Abstract
Fundamental research is a long term activity and the results will generally not have an influence on industrial development for a long time. It is however essential for the progress of the industry, but cannot be justly evaluated by any short-term economic formula.
Fundamental research in the Swedish pulp and paper industry is today mainly carried out at the Swedish Forest Products Research Laboratory (STFI). STFI is a collective research institute and is financed jointly by the pulp and paper industry, through the Pulp and Paper Association and by the state, through the National Swedish Board for Technical Development (STU). The budget for STFI amounts to 60m SKr of which approximately 70% is financed by the basic agreement between the state and the industry, whereby the state carries a share of 42% and the industry 58%. The remaining 30% of the budget is financed by different funds and from contract research.
The pulp and paper industry together with the state also supports research at a number of other institutes, such as the Swedish Water and Air Pollution Research Institute (IVL), the Institute for Surface Chemistry, the Swedish Packaging Research Institute, and the Graphic Arts Research Laboratory (GFL). The necessary coordination of the different activities is in the hands of a research committee organised by the Pulp and Paper Association which has to formulate the R & D policy of the industry and to propose to the board of the Association how the available funds should be distributed among the different institutions and research projects. The industry is represented on the board of STFI, in the advisory research council of the Institute, and in a number of special committees for different research areas.
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