Nordic Life Science 1
Sweden boasts a global reputation for cutting-edg
e research and innovation, but the country's ambition to maintain its leading position as an innovation nation faces a significant challenge: securing and retaining top talent from abroad. Why then is the route to work permits for international professionals complex and lengthy? T resounding “No!” “The more eyes we have that can look at an issue from different perspectives, the greater the chances are that we can solve the question we’re grappling with. If it were only Swedes – educated at Swedish schools, in a Swedish context – that came to us at KI to solve our research questions, it just wouldn’t be as successful. Diversity in itself is good for research, and we need eyes from India, Brazil, or the US, where they think in different ways,” Bergö says. “We don’t have enough domestic talent either, unless we succeed in convincing every single student currently in high school in Sweden to embark on a career within medical research or engineering,” he adds. Tighter immigration Sweden’s immigration policies have shifted toward more stringent regulation over the past several years. One of the goals of the current government, which has been in power since 2022, is to tighten immigration policies further. The country now faces net emigration for the first time in over 50 years and a record low number of asylum seekers, according to a recent government press release. While the stricter policies are mainly aimed at asylum seekers and low-skilled labor, foreign researchers are also impacted. Earlier this spring, the government initiated an inquiry into streamlining residence permits for PhD students and researchers, while also looking at preventing study-visa abuse. The results will be announced in early December. KI, where 33 percent of the PhD student body is international, is one of the academic institutes collaborating with the government on the inquiry, in a group 26 | NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG HE CRITICAL ROLE of foreign talent in driving innovation is underscored by the Karolinska Institute's (KI) Vice President, Martin Bergö. When asked if Sweden as a country can remain at the forefront of innovation without labor migration, he replies with a comprising the Migration Agency and the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions. Some of the amendments that KI calls for include prolonging the period of time for which a residence permit for a PhD is valid, as the average PhD takes more than the fouryear visa period to complete. The majority of PhD students end up applying for extensions and are not able to leave Sweden while the extension application is in process. S hortening these very processing times is another necessary step, and while improvements have already been made in this regard, more needs to be done. Simpler handling of passports and residence permits for applicants filing their paperwork from abroad is another area where there’s room for improvement, as is lowering the threshold for the length of a secured work contract for those who are already in Sweden and apply for permanent residency. Come to stay? While KI’s strong international reputation makes it easy to attract talent from across the globe, the stringent residencepermit requirements leave some wondering whether they can build a career in Sweden beyond academia. “I know many international PhD students who feel deeply anxious when the time of their dissertation approaches. They have no idea what will happen next, whether they’ll get a residence permit, whether they’ll get a job, or if they’ll have to leave Sweden,” Bergö says. Dr Xi Qiao, a research specialist within cancer research at KI, moved to Sweden three years ago. He is originally from China and did his PhD and lived in Finland for ten years before coming to Sweden. Compared to Finland, where the visa extension process is shorter, the migration rules in Sweden cast doubts on his future in the country. “I would like to continue working at my current lab, because we have a good work environment and many opportunities here. Given the chance to apply for a CAREERS // HOT TOPIC