New research plan focuses on security – and inviting talent

The Norwegian government has launched a new plan to strengthen the Norwegian research system, which will see it invest in supercomputers, create a national strategy for quantum technology, strengthen research safety, and improve conditions for international researchers and students.

Launching the plan, Secure knowledge in an uncertain world, on 21 March at the Norwegian University of Technology and Science in Trondheim, Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland said in a press release: “We have research that is world-class and this is going to be further developed. The government is now acting to handle the digital shift and the new security challenges, and we are strengthening the internationalisation of research.”

“The world is facing rapid technological development – for good and bad. We can connect ever-growing data volumes. High-performance computing, quantum technology and artificial intelligence are giving great opportunities, among others, in health and climate.

“Therefore the government now will make a national strategy for research, innovation and business development within quantum technology, organise the infrastructure for data in a new way and secure sufficient capacity for high performance computing,” she said.

Academic freedom

Commenting on developments in the United States where threats against academic freedoms and institutional autonomy have become a concern owing to policies introduced by the Donald Trump administration, Aasland said: “We are living in a geopolitical situation that is changing from hour to hour.

“The last weeks have made a strong impression on me and many others. We are now seeing dramatic changes in academic freedom. We are working with the implications of what is now happening in the US.”

In the press release she said that she was “in dialogue with the Norwegian research council on how to establish an arrangement to attract experienced researchers [from the US] to Norway. This will be important also for collaborative projects with US researchers. In addition to this, the government is working on mapping out the need for storing data [from US collaborative research projects]”.

Nobel Prize winners dance for joy

A highlight of the event at NTNU in Trondheim was a meeting between the minister and Edvard and May-Britt Moser, the two Nobel Prize winners in medicine in 2014, during which she informed them that the highly unpopular compulsory requirement of 15 ECTS in the Norwegian language for PhD students and postdocs, introduced by the former minister from the nationalistic Centre Party, would be changed.

According to a report by Universitetsavisa the news led to a dance of joy by the two scientists who, according to Aasland, have young researchers from 30 different nations on their staff.

“This is a huge relief. This rigid and unreasonable demand has led to many young and talented researchers not coming to Norway. It also led to them not feeling welcome here,” Edvard Moser said.

“This will mean a lot for us to attract new talents,” May-Britt Moser said. “Now a hindrance is removed,” she said.

Tuition fees

On the issue of the tuition fees introduced by the Centre Party for students from outside Europe, the minister told Universitetsavisa she said she would look into whether the level of tuition fees aiming at full cost coverage was too high.

She said she would invite the universities to a dialogue on how to use the income from tuition fees to attract doctoral students from abroad in order to fulfil the needs of the country.

“One option is that the higher education institutions will decide on the level of the tuition fees themselves so that the price is not so high that the students will not come,” Aasland said.

“We have to attract and retain more international talents, and we have to connect Norwegian research to the rest of the world,” the press release said.

“At the same time as we are suffering a loss of skills in Norway, international students and researchers are experiencing obstacles [for settling down], and this we have to address,” she said.

Positive reaction

Professor Bjørn Stensaker, vice-rector for education at the University of Oslo, reacted positively to the news.

"We are very pleased with the suggestion to drop the language requirements for PhD students. This would have been a unique and a very negative feature for foreign talent considering taking a PhD in Norway.

"Of course, it would also have represented another quite huge expense for universities, as we would have been forced to prolong the PhD period, allowing extra time for the language training.

“More flexible rules for setting tuition fees are exactly what the university sector has been demanding. The current regime is very bureaucratic and leaves little room for institutional discretion in setting tuition fees.

“In a very competitive market, universities need more autonomy for manoeuvring, and both academic and financial dimensions need to be aligned,” he noted.

“The approach of the government will now give us greater flexibility. But the tuition fees are not removed, so it is of importance that the ministry also comes up with grants for students from the Global South, University of Oslo rector Svein Stølen is reported to have told Uniforum.

“It is good that the government is doing something with tuition fees and opening up to the possibility of higher education institutions having lower fees, but nevertheless we are far from reaching the goal.

“Now we are expecting that the government follows up its own programme from the governmental platform and secures free education for all by removing tuition fees for students from outside the EU-EEA,” Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak, president of the Norwegian Union of Students, told University World News.