stockholm

Tham (centre), seen here on an official visit, has faced growing criticism of his radical policies. Credit: ESRF

A cabinet reshuffle in Sweden has led to the demotion of its controversial science minister, Carl Tham, who had angered many influential members of the scientific community with sweeping changes to higher education and research.

In his four years as science minister, Tham redirected funding from basic to applied research, with increased emphasis on the interaction between science and society, including closer cooperation between science and industry.

Tham had also expressed a desire to reform power structures within the academic research community, breaking down interdisciplinary barriers and giving minority groups greater access to both higher education and research.

Tham lost his post in a reshuffle earlier this month following a general election in which support for the ruling Social Democrats fell by 11 per cent, although they continue to govern with support from the former communist party and the Greens. Tham has been replaced by Thomas Östros, the former tax minister.

No official reason has been given for the change. But Tham had faced a growing band of critics as he moved to increase political influence over the allocation of resources and decisions about research priorities, challenging the traditional autonomy of the universities.

The traditional academic hierarchy also opposed Tham's reforms to substantially increase the numbers of professors at universities by giving this title to former senior lecturers.

Tham also established several new, regional universities, reallocating money to them from the established universities, and gave a number of smaller and regional universities the status of ‘complete’ universities.

Furthermore, 30 new professorships in various subjects have been created, earmarked for specified groups, particularly women. A number of new posts in ‘gender research’ were also established, and reforms introduced to speed up the passage of students through higher education.

Tham's reforms have met with considerable support from those who have benefited from them, such as the feminist movement and representatives of the regional universities. But they have also generated repeated protests from large sectors of the scientific community.

Shortly before last month's general election, for example, more than 300 professors of medicine, natural sciences and technology signed a public protest against the reallocation of money from basic to applied research.

“What has taken decades to build up is about to be lost,” says Dan E. Nilsson, professor of zoology at the University of Lund, who initiated the protest. “We need quick and forceful reactions to keep Sweden at the forefront of science.”

Dan Brändström, head of The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, one of the country's largest independent sources of science funding, says it is important to rebuild confidence between science and politics. “Diplomacy, dialogue and respect for the problems that science is facing during a time of restructuring is what we hope for from the new minister,” he says.

But whether the appointment of the new minister will lead to any real change in policy remains to be seen. Sweden's prime minister, Göran Persson, has declined to make any public criticism of his former science minister. This suggests that, even though Tham has left, the policies he introduced may remain in force.