Without SSH, we risk designing brilliant solutions to the wrong problems

Global challenges are never purely technical. Viable solutions from science require a deep understanding of human behaviour, institutions, ethics, and history. Such understanding has allowed Europeans, including Finns, to enjoy fundamental freedoms and high living standards. This is why we need the social sciences and humanities (SSH), which study human society, culture, and values.Yet the future of the EC’s cooperation programme is as yet uncertain. Over the coming year the European Commission will decide on its multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the EU’s seven-year (2028-2034) budget that underpins its research and innovation programmes. While the recently proposed increase in current funding would nearly double what is earmarked for Horizon Europe, the EU’s core scientific programme, to nearly €175 billion, careful, strong advocacy is essential to ensure this proposal continues to receive the support it needs before voting takes place in Brussels.

This week, a delegation from the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH) is visiting Finland to highlight the fundamental importance of SSH to ministers and university leaders. EASSH, a member organization representing 70 institutions—including the University of Oulu—works to strengthen the position of SSH in EU research activities, funding programmes, and science policy. Our membership recognizes the vital role of SSH in Finnish-led science initiatives. A team from the Eudaimonia Institute of Human Sciences is in Helsinki this week meeting with government ministers, university deans and rectors, and EASSH representatives. Their goal is to demonstrate that research and innovation which is focused on society are central to Europe's commitments, and to support calls for the SSH research community playing a key role in tackling today's major challenges.

Across Europe, education and research are receiving unprecedented political attention. But as national budgets tighten and political debate becomes polarized, it is critical to ensure the centrality of (and funding for) SSH in shaping our collective future. Typically, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, which often focus on technical or natural phenomena, are heavily prioritized in research funding decisions. But SSH, which speaks to the more human aspects of the world, produce knowledge that directly informs EU priorities such as the Green Deal, democracy, and digital rights. It is important to ensure that SSH funding continues to be prioritized, lest Europe make a mistake it cannot afford.

Indeed, without substantial and sustained funding, society risks repeating past mistakes, failing to anticipate the harms that even the most celebrated interventions can unleash. The spread of smartphones illustrates the point: once hailed as a breakthrough, they have contributed to addiction in schools and jeopardized the cognitive development of our children. The advance of AI poses an even greater challenge. Only strong investment in SSH research will make it possible to anticipate consequences, provide the critical perspective decision-makers need, and design human-centered solutions to the technological, environmental, and societal problems ahead.

A forthcoming position paper led by EASSH director Gabi Lombardo underscores the need for EC legislative commitment to strengthening research on societal challenges within Horizon Europe’s Pillar 2 research clusters. The paper’s authors propose five bold priorities: Democracy, Education, Europe in 2040, Culture & Knowledge, and Productive and Inclusive Societies. EASSH’s visit to Finland this week aims to forge important collaborations with national ministries and university deans and rectors, ensuring that the European Parliament receives the call for a strong and clear societally focused research programme loud and clear.

Ensuring adequate funding for SSH is crucial, but reform in science policy is equally important. Funding parity would guarantee standalone budgets for SSH, not merely integration with STEM subjects. Research evaluation processes must also be more inclusive, with SSH experts on panels and criteria for excellence beyond technical or quantitative performance measures. True interdisciplinarity requires social scientists and humanists to lead projects, not just support them, so they can innovate methodological and conceptual tools. We also need stronger pathways for SSH research to inform EU policy and public debate directly. Such foci will ensure that our society can meet the technological and societal challenges of the future.

If Europe wants competitive innovation that is also fair, democratic, and sustainable, SSH cannot be an afterthought. Our disciplines must be taken seriously alongside STEM subjects when funding is allocated, evaluated, and used. Without such consideration, we are at risk of designing solutions to the wrong problems and missing others. Or worse—responding to challenges in ways that society will never accept.

Roger Norum, Professor of Cultural Anthropology

Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen, Professor of Philosophy

Eudaimonia Institute for the Human Sciences, University of Oulu