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 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090022-2

The Atomic Research Council has requested a budget of US$6 million for FY73. In May 1971 the parliament placed the responsibility on the council for the additional costs of Swedish participation in the CERN program for a European 300 GeV accelerator. This will amount to $1.3 million for FY73, an almost 50% increase over the FY72 allocation. High priority is given to plasma physics, and in FY72 the council received $320,000 for research in this field.

The higher educational institutions receive the major portion of their research funds from the Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs. In recent years these funds have increased rapidly at the rate of 15% to 20% per year. In addition to the support received from the ministry, funds also are obtained from the research councils, private foundations, and industry for contract research. The national research councils comprise an important medium for the distribution of government funds to universities, technical universities, and research institutes. Of the US$47 million spent on research and development of the universities and other institutes of higher learning during FY68, $12.7 million was received from the national research councils, $3.9 million from foundations, $98,000 from contract research, and $195,000 from sources abroad.

Several private foundations provide about US$4 million annually for contract research at the institutes of technology and various research association laboratories. The most important foundations are the Wallenburg, Johnson, Bergwall, Dunkers, and Ericsson.

Although the FY72 budget provides only a modest increase for research activities in general, broad environmental protection activities have been accorded priority status, and the overall funds for this purpose have been substantially increased. The responsibility for these activities is centered primarily in the Ministry of Agriculture. The total environmental protection budgets for FY71 and FY72 amounted to US$38.3 million and $49.3 million, respectively. Of these sums, the specific allocations for research and development were $2.2 million and $2.4 million.

A 5-year budget (1970-75) for the Atomic Energy Company amounts for US$60 million, About $4.5 million is being spent annually by the company for research and development on thermal and fast reactors. The space budget has offered little consolation to the Swedish space scientists. The recommendation for a national satellite was rejected by the government as were the recommendations for increased space technological activities. National space activities are funded by the STU and the research councils. The Space Committee feels that $1.6 million is necessary for a viable program. The major space effort continues to be participation in the European Space Research Organization (ESRO). The appropriation for ESRO showed a modest increase in FY72, $5.6 million from $5 million the previous year. The Swedes onside this a practical investment since Swedish industry has been awarded a substantial portion of ESRO's developmental contracts.

The STU's budget has increased steadily since its establishment, but the appropriations have been consistently far less than the STU believed necessary to fulfill its responsibilities. Although for FY72 the STU requested almost double the US$18.9 million it had received during FY71, it received only $22 million.

C. Scientific education, manpower, and facilities (U/OU)

Sweden has a long tradition as a leading nation in the field of education at all levels of learning. With the exception of a few specialized schools, the educational institutions and their associated research institutes and laboratories are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs. The state maintains six universities and three technological institutes at the university level: the Universities of Stockholm, Goteborg, Uppsala, Lund, Umea, and Linkoping (the past established in 1970); the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm (Figure 2); the Chalmers Institute of Technology (CTH), Goteborg (Figure 3); and the Technological Institute of Lund. Supplementing the institutions of higher learning are a number of colleges, each covering a specialized field.

Students are not classified according to year as is customary in U.S. universities. A typical student will pass a general examination leading to the degree of filosofie kandidat or filosofie magister 3 to 5 years after admittance, and the degree of filosofie licentiat after several more years. The degrees of filosofie magister and filosofie kandidat are broadly equivalent, except the former signifies inclusion of pedagogy in the program. The degree of doktor is acquired several years after the filosofie licentiat; it is awarded in recognition of a major scientific contribution accomplished through independent research and represents a standing well above the average American doctorate degree. The excessive requirements of these degrees probably account for the relatively small number awarded. For instance, in 1963 only 600 filosofie licentiat and 80 doktor degrees were awarded

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090022-2