Kristin Clemet

The Norwegian Research & Technology Forum in the U.S./ Canada Under the auspices of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Washington DC

17 September 2002Washington DC

Capturing the Value of Transatlantic Cooperation in Science, Technology and Higher Education: Future Possibilities and Direction for Norway - US relations

Thank you, Ambassador, for the invitation to this Forum.

Distinguished guests and Forum members,

I am happy to have been given the opportunity to address the new Norwegian Research and Technology Forum in the United States and Canada. I wish to thank the Norwegian Embassy and Ambassador Vollebæk for creating a formal meeting place that aims to strengthen the relations between North America and Norway within research and higher education. This important initiative is linked with efforts on the home front. A "Strategy for Norway’s relations with the United States" was launched by the Norwegian Government last year. Education and research is a priority area in this strategy, which covers a wide range of areas of co-operation. The Research and Technology Forum will clearly have an important role to play in the implementation of such a strategy for deepening bilateral relations.

These concerted efforts are closely linked to one of my primary concerns as minister:, which is to raise the quality of education and research in my country. International co-operation is an essential element in raising quality. This has always been the case, and has become even more important in today’s globalised, knowledge-based society.

The United States has historically put great emphasis on the importance of research and education. It is a country of "frontier-culture" – in other words, a curiosity-driven society. Especially since the Second World War, the United States has been a "promised land" for science and technology. The investments in science & technology in this country are impressive, as are their effects on the economy, on society at large—and on the number of Nobel laureates!

In 1945 Vannevar Bush defined science as "The endless frontier". And once again an American frontier attracted many nations. The United States has earned a reputation for welcoming researchers from other countries, and for giving them generous access to institutions, research groups, and laboratories. A great many Norwegians have been among those profiting from this kind of welcome. And after the Second World War the American scientific community has been our most important partner and source of inspiration. Thus the United States has been vital to the development of Norwegian research, notably within medicine and the natural and social sciences. It has also provided both basic and advanced education for thousands of young Norwegians.

Although the United States is the obvious senior partner in our relationship, both sides have wanted to encourage mobility in two directions. One of the most important instruments for collaboration in education and research has been the Fulbright Agreement, concluded between the United States and Norway after the war. More than 3000 Norwegians and 1000 Americans have benefited from Fulbright grants over this 50-year period. Fulbright covers a wide variety of programmes, including grants for graduate students and graduating seniors, research awards for up to a year overseas, and short-term exchanges. All of these are associated with quality and prestige. The Norwegian government is pleased to support Fulbright, which clearly illustrates the merits of a well-organised programme with a long-term perspective.

Research collaboration is very often based on individual contacts and initiatives. An existing bilateral Convention or "Tax Agreement" has provided a good legal framework for cooperation, and has been instrumental in promoting the mobility of researchers between our two countries.

What are the challenges we face today? I should like to dwell briefly on some of the new fora for co-operation, and on ways and means of strengthening our bilateral dialogue within research and education.

We witness a growing emphasis on contacts and exchanges on a wider international scale. In Europe, a wide range of organised schemes and programmes have been set up, and Norway has joined them all. The activities of the European Union carry great weight. Norway is associated with the Union through a special agreement (the agreement on the European Economic Area—the EEA Agreement—from 1994). On this basis, Norway is a full member of the EU Framework Programme - currently our biggest investment in organised international research co-operation - and we participate in the so-called Socrates programme, including ERASMUS, within higher education.

European co-operation is increasingly seen in a wider global context. Non-European countries are gradually being included in the EU Framework Programme. Since the United States has a separate agreement with the EU and will take part in project activities under the Framework Programme, I sincerely hope this will invite a new and different kind of co-operation between American and Norwegian scientists—in part within new areas of research and technology.

The European Commission has also recently proposed ERASMUS World, which will start in 2004 and open up for student exchanges around the globe. It will support a wide spectrum of co-operative measures between the EU and associated countries on the one hand, and third countries on the other. In other words: European students and researchers will be stimulated to co-operate with outstanding universities outside Europe.

European and global trends should be made to supplement existing bilateral relations, and provide opportunities to explore new methods of collaboration. In fact, these trends make our bilateral contacts even more important. This is reflected in our new strategy for co-operation and the establishment of this Forum.

On the Norwegian side, our efforts will necessarily be related to policy priorities. In research policy today, basic research is a main priority. Given the special importance of the American connection for Norwegian basic research, this ought to be a good basis for an expanded co-operation across the Atlantic. In addition, four so-called "thematic areas" are given priority. They are medical research, marine research, information- and communication technologies, and research in the area of intersection between energy and the environment. It will be important to explore new avenues of co-operation in such fields, and on the basis of mutual interest. I understand that such possibilities will be further explored in seminar sessions today and tomorrow, and I much look forward to being informed of their progress.—It will be equally important to make full use of existing opportunities for researchers. I mention in passing that we have recently become aware of scholarship opportunities at the National Institute of Health (NIH) which we have not taken full advantage of. I am grateful that representatives from the NIH visited Norway before summer to inform our researchers about the possibilities offered.

We have recently seen confirmation of our common commitment to polar research—which involves efforts in several of the areas I have just mentioned. We attach great importance to the statement of co-operation between the National Science Foundation and the Research Council of Norway concerning polar research. I am pleased to learn that our research councils are in the process of developing their co-operation within this framework, and that several projects have already been launched.—In this context, I would like to mention that Norway is planning an international conference on Svalbard next summer, which will focus on international co-operation in the Arctic and the use of existing infrastructures on Svalbard. Challenges for climate research will be one of the main topics explored. I hope that the United States will be represented on this occasion.

We should also explore new ways of inter-linking excellent research groups- and communities in our countries. Such links may result in significant synergies. One of the corner stones of Norwegian research policy is to attract researchers from abroad by focusing on the development of research excellence. This might be in areas where quality may be combined with geography and where Norway has a comparative advantage—for example in marine research and polar research.

Norway is currently committed to an ambitious plan for strengthening its research—quantitatively and qualitatively. A special research fund has been set up to finance activities in priority areas, and measures designed to raise the quality of research. A new Centres of Excellence Scheme has recently been launched, financed through the research fund, and administered by the Research Council of Norway. A number of centres—thirteen so far—will be given special funding for a period of five to ten years. The centres cover a broad scope of research areas such as ICT, medical research, mathematics, climate research, aquaculture, geological research, peace research, medieval history and linguistics. I hope that the centres will make valuable contributions to science and become important links in international networks, and also that they will attract researchers from the United States and other countries to Norway.

Allow me to mention another initiative which will also, we hope, promote quality in research. The Norwegian government has established an international prize in mathematics. The Abel Prize is named after the leading 19 ^th> century Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel and will be awarded annually. Laureates will be appointed by an independent committee of international mathematicians, and the first prize will be awarded in 2003. Maybe to an American?

In order to produce excellent researchers, we need high-quality universities and colleges. Norway is in the process of reforming its higher education system. A main objective is to enhance the quality of both teaching and research through internationalisation. We have for instance changed our system of academic degrees to make them comparable to international standards, thereby encouraging greater mobility. International student exchange is one of the criteria in the result-based financing system introduced as part of the reform.

We need to identify instruments which will result in an increased two-way mobility of both students and researchers. A main priority in our strategy is to encourage Americans to come to Norway, and our institutions are encouraged to offer more study programmes in English.

The statistics show that the number of Norwegian students who receive parts or all of their education in the United States increased steadily from the late Forties until the early Nineties. Since then we have seen a marked decline. This recent decline can be explained partly by the fact that US fees are comparatively high, partly by opportunities offered by mobility programmes in the EU, and partly by the fact that students have taken an interest in "new countries" (Australia turns out to be very popular!). We need to find ways of turning this trend, and make sure that more Norwegian students and researchers take advantage of the many possibilities that exist in the United States.

We should also seek to stimulate greater mobility between academic institutions and the R & D intensive industrial and business communities. Norway has a lot to learn from the Unites States in this area, and I believe it worth while to explore various mutually rewarding "mobility models".

While Norwegian students and researchers are encouraged to spend more time abroad—partly through special measures—our universities are also required to develop an active policy for internationalisation. My government aims at increased institutional independence in higher education, also with regard to international co-operation. All co-operative mechanisms, including agreements, should be firmly anchored within the institutions, and should not depend solely on personal initiatives. I hasten to add, however, that personal networks remain the basis of our collaboration.

There already exists a large number of agreements between American and Norwegian universities and colleges. About 25 per cent of the total number of Norwegian agreements with institutions abroad are with American counterparts. This share has remained unaltered despite new links to institutions in other countries. However, we lack precise information on how these agreements function, and to what extent there is an active co-operation. I see, then, a clear potential for improvement with regard to the follow-up and "maintenance" of institutional agreements.

In addition to revitalising existing institutional agreements we should encourage the initiation of new agreements in research areas where we have common interests. A good example is the recently concluded agreement between Johns Hopkins University and the University of Oslo in the field of medical research, facilitated by the Norwegian Embassy in Washington through this Forum.

In conclusion, I wish to signal my Government’s will and intention to foster a new, stronger and more focused long-term approach for Norway’s relations to North America in the fields of research and education. In our Strategy for relations with the United States we have adopted a set of new guidelines and strategic objectives for future co-operation. Time has come to develop concrete plans for reaching these objectives. I am confident that this Forum will be a constructive partner in this process. The Forum can play an important role as a meeting place and a catalyst, and I hope that it will become an arena for productive contacts between Norwegian and American institutions. I wish you good luck with the sessions this afternoon and tomorrow, and look forward to receiving your contributions. I again congratulate the Ambassador and our Science Councillor, Jostein Mykletun, on a very successful initiative.

Thank you.