Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ)

Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) is an independent foundation with the goal of promoting and supporting research in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

In 1962, the Riksdag approved a donation from Riksbanken (the Swedish Central Bank), aimed at celebrating Riksbanken's 300th anniversary in 1968 and, simultaneously, supporting an important national objective. The annual yield from the anniversary donation was planned for use in the promotion of academic research related to Sweden. The Riksdag resolved to establish a foundation based on this donation on 2 December 1964, following an investigation led by Prime Minister Tage Erlander.

RJ received new statutes on 1 January 1988, thus making the foundation an independent financial actor. This new form of the foundation began with capital in the amount of SEK 1.5 billion. Additional donations were received over the following years. As regards the manner in which the foundation’s objectives are to be advanced, among other matters, the statutes specify:

• that priority should be given to research areas in which financing from other sources is limited, 
• that the foundation’s funds shall be used to support major, long-term research projects in particular,
• that new research assignments requiring quick and substantial contributions be given prioritised attention,
• that the foundation should seek to promote contact with international research. 

During 1993, the Riksdag resolved to supply RJ with an additional donation of SEK 1.5 billion, known as the “The Humanities and Social Sciences Donation”. To this resolution was attached a memorandum that, among other information, stated those areas for which this donation is to be used:

• the establishment of research centres or research areas with an international impact,
• support for projects and programmes of an interdisciplinary character, 
• the establishment of networks or more fixed forms of national and international cooperation, among other means, through the establishment of an international exchange programme for researchers,
• the promotion of doctoral studies and recruitment for research, 
• the promotion of free mobility for researchers on an international level and between universities / university colleges and other fields.