Advertisement improves chances of recruiting international researchers
[NEWS 2013-05-23] A new advertisement from the Swedish Research Council improves Karolinska Institutet's chances of recruiting leading international researchers. A total of SEK 150 million has been announced, which is fully consistent with Karolinska Institutet's international objectives, says Professor Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, dean of research at Karolinska Institutet.
With this new form of grant, the Swedish Research Council intends to give Swedish higher education institutes a long-term opportunity to attract the cream of the international research community to Sweden. The grant is for SEK 5 million - 15 million a year per recruitment, and runs for 7 to 10 years.
"This is really a quite sensational announcement given the size and duration of the grant," says Professor Ljunggren. "We've been able to mobilise resources for external recruitment from faculty quarters before, but never to the extent that this now makes possible."
"The grant will enable us to recruit top international researchers able to create successful environments at KI and inspire their colleagues here. This will help to raise the quality of the research done at KI."
The reason for the Research Council's initiative, which has been launched on behalf of the government, is that compared to other premiere league research nations, Sweden recruits few established top-grade scientists from overseas, despite the benefits that international recruitment is thought to have for the quality of the research carried out in Sweden. The situation has also been addressed by Karolinska Institutet's president, Professor Anders Hamsten, who has stated that the university must be more attractive when it comes to international recruitments.
"We have several interesting recruitments underway, but will do our utmost to push for more," says Professor Ljunggren.
This new initiative from the Swedish Research Council is aimed at internally renowned and established researchers, adds Professor Ljunggren. So in order to make the university more attractive to their junior counterparts, KI is creating a clear career ladder and awaiting a previously announced grant from the Research Council focused on the recruitment of young international researchers.
Text: Sara Nilsson