Finnish academics warn of ‘political influence’ in research

Academics and research organisations in Finland are warning that academic freedom is in decline and pressing politicians to explain how they will protect it ahead of parliamentary elections next year.

“Researchers face more harassment and online bullying than before, and the political and economic influence over research has strengthened,” says a statement backed by a coalition of scholarly and research groups, including the Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities (Unifi). “At the same time, the ecological crisis and other security threats, economic uncertainty and disinformation are increasing the need for independent, evidence-based knowledge.”

The coalition, which also includes the Finnish Union of University Professors and the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Finland, said it will use its new Freedom to Research campaign to press politicians to spell out how they plan to “defend the freedom and independence of research and researchers”, secure long-term research funding and “strengthen the use of research-based knowledge in decision-making”.

Finland is due to hold parliamentary elections in spring 2027. Petteri Orpo, the prime minister and head of the centre-right National Coalition Party, has led a four-party government since 2023 with the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party of Finland and the Christian Democrats.

Heikki Holopainen, executive director of Unifi, said the academic community was deeply concerned by the harassment of researchers and by politicians’ disparagement of and interventions in research.

Researchers in areas including gender studies, cultural studies and environmental studies have faced personal attacks on social media, especially when they discuss their work in public. “Personal attacks on academics have been happening for a while now, but what’s more worrying is that more and more politicians in populist parties are taking part in this,” he added. “Universities have their mechanisms, but it’s very difficult to stop this.”

Scholars also had concerns that a growing share of research funding was being directed towards specific fields or political priorities, Holopainen said, pointing to the refusal by the minister of social affairs and health to fund nine social work research projects at several Finnish universities that had been approved by an expert panel. The minister, Wille Rydman, is a member of the right-wing populist Finns Party.

Documents obtained by the Finnish broadcaster Yle showed that Rydman had instead awarded funding to projects that had received lower peer review scores than many of other rejected projects. Several universities have since challenged the decisions, saying that the peer-review process had been bypassed. Rydman has defended his actions, saying peer review is not “heavenly truth”.

“We’re not used to this, because politicians have respected freedom of research throughout the years,” Holopainen said. He also cited Finland’s declining performance in the Academic Freedom Index, an international measure of freedom to research and teach, academic exchange and dissemination, institutional autonomy, campus integrity and freedom of academic and cultural expression. Finland scored 0.82 out of 1 in the 2025 assessment, down from 0.84 in 2024, 0.91 in 2023 and 0.95 in 2022.

“I hope the next government will scrutinise whether there are laws in place that protect the freedom of science,” Holopainen said, adding that the Ministry of Education and Culture appeared to support the strengthening of such protections. Finland’s long-term vision for higher education also endorses freedom of research, he said. “But it’s still a vision – and you need to act on it”.

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com