Dag Blanck: “Curiosity-driven research is very important”
"When authorities, the state, companies and other actors try to control universities for their own purposes, it becomes problematic," says Dag Blanck, Professor of North American Studies. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
“It is important to show the importance of independent research and the results it produces,” says Dag Blanck, Professor of North American Studies. One example is this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine, which was awarded for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Why is academic freedom important?
It is important to be able to pursue knowledge freely without being faced with different types of obstacles. At the same time, there is an interplay between the universities and society, with the state making certain demands because it funds the activities. So the universities cannot be completely free, it has to happen in interplay with society.
What specific challenges do you see for academic freedom?
When authorities, the state, companies and other actors try to control universities for their own purposes, it becomes problematic. We know that the growth of knowledge takes place in freedom based on the needs of knowledge itself. Curiosity-driven research is very important and is a guarantee of high quality. Managing the growth of knowledge can become problematic if authorities, companies and others try to use it for their own purposes.
In the world, fact resistance and discussions about fake news point to a tendency to disbelieve scientific results. The state of knowledge is constantly changing, and it is dangerous to ignore researchers and to question scientific methods.
What can be done to strengthen academic freedom?
There are different approaches. For example, people talk about the importance of enacting legislation on academic freedom. Provisions on academic freedom have been integrated in the Higher Education Act since 2021, which is good.
It is also important to show the importance of free research, the results it produces, and how dangerous it could be if it is restricted. One example is this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine, which is a clear example of what free research can do. No one would have imagined that a vaccine to combat COVID-19 could be developed so exceptionally quickly. Here you can see the enormous power of the scientific community to collectively build on knowledge that had already been developed.
Annica Hulth