In early May, Malin Broberg first received a short email in French.
¨I've taken our internal training programme on digital security, so I thought it looked suspicious and threw it away”.
A few hours later, another email arrived – this time in English – with President Macron's name in the sender field. A few days later, she was in Paris.
¨I think it was a spur-of-the-moment move, a way of demonstrating strength and will and showing that Europe takes the issues of the role of universities very seriously.”
"Super subsidy"
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was also present. She presented a ‘super subsidy’ for European research, totalling around SEK 5.4 billion, and statutory guarantees of free research and investment in innovation.
¨Two world leaders spending 20 minutes each talking about research, freedom and the importance of investing in knowledge. It felt very nice and empowering. But most of all: worrying. That we are in a situation where it has become necessary to defend freedom of research like this.¨
Malin Broberg is deeply concerned about the situation in the world, where threats to academic freedom and democracy are becoming an increasing problem.
¨Much of the discussion in Paris centred on what is happening in the American research community. We see major, concrete threats to academic freedom in the US. There are publication restrictions, researchers being stopped at the border, databases at risk of being deleted.”
Protect academic freedom
The conversations in the Sorbonne auditorium centred not only on money and politics, but also on ideas and the values of the Enlightenment.
¨Several speakers said that we are in a backlash against the Enlightenment. That we are in a time of ‘endarkment’ rather than ‘enlightenment’. We must constantly work to protect academic freedom, it is not something we can take for granted.¨
What is happening in the United States is a warning bell – also for Europe, says Malin Broberg.
¨We cannot be naive. Political ideas travel. We are already seeing how certain themes – such as gender or climate – are becoming politically charged here too. We must constantly defend the independence of Academia. But it is also about recognising how Europe can contribute important values such as knowledge and tolerance. At the meeting in Paris, several people brought up the story of Marie Curie, how she came to the Sorbonne as a refugee and had a brilliant career. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the first to receive it twice, in two different disciplines.¨
We need a strategy
At the same time, Malin Broberg points out that Swedish universities have weaker protection against political interference than American universities have historically had.
¨It wouldn't take much for universities here to end up in a worse position. ‘That's why we need to have a strategy for how to work with these issues and demonstrate our legitimacy and our contribution to the development of society.¨
She sees this not only as a threat, but also as an opportunity.
¨There is a hunger for knowledge, for solutions. We have a strong research region here, not least in sustainability. If we show how research has contributed to the prosperity and development of society, then we can strengthen both trust and values about the freedom and benefits of research.¨
And despite everything, she brings something hopeful from the meeting in Paris.
¨It was touching to hear both von der Leyen and Macron speak so clearly about Europe standing for freedom, for equality, for knowledge. We need those words and even more action.¨
Text: Allan Eriksson
