The Research Council will draw up a new roadmap for Norwegian research infrastructure. The roadmap will highlight Norway's need for updating research infrastructure in the years to come.
The roadmap describes the strategic basis for the Research Council's infrastructure initiative and will play a key role in the selection of projects awarded funding. The roadmap will be prepared using professional input from the institutions and insights from thematic workshops. The final roadmap is scheduled for completion in June 2023.
Who can contribute?
All institutions that have applied to the National Financing Initiative for Research Infrastructure since its inception in 2009 have been invited to provide input. The input must be firmly rooted in one's own organisation. In addition to the input, we have asked the institutions for proposals for candidates for the committee and as participants in workshops (see below). Representatives from the business sector, the public sector and the Research Council's portfolio boards have also been given the opportunity to participate in the workshops.
The roadmap process
To ensure that the roadmap has broad support and is based on the best available knowledge, we have asked the institutions for written input on subject areas or thematic areas that are relevant to them. The input will be an important starting point for the work of the committee and workshops to be arranged in November.
The input will be about:
- the research's need for research infrastructure to solve challenges within a strategic priority area
- which existing national infrastructures are of great value to maintain and further develop
- in which areas it will be particularly important to establish new national infrastructures or cooperate internationally
- which gaps can be covered through the development of existing national and/or collaboration on/access to international research infrastructures;
See the consultation document and input from all institutions (in Norwegian)
See the input received per subject/topic (in Norwegian):
- Data infrastructure and ICT
- Social Sciences and Humanities
- Food and health
- Energy
- Other infrastructure needs in science and technology
- Ocean and polar research
- Climate and the environment
About the committee
We have put together an external committee to ensure that the roadmap has a broad national foundation. The committee's main task is to prepare an overall draft of the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure. The final roadmap is decided by the Research Council of Norway's Board of Directors.
The committee shall:
- describe the national and international infrastructure landscape and needs seen from a national point of view in a 15-year perspective
- make recommendations on which of the existing infrastructures are of great value to maintain and further develop in all relevant areas
- make recommendations on areas where it will be particularly important to establish new infrastructures nationally or cooperate on at international level
Read the committee's mandate (in Norwegian).
The committee consists of 10 people:
- Per Morten Sandset (UiO) - leader
- Camilla Brekke (UiT)
- Eli Aamot (SINTEF)
- Ole Hjortland (UiB)
- Katrine Vinnes (The Federation of Norwegian Industries)
- Trond Martin Dokken (NORCE)
- Øyvind Fylling-Jensen (NOFIMA)
- Sveinung Løset (NTNU)
- Kristiane Lindland (UiS)
- Knut Bjørgaas (The Norwegian Mapping Authority)
The Research Council of Norway is the secretariat for the committee.
We have taken into account the balance between persons from large and small institutions in both the university and university college and institute sectors, from the business sector and public administration, in addition to gender and geographical coverage.
About the workshops
In November 2022, we organised workshops, where invited participants from the research institutions, the public sector, the business sector and the Research Council's portfolios participated. We organized these seven workshops:
- Computer infrastructure and ICT – 3 November
- Social Sciences and humanities – 7 November
- Food and health – 8 November
- Energy – 14 November
- Other infrastructure needs in science and technology – 18 November
- Sea and polar – 21 November
- Climate and environment – 28 November
The division of the workshops is related to the landscape analyses in the ESFRI Roadmap 2021, with some adaptations to capture important themes for Norwegian environments. The thematic division of workshops does not provide any guidelines for the structure of the final roadmap.