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research in aeromedicine, naval medicine, bacteriology, experimental psychology, toxicology, and burns. The FOA-1 coordinates military medical research with civilian agencies, in addition to conducting research in such areas as nutrition and psychology.
The veterinary research capability compares favorably with that of other major European countries. Sweden has long had effective research programs which had led to efficient animal disease control systems. The principal diseases still affecting the domestic animal population are actinomycosis, foot-and-mouth disease, parasitic infection, salmonellosis, and swine erysipelas. Major diseases such as brucellosis, anthrax, tuberculosis, and Newcastle disease have been eliminated or almost eliminated. Sweden has approximately 1,200 veterinarians, and a significant number are engaged in some form of basic or applied veterinary research. The major research facilities are the State Veterinary Institute and the Royal Veterinary College of Sweden, both in Stockholm; the Agricultural College of Sweden in Uppsala; and the Skara Veterinary College. Research programs at the State Veterinary Institute are directed primarily to those economically important animal diseases and conditions which limit animal production, and include studies on viral diseases, toxicology, parasitology, and leukemia. The Skara Veterinary College has been concerned with clinical and experimental diseases primarily related to deficiency diseases and infertility.
6. Other sciences (S)
a. Chemistry and metallurgy
Chemistry historically has been an important field of research in Sweden, and Swedish chemists have been awarded four Nobel Prizes since 1903. The overall level of capability in chemical research and development is substantially higher in Sweden than in other Scandinavian countries, but lower than in the major countries of Western Europe. The strongest fields of research are biochemistry and physical chemistry. Industrial research is weak, except for research associated with the manufacture of paper. The chemical industry is dependent to a considerable extent on processes developed abroad. There is little applied synthetic organic research except for a modest effort in pharmaceuticals.
Research in biochemistry is broad and well supported at all of the country's leading educational institutions, particularly the Royal Caroline Medical-Surgical Institute. Much of the research has concentrated on proteins, enzymes, and amino acids. Specific studies have concerned the purification of proteins, size and structure of viral proteins, sequences of amino acids, and enzymic oxidation, transformation, and degradation.
The quality of physical chemical research is very good and centers on molecular structure, physical chemistry of polymers, and reaction kinetics. The Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Uppsala is one of the outstanding centers of physical chemical research in Europe. The Institute, headed by Dr. Stig Claesson, is well staffed and very well equipped. It has done good experimental work on the physical properties of high-molecular-weight materials, such as cellulose and synthetic polymers. Research subjects are diversified and have included various types of diffusion experiments, light scattering, electron microscopy, flash photolysis, and the development of highly sophisticated instrumentation for studying polymeric materials. Good-quality research on polymers is being done at the KTH and CTH. Prof. Bengt Ranby of KTH has been active in research on polymer structure, degradation mechanisms, and radical polymerization.
A small amount of significant organic chemical research is being done in specific areas of interest to the pulp and paper industry, such as on cellulose, lignin, wood extractives, and the chemical reactions which occur during pulping of wood and bleaching of pulp. Broader subjects of research under study at the universities have included synthetic growth substances, terpenes, and organic sulfur and selenium compounds. Good research is underway at several of the universities in synthetic and physical organic chemical research. There has been some activity on the synthesis on pharmaceuticals. The Swedish universities apparently are well equipped with nuclear magnetic resonance instruments, mass spectrometers, and other apparatuses used in physical organic chemical studies.
High-quality inorganic chemical research is carried on at the universities and technical universities on a variety of problems involving metal complexes, solubility characteristics of complexes in organic solvents, hydrolysis of metal ions, and especially equilibrium phenomena. Although the work has been largely fundamental it has had a bearing on the practical recovery of uranium and other metals by solvent extraction techniques.
Very little analytical chemical research is undertaken, although Swedish chemists have up-to-date analytical equipment and are skilled in the use of the latest analytical techniques. In the area of physical
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