University’s operational plan involves savings on administration
The budget for administration has been reduced by SEK 22 million in the University’s operational plan for 2025. As part of this, the University Administration must make savings of SEK 11 million. The Segerstedt Building’s atrium is shown in the photo. Photo: Stewen Quigley.
The University’s operational plan for 2025 includes savings on administration, continued expansion in education and investment in increasing the impact of scholarly publications.
On 18 June 2024, the University Board approved the University’s operational plan for 2025.
The government has made a general cut of half a percentage point to the University’s direct funding for education and research. The cut was already made in 2024 but is addressed in the University's operational plan for 2025. The savings will be managed at Uppsala University by reducing joint costs in the University’s support functions, which are spread across three levels of the organisation. The savings will be distributed proportionally based on the scope of the administration among the levels. The reduction of half a percentage point entails total savings of SEK 22 million to be made.
In practice, this means that the 2025 budget for the University Administration will be reduced by SEK 11 million and the budget for the University Library will be reduced by SEK 2 million. The remaining SEK 9 million will be managed by the faculty offices and by the administration at department level.
Targeted educational initiatives
The direct government funding for Bachelor’s and Master’s level education will decrease slightly, but will also contain targeted initiatives.
The expansion of engineering programmes and foundation year programmes will continue. Student allowances for the area of science, technology and pharmacy will also increase.
Increasing the impact of publications
Further prioritised research initiatives in the operational plan are to develop a plan for how the University can work on scholarly publications to increase impact. This plan will be developed and implemented between2024–2026. During the same period, a plan for how the University will work on open science will also be developed and implemented.
New model for the library and media
From 2025, a new model for allocating the costs of the University Library and media will be introduced. In both cases, the costs are now allocated based on estimations of use. As this is a labour-intensive calculation, the allocation for the library is valid for three years, while a new calculation will be produced every year for the media.
Investment in research on complex societal issues
The Vice-Chancellor is planning initiatives to take a leading role in the movement towards a more sustainable society. Uppsala University Future Institutes (UUniFI) is at the centre of this investment. This is a University-wide research initiative that aims to utilise the breadth of research at Uppsala University to provide the conditions for research into complex societal challenges.
During the first stage, UUniFI will consist of six parts in the areas of
- migration
- precision health
- the green energy transition
- AI and digitalisation
- sustainable development with a focus on conflicting objectives and synergies
- inter- and multidisciplinarity.
Autumn 2024 will see the launch of the Institute for Sustainable Development, focusing on conflicting objectives and synergies, while the Centre for Integrated Research on Culture and Society (CIRCUS) is already in place to stimulate and support cross-cutting research. CIRCUS was established in 2016 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, but from 1 January 2024 has been given an expanded mission to strengthen the development of inter- and multidisciplinary research collaborations across the University.
The inauguration of the Uppsala University Future Institutes is planned for 2025.
Anders Berndt
Facts
The University Board approves the University's operational plan each year. The operational plan is for a three-year period, but the decision on allocation of funds is only for the next year.
The operational plan allocates the University’s direct government funding between the University’s various activities. Some activities at the University will already have received earmarked government funding and instructions in the national budget and appropriation directions.
Based on the University’s overall operational plan, operational plans are then drawn up for the disciplinary domains, faculties, departments and University Administration.