The Research!Sweden Day 2025
What role does medical research play in building resilience and defence in Sweden? This question was the focus at the annual Research!Sweden Day, where we gathered representatives from the government, the parliament, the Armed Forces, healthcare, academia, industry, patient organisations, and professional associations . We also honored the recipients of Research!Sweden’s 2025 awards, and celebrated the foundation’s 15th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of our think tank:”Agenda for Health and Prosperity”. We are happy to share a summary, photos and recordings (in Swedish) with you.
Analysis of our geopolitical environment, disinformation, and the nation’s defence capabilities
Research!Sweden’s Secretary General, Anna Nilsson Vindefjärd, welcomed the participants and made an introduction to the topic. This was followed by analyses from Robert Egnell, President of the Swedish Defence University, on our geopolitical environment. After that Amina Manzoor, science journalist at Expressen, discussed Sweden’s resilience against disinformation, and Professor Ylva Trolle Lagerros analyzed whether our population is physically capable of defending Sweden.
The role of medical research in Sweden’s defence and preparedness
The day continued with a presentation by Johan Schnürer, chair of Campus Total Defence, on the role of academia before and during crises. This was followed by a panel discussion on the development of defence-related medicine in Sweden. The panel included David Gisselsson Nord, Vice Dean for international affairs and security at Lund University, Sophie Erhardt, head of the department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet, Claes Ivgren, Surgeon General of the Swedish Armed Forces, and David Bergman, Director of research at the Swedish Armed Forces.
The Government’s ambitions
After analyses and discussions regarding the role of medical research in Sweden’s defence and resilience, Lotta Edholm, Minister of Upper Secondary School, Higher Education and Research, spoke about the Governments ambitions.
Research!Sweden’s 15th anniversary
We then moved on to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Research!Sweden and the 10th anniversary of our think tank”Agenda for Health and Prosperity”. Mary Woolley, President of Research!America, sent a greeting, and our former chair, Lena Gustafsson, presented a new film that, in seven minutes, tells a 30-year story of the knowledge creation, social entrepreneurship, and collective intelligence behind Research!Sweden and”Agenda for Health and Prosperity”. See below (in Swedish with English subtitles).
Explore our work over the past 15 years
On the occasion of Research!Sweden’s 15th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the think tank ”Agenda for Health and Prosperity”, we made a publication highlighting our work and results over the last 15 years.
Research!Sweden Awards 2025
During the evening, Research!Sweden’s awards were also presented. Professor Annika Rosengren received the Researcher Award, Social Minister Jakob Forssmed received the Political award, and Professor Johan von Schreeb received the Honorary Award.
