Lundagård, the student newspaper of Lund University, recently interviewed Jesper Sundewall, Chairperson of SweDev, regarding the recent cuts in funding for development research.
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This article is a summary of an interview for Lundagård with Jesper Sundewall, originally published in Swedish. Access the full story on Lundagård’s website, linked below.
Lundagård, the student newspaper of Lund University, recently interviewed Jesper Sundewall, Chairperson of SweDev, following an op-ed published in Altinget regarding the cuts in funding for development research.
The decision to halt this funding, announced in June 2023, has sparked widespread criticism. Sundewall noted that the abrupt nature of the cuts, which seemed to have been done without prior analysis of the consequences, disrupted ongoing application processes, leaving many researchers frustrated. “Halting the process mid-review, after researchers spent weeks preparing applications, is almost insulting,” he told Lundagård.
Development research has been a cornerstone of Swedish contributions to global challenges, addressing issues like heat-resistant crops and gender-based violence. Without stable funding, a recent report from the Swedish Research Council warned of a looming “competence gap” that could hinder Sweden’s ability to tackle pressing global issues. In addition, SweDev’s report published in spring 2024 revealed that nearly half of development researchers in Sweden have already altered their focus to align with more accessible funding opportunities, often shifting away from topics like poverty in the global South to subjects like AI in the global North.
The government has justified the cuts as part of broader budget reallocations in response to the war in Europe. However, Sundewall criticized this reasoning, stating that SEK 180 million is a small amount in the context of Ukraine but critical for sustaining research. He also highlighted the long-term risk of losing opportunities for certain discoveries, pointing to examples like African swine fever outbreak in Sweden that the research conducted under the development research grant partially contributed to understand.
Lund University has pledged SEK 5 million annually to support development research through 2024 and 2025, following the cuts from the government.