“FOI wants closer collaboration with Uppsala University”

What was the purpose of your visit to Uppsala University?
“I’ve been an external member of the Faculty Board at the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology for more than six years. Last year we had a discussion in the Board in connection with Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine. Some of the faculty management asked how the faculty might contribute its research capacity to strengthen Sweden’s defence capabilities. The answer was obvious. The University is well positioned to ensure that we have the experts we need in the future. FOI recruits recent graduates, recent PhD graduates as well as experienced researchers from Uppsala University. So it was natural for me to visit the Ångström Laboratory in my role as DG, and to listen to presentations of research and hold discussions with the faculty.”

Haven’t FOI and the University collaborated previously?
“There are already collaborations as part of specific research projects. We have people who have been employed at FOI and have divided their employment between positions at Uppsala University and FOI, and collaborative projects that have involved individual research groups. But I think we can open up things to include the possibility of supplementing our collaboration in a more structured way. You can get more out of collaboration at a systemic level.”

How does Uppsala University benefit from collaborating with FOI?
“FOI is not a research funding body, but we can offer research collaborations that can lead to new opportunities and technological developments that benefit Sweden. We need to understand trends in future technologies, and how the development of new technologies and systems can influence the defence sector. It would be good to able to conduct independent, open access and publishable research that contributes knowledge and competencies, and the dissemination of research results that may be of benefit to a range of target groups.”

Are there research areas at the University that you can see as complementing FOI’s own research? That can be used for both civil and defence purposes?
“There are a number of areas and technical solutions that may not yet have any application in defence contexts, but constitute areas where we want to try to understand whether they have the potential to be. Such as medical technology, for example. And we are also currently looking at the materials area, including new manufacturing technologies. That means expanding collaboration with materials physicists, materials chemists and others from materials engineering is an excellent idea. We are also interested in the possibility of utilising experimental platforms and technologies in a more comprehensive way to build knowledge in areas we do not have access to ourselves.”

During your visit, you were able to learn about a broad spectrum of research at the Faculty of Science and Technology. Your thoughts?
“In some areas, we would like much closer collaboration. But for that we would need to sit down and have a dialogue about how to build security into certain research environments. We often handle sensitive information about areas classed as critical assets, and if we are going to have deeper collaborations, we must ensure that there are adequate security protections in place. Our staff number than 1,250 people and all have undergone security clearance and have a security class. But academia must be open and public as far as possible. But if you are going to work in particularly sensitive areas of importance to Sweden’s national security, you must also know how to protect information and other assets, and have the capabilities to do so.”

What strengths do you see at the Faculty of Science and Technology?
“It’s really a faculty with full breadth. There is no faculty in Sweden that has the same complete coverage across almost all research areas in science and technology. FOI endeavours to have full-spectrum competence, and this faculty really has this in a way and at a level that is impressive.”

You studied chemistry and biotechnology yourself at Uppsala University – how many UU alumni are there at FOI?
“I don’t have an exact figure on how many there are, but we employ a lot of talented individuals who have their roots in Uppsala University. FOI employs more than 400 people with doctoral degrees for example, so we are always on the lookout for talented people to become the experts of the future.”

Anneli Björkman