It is generally agreed that there is a need for excellent research and a society permeated by knowledge. However, the way to achieve this is not clear-cut. Despite the large amounts of money invested in research and higher education, the effects of past decisions are not always analysed. The discussion on the organization of research and societal knowledge provision all too often includes only anecdotal argumentation.

There is no lack of research on research, higher education, collaboration, and research and innovation policy, but in a Swedish context it is relatively limited and fragmented. Research performed outside the universities is seldom taken into account. The international studies and comparisons have also been few and far between.

To remedy these deficits and increase knowledge on the aforementioned matters, the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, Formas, Forte and the Swedish Research Council have taken the initiative for the research programme Long-Term Provision of Knowledge: Swedish Research and Higher Education in an International Context

The goal of the jointly financed programme is to meet the demand for research-based knowledge on societal knowledge provision. The results are expected to be of high value within science and also contribute to a more enlightened and well-founded discourse on matters relating to the societal knowledge provision of the coming decades.

The research programme has a cross-disciplinary nature and covers everything from the governance of research, and how researchers collaborate with companies, public administration and NGOs, to the historical relationship between the state and research. The projects granted a total of SEK 80 million are:

• Knowledge in science and policy: creating an evidence base for converging modes of governance in policy and science (KNOWSCIENCE) (Tomas Hellström)
• Performance-based governance in academia: Professional practices and identities in transformation (Anders Broström)
• How Engineering Sciences Can Impact Industry in a Global World: A Longitudinal Study of Chalmers’ Interactions with Companies (Maureen McKelvey)
• Scientific state or state science? The knowledge-base of Swedish welfare research and welfare policy 1911-2015 (Johan Edman)
• Beyond the market stalls and ivory towers: A study on integrated science for sustainable provision of knowledge (Anna Jonsson)
• Packaging, Negotiating, Translating: Transforming Knowledge into Practice (Corinna Kruse)
• The idea of an evidence based practice within the social services (Anders Bergmark)