some mushroom picking. Summer offers an excellent opportunity to restock your cupboards, as well as your mental storage, I find. I've been back for a few weeks now and look forward to another academic year. Can you imagine? This will be my eighth year as Vice-Chancellor, and it feels just as inspiring as my first year.

For this semester, the University has admitted as many as 33,334 students, which is incredible. That's even more than the record reached during the pandemic. I'm really excited over the fact that so many people value higher education and that they wish to study at our university specifically. For all new students who wish to find out what the University and Umeå have to offer, please check out the Student Welcome Fair on 7 September. I would also like to highlight to students and staff that this autumn semester's Health on Campus is organised on 13 September. Physical activity and how we succeed in our studies or daily work are closely interlinked, and Health on Campus offers lots of fun activities for everyone to try out. Don't miss it!

Nevertheless, the summer just gone offered some less positive elements too. Around Swedish midsummer, a worrying statement was issued from the Government about the withdrawal of the Swedish Research Council's SEK 180 million funding for research for development. This is funding for research on sustainable development, poverty reduction in low-income countries, for instance. As Vice-Chancellor, I have written a comment (in Swedish) on why I find this a bad and disrespectful decision. In my role as chair of the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF), I also back an official letter to the Government where we have presented some of the negative consequences we believe this decision will lead to. If Sweden chooses to cut this type of research from their list of priorities, we can be certain that other nations will take our place, which may result in a worsened democratic development in countries where Swedish researchers have been active.

When the autumn semester kicks off, the University has several other important issues to deal with too. We, just like all other universities in Sweden, have been offered the opportunity to present our views on the upcoming research and innovation bill. The minister has already announced that the bill will be focused around the three keywords: excellence, internationalisation and innovation. Debate on what topics are important to highlight have already begun both here and on a national scale, and the areas to prioritise are many. One important topic is the relation between government funding for research and external funding. Another one is the management and funding of national research infrastructures. And another one yet is academic freedom and responsibility, and HEI autonomy. The research funding investigation will also complete its final report, which we expect will be submitted for comments to us this autumn semester.

Well, there are a fair few things to deal with. But I'm glad to see our campuses buzzing with life again. That's a sure sign that the University is back in business. Welcome back!