The perspectives were many, but the conclusion was clear at the seminar celebrating Chalmers Foundation’s 30th anniversary: Chalmers’ path forward is crucial for Sweden and for the world.
large group of Chalmers supporters: alumni, staff, politicians, and representatives from both industry and academia recently gathered at the Chalmers House to celebrate 30 years as a foundation university and to simultaneously honour former President Stefan Bengtsson. The seminar was initiated as a farewell gift to him when he was thanked in autumn 2023.
The foundation’s CEO, Sara Wallin, took care of the formal hosting and welcomed the guests with a brief reminder of the significant impact the Foundation has had on Chalmers to date. Since its inception, through successful asset management, it has been able to contribute four billion kronor to important development areas for the university.
Chalmers’ President, Martin Nilsson Jacobi, then delivered a strategically focused opening speech in which he noted that this 30th anniversary must look forward rather than backward, simply because the times are as they are, and that Chalmers must mobilise its supporters – financially as well – in order to become the world-leading university that society needs.
The government has listened
The subsequent discussions, led by science journalist Maria Borelius, largely related to the current global situation with geopolitical uncertainty and economic competition between Asia, North America, and the EU. A situation where Europe is currently losing ground, something that became painfully clear when former President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi made his competitiveness report public in September.
A positive but non-detailed outlook was provided by the Secretary of State for the Minister of Education, Maria Nilsson, who said that the government, in its upcoming research and innovation bill, has been influenced by Chalmers and others who advocate for prioritising resources to enable the creation of a few excellent academic environments.
The tone became more serious when Lars-Johan Cederbrandt, CFO of AstraZeneca Sweden, pointed out that Swedish tax legislation penalises companies that wish to invest in universities through donations. This creates a clear competitive disadvantage compared to many other countries that, through clear incentives, mobilise private financial engagement in universities – either through tax deductions, which is most common, or through direct co-financing campaigns such as Finland’s, where the state matches each donation with the same amount or sometimes even more.
The success of these campaigns was shared by Aalto University’s President Ilka Niemelä in the concluding panel discussion, along with Vinnova’s CEO Darja Isaksson, industry veteran Leif Johansson, and the Student Union’s President Sebastian Wikström. The discussion also touched on the importance of maintaining international exchange in a world that tends to become increasingly regionally oriented, and that universities and industry must continue to develop their collaboration.
Setting an example
So what should Chalmers do going forward, apart from collaborating with industry and mobilising financial support? Darja Isaksson answered without hesitation:
– Implement the group strategy. It is absolutely right and sets an example of leadership.
A shorter part of the seminar highlighted that it was essentially arranged as a farewell gift to former President Stefan Bengtsson, partly through a thank-you speech by former Chairman of the Board Torbjörn Holmström, and partly through a celebrated performance by Chalmersspexet’s singing group, Gyckeljouren: the classic Chalmers drinking song Livet är härligt (Life is wonderful), with new lyrics for the occasion – Stefan är härlig (Stefan is wonderful)!
After the seminar, the guests were invited to mingle in the bank vault.