In Sweden research and higher education are tightly intertwined. The ideal is that every active researcher should be able to combine research and education, which provides high quality education and satisfied stakeholders. Consequently resources for research, primarily within the engineering and natural science fields, encompass the entire breadth of educational courses with the result that research runs the risk of spreading itself too thin and does not accrue critical mass with few international breakthroughs as a result.
The conclusion of this is that every country must choose between continuing to invest in research that competence-wise and industrial development-wise is sufficient for the country, or investing in research that can measure itself against the best internationally. If the preference is for the latter research resources within natural and engineering sciences must focus on the relevant research environments that are able to compete internationally.
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