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International researchers help fuel Swedish innovation

Sweden boasts a global reputation for cutting-edge 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?
The 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 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.
Diversity in itself is good for research, and we need eyes from India, Brazil, or the US, where they think in different ways.
“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 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 four-year 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.
Shortening 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 residence-permit 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.
Given the chance to apply for a permanent residence permit I’d like to stay in Sweden. My nine-year-old son is also starting third grade at a Swedish school now, so we’d like to stay.
“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 permanent residence permit I’d like to stay in Sweden. My nine-year-old son is also starting third grade at a Swedish school now, so we’d like to stay,” he says.
For Xi Qiao and his family, a closed door to permanent residency in Sweden would mean returning to Finland, where they have already been granted permanent residency.
PhD student Xijie Yang, another Chinese national at KI, has her sights set on a career as a medical practitioner. When she had to apply for an extension to her visa, the process took five months and meant that she wasn’t able to return to China to celebrate the Lunar New Year – China’s main holiday. It could be worse, she says: “A colleague at KI had to wait ten months for her extension. During this time, her grandfather fell ill and passed away in China, and she wasn’t able to see him in his final moments or attend the funeral.”
Xijie Yang, too, would like to stay in Sweden, but the many hoops she’d have to jump through to become a licensed medical practitioner makes her uncertain of her options. For starters, once her PhD wraps up, she will immediately need to secure a visa in order to find a medical internship and wait for the position to start.
Skills shortage and narrower perspectives
Recruiting and retaining international talent isn’t just a concern within academia. The life science industry at large feels the impact, too.
We need the diversity – and it’s not just about ethnic or national diversity, it’s a matter of diversity of knowledge and skills.
“Labor migration is very important to Sweden,” says Janet Hoogstraate, CEO of CDMO NorthX Biologics, which is based in Matfors outside Sundsvall, and in Stockholm. The company has non-EU citizens amongst its 125 employees.
“We need the diversity – and it’s not just about ethnic or national diversity, it’s a matter of diversity of knowledge and skills,” she says.
“International diversity is also important for us in terms of customer attraction. We are a company that serves global customers, and it’s essential to have global staff members to manage successful customer relations on the international arena,” Hoogstraate adds.
Integration is key
The social discourse and policies around immigration in Sweden and Europe has become increasingly sharp in recent years, which many non-EU researchers now feel the effects of.
Armando Cázares-Körner, lab manager at A Working Lab – which is part of Akademiska Hus – thinks more can be done to help immigrants acclimatize to Sweden’s work and social culture. Originally from Mexico, he was recruited to KI after having finished his PhD and postdoc in the UK and moved to Sweden 12 years ago.
“I was lucky because the research group I came into had a lot of people my own age, which helped me to integrate. I made an active effort to integrate, to meet people and get out there,” Cázares-Körner recalls.
Your employer has to support you, but the person also has to make an effort. Providing foreigners with more information about how to integrate into Swedish society would go a long way.
Today, his role as lab manager has morphed to also include organizing events, often together with KI Science Park. International PhD students frequently attend their networking events, and they’re eager to find out how to get settled in and secure employment in Sweden.

As a foreigner, learning how to interact with Swedes and find your way around a new culture isn’t all that easy without guidance, Cázares-Körner says. “Integration is a shared responsibility,” he muses. “Your employer has to support you, but the person also has to make an effort. Providing foreigners with more information about how to integrate into Swedish society would go a long way.”
NorthX’s Janet Hoogstraate, who herself moved to Sweden early in her career – albeit from nearby Netherlands – echoes this sentiment. Integrating new arrivals into the workplace and the community is crucial.
There are a lot of discussions now about how much immigration costs, but we must keep the dialogue balanced. We can’t move forward without labor migration.
“A new arrival needs a sponsor, someone who can tag along and help them get settled, with practical things like getting a personal identity number or a bank account. This has to be in place right from the start – in an international recruitment process the company should be clear with the candidate about what this will look like and appoint a contact person at the company, and maybe also find a contact at the municipality to help the new colleague settle in,” she says. “There are a lot of discussions now about how much immigration costs, but we must keep the dialogue balanced. We can’t move forward without labor migration.”
KI’s Martin Bergö reasons similarly. “Sweden’s ability to succeed is in part dependent on resolving the issue of welcoming immigrants – there is a clear dichotomy between aspiring to be a knowledge nation and cutting off immigration. It just doesn’t add up,” he muses.
“People have to understand that no one else is doing these jobs. If we truly want Sweden as a country to be at the forefront of innovation, we need foreign talent,” Bergö concludes.
Updated: October 15, 2024, 01:16 pm
Published: October 14, 2024
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