International cooperation

The Research Council seeks to enhance international cooperation in areas that promote higher quality and greater innovation capacity in Norwegian research, that reinforce R&D areas of national importance, and that strengthen Norway's role as a global partner.

The Research Council’s roles and tasks

The Research Council offers advisory services, support and expertise to government ministries, the research establishment and other R&D companies and institutions. The Council also works actively vis-à-vis international organisations to promote common initiatives and to furnish researchers and organisations abroad with information on Norwegian research opportunities.

Instruments for achieving internationalisation

Cooperation between research programmes across borders and the opening up of national programmes to international participation are necessary to improve coordination and enhance interaction between national and international initiatives. All projects funded by the Research Council are required to have an international component, ranging from collaboration on publications to formal contracts regarding delivery of research and technology input to larger-scale, goal-oriented projects. 

Researcher mobility is essential to Norway’s ability to maintain access to the international playing field. The Research Council gives priority to increasing the number of Norwegian researchers who spend time at R&D institutions abroad as well as the proportion of foreign researchers who carry out part of their research in Norway.

Key channels

Norway employs a variety of channels in its internationalisation efforts. High priority is given to cooperation with multinational organisations such as the EU, the European Science Foundation (ESF), COST and EUREKA as well as to Nordic research cooperation. Priority is also given to bilateral relations with partner countries such as the USA, Canada, India, Japan, China and Russia.

Research collaboration in connection with development assistance projects is targeted especially toward South Africa and the West Balkans. The Research Council has entered into cultural agreements with 27 countries, offering reciprocal exchange of students and specialists.

Norway’s relationship to the EU forms the core of its international cooperation efforts. Norway participates as a full member of the EU Seventh Framework Programme on Research and Technological Development as well as the new EU Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), and the Research Council is represented on EU administrative and policy-making bodies.

Norwegian researchers are taking active part in the development of the European Research Area (ERA), and the Research Council participates in more than thirty ERA-NETs, which are designed to enhance coordination of nationally and regionally-funded R&D programmes in various fields. Moreover, the Research Council administers the Norwegian section of the European network of portals to promote researcher mobility (EURAXESS).

Organisation of international activities

Tasks related to internationalisation and international cooperation are dispersed throughout the entire Research Council. A special international affairs staff has been established under the Director General and given responsibility for specific strategic tasks and much of the contact with research institutions and organisations abroad. A priority in this context is to provide advice on strategic research policy issues to the government ministries, the European Commission and Norway’s partner countries in the R&D sector.

The international affairs staff also encompasses the EU-RTD Department, which is responsible for coordinating activities in relation to the EU Framework Programmes and represents the Research Council externally in EU cooperation.

Research division staff working with national programme initiatives that correspond closely to EU priority research areas have been designated National Contact Points (NCPs) and given responsibility for providing information and advisory services within these research areas to researchers, research institutions and companies. A similar network of staff members (International Contact Points) is in place to provide assistance with regard to ongoing developments in the ESF, NordForsk and initiatives relating to North America and Asia.

A number of international cultural agreements and scholarship schemes to which Norway is a party is administered directly by the International Scholarship Section.