Matilda Ernkrans

With the outbreak of the coronavirus which causes the illness COVID-19, the Government is following developments carefully and is in continuous contact with the responsible authorities. The Government is taking the decisions that are necessary to help curb the spread of the coronavirus and combat the effects of the virus spreading through society. Below is a summary of the work being done in the policy areas of the Ministry of Education and Research.

Seville, Spain, November 27-28, 2019 Check against delivery.

Stockholm, November 20, 2019 Check against delivery

In its written communication A strategy for Swedish space activities (2017/18:259), the Government has presented a strategy that now forms a platform for Sweden’s long-term work on space activities. The strategy includes an overall description of the areas the Government wishes to prioritise and the targets that exist for the respective areas.

A temporary exemption from application and tuition fees at institutions of higher education was previously introduced for certain British citizens to mitigate the consequences of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement. The UK's withdrawal has since been postponed until 31 October 2019, and the Government has therefore decided to extend the temporary exemption from application and tuition fees.

Minister for Higher Education and Research Matilda Ernkrans travels to Japan Friday, 4 October. Her programme will include holding an opening address at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum on Sunday. The majority of the visit will take place in Kyoto and Tokyo, and the political focus will be on the climate and the environment.

Minister for Higher Education and Research Matilda Ernkrans will travel to Japan today, 4 October. Her programme will include a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and holding the opening address at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum on Sunday. The majority of the visit will take place in Kyoto and Tokyo, and the political focus will be on the climate and the environment.

The Government will soon present a government bill to the Riksdag containing proposals for new rules on residence permits for research and higher education studies. The proposals will implement the European Union’s ‘Students and Researchers Directive’. An important aim of the proposals is to attract more students, researchers and other highly qualified people to Sweden, and make it easier for those who have studied in Sweden to stay in the country to work.

The national roadmap for the European Research Area contains measures that help to strengthen the priorities agreed at EU level. The Swedish roadmap provides an overall overview of what various stakeholders in the research and innovation system are implementing in areas such as open science, gender mainstreaming, research infrastructures and societal challenges. The national roadmap covers the years 2019-2020 and has the same end year as the roadmap at the EU level.

Listen to Matilda Ernkrans, Minister for Higher Education and Research, talk about her new role and how she wants to address important challenges.