The Swedish Research Council bears national responsibility for developing the country’s basic research towards attainment of a strong international position. The Council has three main tasks: research funding, science communication and research policy. Research has been divided into four fields: humanities and social sciences, medicine, natural and engineering sciences and educational science. For each of these, there is a Scientific Council. These Councils play a central part, and they promote and support basic research in their respective fields by distributing grants for various projects and research appointments. The Swedish Research Council is a government agency under the authority of the Ministry of Education and Science. It superseded four previous research councils and the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research.