Carl Bennet och Bo Rothstein.

Photo: Johan Wingborg

Research collaboration leads to SEK 12 million for world-class corruption research

Published

15 October 2021

at

Carl Bennet AB and the University of Gothenburg have concluded a cooperation agreement that provides the QoG Institute with SEK 12 million over the next four years.

Professor Bo Rothstein, one of the founders of the QoG Institute, will be responsible for this research collaboration within the University of Gothenburg. The money will be used to support the QoG Institute’s infrastructure, such as visiting scientist programmes, databases, international and Swedish conferences, and administrative support.

“These funds are very important,” Bo Rothstein says. “The QoG Institute’s researchers have been successful in receiving funding for various research projects, but it has proven difficult to obtain funding for the institute’s central infrastructure. You might say that many research funding organisations want to pay for ‘operating the trains’ but not for building and maintaining the ‘rails’.”

The initiative for the collaboration came from Carl Bennet, who in April contacted Bo Rothstein to discuss the possibility of working together. Rothstein recently retired. Since the beginning of 2022, he has served as a post-retirement professor on this infrastructure project on a 10 per cent basis.

The institute and Carl Bennet AB agree that joint collaboration on infrastructure in the social sciences and humanities will benefit both parties through increased knowledge and understanding of democracy and a sustainable social structure. Both will be able to benefit from the collaboration.

BY: Carina Elmäng

More information

Carl Bennet is an industrialist in medical technology, with a strong commitment to civic participation. Through his company, Carl Bennet AB, he is the principal owner of publicly listed Getinge, Arjo, Lifco, and Elanders. Carl Bennet AB finances research at several universities and university colleges, including the University of Gothenburg. Research initiatives aim to build and strengthen knowledge environments from both a national and international perspective. From 2007 to 2013, Carl Bennet was chairman of the board of the University of Gothenburg.

The QoG Institute was established in 2004 by Professors Bo Rothstein and Sören Holmberg. The name of the institute is taken from the English term Quality of Government (QoG). QoG is an independent research institute belonging to the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, where about 30 researchers conduct advanced research on the importance of reliable, impartial, non-corrupt, non-discriminatory, and competent public institutions.