National report on joint and open programmes NORWAY

Transcription

1 JOREP Joint and Open REsearch Programs [Contract No. RTD/DirC/C3/2010/SI ] National report on joint and open programmes NORWAY Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

2 Document Information Sheet Deliverable Title Abstract Authors National report on Joint and Open Programmes: Norway This report provides for the analysis of the Norwegian policy concerning participation to joint and open research funding programmes. Lisa Scordato and Liv Langfeldt Copyright 2011 The European Communities, all rights reserved. This document may not be copied, reproduced, or modified in whole or in part for any purpose without written permission. It may also change without prior advice. 2

3 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC RESEARCH FUNDING IN NORWAY R&D funding and execution Public research funding: overview Project funding overview Research Council of Norway Innovation Norway Ministries Public research funding: some quantitative data MAPPING JOINT AND OPEN PROGRAMMES An introductory overview Joint programming Opening of national programmes Mapping the programmes Participation to European and international programmes Joint programmes at the European level (with national cofunding) Bilateral programmes with other countries Research cooperation with China Norwegian Programme for Research Cooperation with India South African - Norwegian programme for Research Co-operation Nordic Top-Level Research initiative National programmes funding performers abroad Cases of exclusion: revision of the national perimeter after the data collection OVERALL ASSESSMENT AND DISCUSSION AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES Problems encountered with data availability and measures taken to overcome problems DISCUSSION ON NATIONAL PARTICIPATION TO JOINT AND OPEN R&D PROGRAMMES Participation to joint initiatives (EU and national): Level of funding: general observations on national financial commitment on joint R&D activities Relationship with other EU initiatives Relationships with national R&D programmes LIST OF ACRONYMS REFERENCES

4 1. Introduction This report provides for the analysis of the Norwegian policy concerning participation in joint and open research funding programmes; it thus represents a first step in the tender on Investments on joint and open R&D programmes and analysis of their economic impact funded by the Directorate General Research of the European Commission (JOREP; contract RTD/DirC/C3/2010/SI ). The focus of the report is in providing a descriptive overview of joint and open programmes in Norway. Accordingly, it is organized in the following sections: first, a general overview of the national research funding system with a focus on the organization of project funding. This information provides a background for understanding the national policy for open and joint programmes. second, an overall mapping of these programmes highlighting the main patterns and providing a definition of the perimeter for the JOREP analysis, including a detailed description of each programme by adopting the descriptors defined in the JOREP project. third, overall observations and reflections data availability and methods, as well as general issues concerning Norway s participation in joint and open programmes. This report has been prepared by NIFU under the JOREP contract; its contents engage only its authors. 2. Overview of public research funding in Norway This section provides a general overview of public research funding in Norway, as well as some more specific information on project funding. This will allow to better frame the role of open and joint programmes in the overall funding landscape R&D funding and execution Norway's total R&D costs in 2009 were 5.3b (NOK41.9b). The R&D expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) had a minor decrease from 1.65 in 2007 to 1.64% in EU average in 2007 was around 1.8% (NIFU 2010). The low indicators of the Norwegian performance may be seen as reflecting the specific structure of the Norwegian economy. Hence, comparisons made by normalising against GDP tend to show Norway in a relatively lower position compared to countries whose economies are less resource based (OECD 2008). For 2009, the Norwegian Government Budget Appropriation or outlays for R&D (GBAORD) was estimated at 2.6 billion (NOK 20.8 billion). In real terms the annual growth in expenditures during was estimated to 2.9 per cent. Norwegian business enterprises reported a total of 2.4b (NOK18.2b) in R&D expenditure in 2009, 46% of the total R&D costs (NIFU 2010). This represents no change to In addition, enterprises with 5-9 employees spent almost 192m (NOK1.5b) on R&D activity. In the university and university college sector, a total of 1.7b (NOK13b) was spent on R&D and 1.2b (NOK9.3b) in the research institute sector. In addition 1 The exchange rate adopted in this report is 1 EUR= 8, 32 Norwegian kroner (NOK) from January

5 to internal R&D, industry bought R&D services totalling almost 691.2m (NOK5.4b) in 2008 (Statistics Norway). 2.2 Public research funding: overview Core funding constitutes a relatively large part of the funding of research within HEIs. The ratio between core funding and competitive (RCN) funding has remained largely constant. However, changes in the structure of core funds indicate a move towards more performance- and strategy-based core research funding by Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) (Scordato and Kallerud, 2009). Allocations by the Ministry of Education and Research to universities and university colleges are divided into four parts: basic funds for research and teaching, based on incremental changes to historically set levels (on average about 60 per cent of institutional funding), a performance-based funding of teaching (25 per cent), a performance-based funding of research (10 per cent) and strategic funding of research. Strategic funds may include funds for research infrastructure. The main source of external, competitive funding of university is the Research Council of Norway. More than 70 per cent of funds for HEI research is institutional funding from the Ministry of Education and Research. 2 Figure 1: Overview of the governance structure of Norway s research system 2 More information on the national research funding system can be found at the ERAWATCH webpages 5

6 2.3 Project funding overview Project funding in Norway is mostly channelled through the Research Council of Norway (RCN). International programmes, foremost the EU framework programmes are important. Two other agencies Innovation Norway and the Industrial Development Cooperation of Norway (SIVA) provide support for innovation. Besides, ministries and other public agencies provide project funding in a lesser scale. Norway is part of the Nordic regional cooperation, which has a long tradition in funding cross border research cooperation between the Nordic countries. This is made through the Nordic research board, NordForsk under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers. A more thorough description of the Nordic cooperation framework and agencies is included in the JOREP report on international agencies (Scordato and Slipersæter, 2010). In the following section we present shortly the main agencies at national level. Research Council of Norway The Research Council of Norway (RCN) is the only operational research policy agency in Norway. In addition to funding research, RCN has the mandate to advise the government about research policy and to create communication and coordination arenas for actors of research, industry and government. The RCN is administered by the Ministry of Education and Research, and bears overall responsibility for the promotion of basic and applied research within all scientific and technological areas. In 2010, The Research Council of Norway's total budget amounted to 884,125 million (NOK million). The Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are the most important contributors to the budget of the Research Council of Norway. Figure 2: Origin of allocations from ministries to the Research Council of Norway in 2010 in EUR mill. Source: RCN Beginning in January 2011, the Research Council was reorganised from three to four divisions. The Division for Science continues and has overall responsibility for the Research Council s role in ensuring that Norway maintains an effective, smoothly functioning research system. The division will serve as liaison to the Norwegian research system at large and also retains its current responsibility for basic research and the infrastructure initiative. The Division for Innovation has assumed more responsibility for research within and for trade and industry. The various large-scale technology initiatives and efforts targeted at key areas of industry have been consolidated under this division. Two new departments will ensure better organisation of energy, climate and environmental research. On 1 November 2010, the Department for Energy and Petroleum and the Department for Climate and the Environment were established under the 6

7 Division for Strategic Priorities. In connection with the administrative re-organisation, the Executive Board of the Research Council has also concluded that the Council s system of governance should be re-organised. The Executive Board has recommended the establishment of four research boards to replace the current three. Approximately half of the research efforts funded by the Research Council are organised under the auspices of research programmes. The RCN is the institution charged with national responsibility for aspects of EU and international cooperation. The RCN has the role to facilitate Norwegian participation in international and European institutions, such as EUREKA, COST, ESF and EUROCORES and to follow up bilateral agreements. The RCN has initiated a number of measures to encourage researchers to seek more funding from the EU's Framework Programmes and to enhance their qualifications. Sam-EU helps to cover the added costs an institution incurs from participation in EU projects. This measure is intended as an incentive to encourage more Norwegian researchers to apply for EU funding. The project establishment support schemes (PES) are intended to provide researchers with an incentive to apply for support from EUREKA and for the EU research activities that are available to the EEA countries. The scheme has now been expanded to apply to Norwegian players who wish to mobilise their efforts and position themselves for participation in the Seventh Framework Programme. Figure 3: Distribution of funds of the Research Council of Norway 2010 in EUR mill. Source: RCN Innovation Norway Innovation Norway is the main agency for the development and administration of business-oriented policy instruments. Through its network of offices, covering all Norwegian counties and more than 30 foreign countries, the agency is to function as a gateway to a well-coordinated and easily accessible set of policy instruments in the field of innovation and internationalisation. Innovation Norway is organised as a stateowned company controlled and mostly financed by the Ministry of Trade and industry. Ministries At government level, the Ministry of Research and Education has the main responsibility for coordinating the overall research policy and is the largest source of government research funds. Several other ministries have large research portfolios and each ministry is responsible for research related to its own sector in society. In addition to the Ministry of Research and Education, the main ministries funding research are: the 7

8 Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Health and Care Services, the Ministry of Oil and Energy, Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs. The ministries with the largest research portfolios are also standing members of the Government s Research Board (Regjeringens forskningsutvalg), which coordinates overall R&D policy under the lead of the Minister of Research and Higher Education. The Board has limited authority, and the strongly sectorised funding structure research generates challenges regarding the coordination of research assignments (OECD 2008). 2.4 Public research funding: some quantitative data The following tables provide a general overview of public research funding, as well as on its change in the year ; these are based on the new elaborations of GBAORD data done by OECD distinguishing between two main categories of funding, namely project funding i.e. money attributed to a group or an individual to perform a R&D activity limited in scope, budget and time, normally on the basis of the submission of a project proposal describing the research activities to be done and institutional funding, attributed to whole research organizations for their normal and long-term operations (OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry 2010). These data are relevant for the purpose of the JOREP project since they allow measuring the importance of project funding in the national context, as well as the role of the different funding agencies. Both are likely to have a relevant impact on participation to joint and open programmes. A major limitation of these data is that these do not generally include data on project funding coming from international agencies (except to some extent European FP). JOREP will allow overcoming this limitation and provide a more complete picture of public research funding. The following diagram summarizes the main funding flows for Norway in the year National funding Institutional 794,43 475,3 HEIs Other* Project ,5 International research organisations International funding agencies 94 *Government and business enterprise sector 8

9 The higher education sector received most of its R&D funding from Norway s General University Funds (GUF). GUF funding amounted to 65 per cent of total R&D spending in the sector. Table 1 shows that relatively few changes took place in the composition of funding during the years 2005 to Table 1. National research funding by type of funding. Source: NIFU STEP/OECD project funding. Million Euro * Total national public funding (GBAORD) 1795, ,31 National public funding to national performers 1628, ,69 National public funding to national projects 712,13 900,99 National public funding to national research institutions, as the sum of: 916, ,70 Institutional funding of universities (= GUF) 626,70 794,43 Other institutional funding 289,76 475,28 National public funding to international performers 166,86 267,63 National public funding to international projects (other public funding going abroad) 152,11 246,16 (of which to the EU Framework Programme) 66,60 125,79 National public funding to international organisations 14,75 21,46 *or latest available year A further relevant feature is the repartition of project funding by agencies; as shown by table 2, the largest funding is made by the Research Council of Norway, which distributes more than 70% of total project funding; European and international agencies stands for 10 % of total project funding. The role of ministries is important with the ministry of education and research as the single most important funding ministry. The shares by agency have remained rather constant in recent years. The share of project funding from international agencies has also stayed rather constant in the years The European Commission accounted for over 60 % of foreign funding for Norwegian R&D. Table 2. Project funding by agency. Source: NIFU STEP/OECD project funding. Mill euro * Total public funding to national projects, as the sum of: 790,9 994,8 National public funding to national projects 712,1 901,0 National public funding agencies 172,1 212,0 - research and higher education ministry 12,6 15,4 - other ministries 159,5 196,6 Independent agencies (RCN) 540,0 689,0 International public funding to national projects 78,8 93,8 European and international agencies 78,8 93,8 *or latest available year 9

10 3. Mapping joint and open programmes This section provides an overview of Norwegian participation to open and joint programmes and discusses cases of inclusion and exclusion in the perimeter for data collection and analysis. 3.1 An introductory overview As a member of the EEA, Norway participates in the ERA on a par with EU Member States. Since the fourth Framework Programme on research Norway has had a high participation rate in European research. The government is highly supportive of EU research developments and strongly encourages Norwegian participation in all EU funding and collaborative frameworks. The Research Council of Norway is actively involved in several ERA processes, such as researchers mobility, infrastructure, opening up of national programmes. Official policy strongly emphasizes Norway's orientation towards and commitment to the ERA conception, as seen in i.a. the strong role assumed by Norway in the Bologna process and its literal adoption of the Barcelona target as national target. ERA plays a key role in Norwegian research policy, and it is also emphasised that, for Norway, research collaboration within the context of the EU is an important part of Norwegian foreign policy in relation to the EU. It is a key priority in Norwegian research policy that national participation in European research programmes should be facilitated and extended. The main challenges for the national R&D system in relation to ERA include further opening up of national research programmes and to increase the share of private R&D spending (ERAWATCH Policy Mix report, 2009). Participation in the strategic initiatives under the seventh framework programme is an important priority in Norwegian research policy 3. It is considered to be important for strengthening and broadening the Norwegian research base and capacity Joint programming Through the RCN Norway participates actively in the efforts of key European institutions such as the EU Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST), EUREKA, the European Science Foundation and the European Union's Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORC), as well as inter-ministerial efforts to facilitate Norwegian participation in research projects funded by the recipient countries' Norwegian EEA contribution. Norway is also involved in EUROCORES, a collaborative research initiative under the European Science Foundation. Further efforts are aimed at promoting increased Norwegian participation in international fellowship schemes and specialised, high-quality, pan-european initiatives such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL), The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the OECD's Halden Reactor Project, as well as greater use of large-scale common infrastructure through the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). 3 See Report to the Storting nr 20 ( ), Report to the Storting nr 17. ( ), Strategi for norsk forskning i EU. 10

11 The RCN provides partial coverage for fees associated with Norwegian participation in European research institutions, and has set aside special funding for follow-up of such research. Norway participates in approximately 40 ERA NETs mostly though the RCN. The following table illustrates Norwegian participation in ERA NETs by type: Table 3: Norwegian participation in ERA NETs by type. Source: Ministry of Education and Research (2008). Research field Total number of ERA NETs Share of total number of ERA NETs ERA NET with Norwegian participation Share of Norwegian participation Biosciences 26 25% 8 20% Environment and energy 25 24% 9 23% Social sciences and humanities 14 13% 6 15% Basic research 6 6% 2 5% International cooperation 7 7% 2 5% Industrial technologies, ICT, space, innovation and transport 28 28% 13 33% Total % % Norwegian participation in ERA NETs is notable especially in the area of industrial technology, ICT, space, innovation and transport, but also within environment and energy. ERA NET with Norwegian participation has received a total funding of 96,3 million, with close to 8,7 mill to Norwegian participants (Ministry of Education and Research, 2008). Together with Belgium and Spain, Norway has initiated the JPI for Health and Productive Seas and Oceans. This JPI seeks to create an integrated knowledge base that enables an integrated policy to make the most of marine resources in a sustainable way, while understanding and mitigating the impact of climate change on the marine environment and coastal areas. Norway also participates in the following JPIs: A healthy diet for a health life Agriculture, food security and climate change Neurodegenerative Disease/Alzheimer s Climate knowledge for Europe (CliK EU) As a Nordic country Norway participates is the longstanding tradition of research cooperation between the Nordic countries. The organisation of Nordic collaboration in research and innovation rests on two main pillars, the Nordic Research Board (NordForsk) and the Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe). The objective is to develop the Nordic region into a leading region for research and innovation in relevant areas. 11

12 3.1.2 Opening of national programmes Opening of national programmes is a political priority in Norwegian research policy, but not yet implemented. The situation is currently so that applications for funding under the Research Council's research programmes and other funding opportunities are only accepted from Norwegian institutions and companies. Researchers from abroad must as a rule have formal affiliation with a Norwegian institution to be eligible for Norwegian funding.. However, some funding opportunities, programmes, grants and scholarships are specifically designed for foreign researchers and partners Mapping the programmes For the mapping, we make use of the classification provided in the JOREP tender, with the following categories: B1: programmes managed and funded by international agencies; funding from direct national contributions. B2: programmes managed and funded by international agencies; funding from EU budget. B3: programmes managed by international agencies, but with national (co-)funding C: joint programmes between national funding agencies D: programmes of national agencies open to performers abroad Information on programmes B1 and B2 refers only to national conditions of participation, while detailed information on these programmes is provided in the separate report on international and European funding agencies. 3.2 Participation to European and international programmes The following table provides a summary of Norwegian participation to European and international programmes, where Norwegian participation is directly funded by the international agency (B1 and B2). Programme Funding agency Type Norwegian participation European Space Agency Contracts ESA B1 Full participation of Norway with a direct contribution to ESA. ESA makes contracts directly with Norwegian participants, with no Norwegian co-funding. The RCN and the Norwegian Space Centre have responsibility for coordinating the activities in ESA. Co-funding is available. EU Framework Programmes European Commission B2 B3 until 2004 Full participation of Norway since FP4 in 1994; Quite detailed data on funding of Norwegian participation available in RCN reports and evaluations of Norwegian participation in EU Framework Programmes. EURATOM is not covered by the EEA agreement and Norway is considered as third country. Norwegian researchers participate on a project to project basis and Norwegian institutions are not eligible for funding from the EU. Costs for Norwegian participation are covered by six different ministries contributing with (NOK 1 million) each. Norwegian participation in EURATOM is administered by RCN. Community Innovation European B1 Norway participates as full member. CIP activities are 12

13 programme Commission coordinated by Innovation Norway. Human Science Frontier Programme HFSP B1 Full participation of Norway since 2008 with a direct contribution to the agency. Funding from the RCN in 2008 was (NOK 3 mill) (from the EU budget line). 3.3 Joint programmes at the European level (with national co-funding) The following table provides an overview of the Norwegian participation to European programmes with national co-funding (B3). We distinguish between following categories: B3-1: programmes with both European and national funding. B3-2: programmes with only national funding. We provide also details on the Norwegian participation and co-funding, whereas a more complete description of the programmes itself can be found in the international mapping report. 13

14 Programme Managing agency Norwegian Funding agency Type Norwegian participation Data availability European Science Foundation activities ESF RCN and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters B3-2 For all ESF initiatives, RCN decides case by case of to join and the level of budget committed. RCN decides on funding mostly based on ESF panels recommendations and without its own evaluation.information should be available from the RCN Data are available in the RCN project database, The annual budget is reported for ESF activities is available in the RCN annual budget book: EUROCORES collaborative research projects (annual budget bill (NOK10.9 mill); ESF ( ) (NOK 1.5mill) Cooperation Technique et Scientifique en Europe COST The ministry of trade and industry (RCN has operational responsibility) B3-1 Cooperation networks between European research groups. Norway decides à la carte if to participate to COST actions based on the interest of national research groups. Once actions have been launched, participating Norwegian groups can ask funding from the RCN to perform research in this area;. RCN evaluates demands based on external reviews. Data on Norwegian cofunding available from the RCN in aggregated form and at the project level. There is a specific Norwegian budgetary line for COST participation. Era-NET schemes EU RCN B3-1 Norwegian participation to ERA-NETs is à la carte and mostly managed by the RCN. Data is available from the RCN. By the end of 2009, Norway participated in 31 active ERA-NET joint calls: A full list is available at the RCN website Article 169 actions Varia RCN B3-1 Joint European programmes under art. 169; Norwegian participation à la carte depending on the national interest of the programme. Norway currently participates to the following art. 169 actions: Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) through a specific cooperation agreement. Norwegian co-funding is available from the RCN under specific conditions. Data would need to be collected project by project and agency by agency. Budgetary data is available in the RCN annual budget book. 14

15 Ambient Assisted Living and EUROSTARS. For these two programmes, Norwegian funding is managed through the Research Council of Norway under national rules. Eureka EUREKA RCN B3-2 Norwegian participation is managed by the Research Council of Norway. The same rules as for national projects apply. Separate budget line exists bill (NOK15 000mill in 2009). Data available from RCN. Joint Technology Initiatives EU Ministry of trade and industry B3-1 Norwegian participation in ARTEMIS and ENIAC. Norway has committed to participate in annual calls in JTI. These financial commitments are not included in the annual allocations to the RCN. Allocations to JTIs for 2010 is of (NOK 5.6 million) from the ministry of industry and trade. Data available from the RCN 15

16 3.4 Bilateral programmes with other countries Bilateral cooperation is takes place with selected countries, primarily USA, Canada, Japan, China, Russia, India and South Africa. The RCN has responsibility to follow up the Strategy for research and technology cooperation with North America. Generally, funding provided for bilateral cooperation is to large part for stimulating research cooperation, and cannot finance long term research projects. For the most part, international research cooperation, including that with the U.S. and Canada, is incorporated into grant proposals submitted to the Research Council in connection with a regular funding announcement. In addition, the Research Council has launched initiatives specifically designed to strengthen research cooperation with the U.S. and Canada and a few select countries. To encourage bilateral research cooperation, the Research Council also provides national support for existing projects to develop new collaborative research efforts with partners in priority countries; first and foremost, the U.S., Canada, China, Japan and India. The following table lists bilateral cooperation programmes with other countries; a detailed description is provided in the following sheets. Table 4: Overview of open and joint programmes in Norway Responsibl e agency Programme Type Comments RCN Research cooperation with China (CHINOR)* C Joint calls RCN Norwegian Programme for Research Cooperation with India (INDNOR)* C Joint calls RCN South African - Norwegian programme for Research Co-operation C Joint calls Nordforsk, NER, NICe Nordic Top-Level Research Programme D Joint programming *The CHINOR and the INDNOR programmes are not part of the data collection for JOREP as they started in We nevertheless give a short description of the programmes in this report as they are important bilateral programmes in Norway. Research cooperation with China Name of the programme Type Description Participating agencies Type of projects Research cooperation with China (CHINOR) Cooperation on research funding generally involves the issuing of joint funding announcements and joint provision of funding. Forms of cooperation may range from coordinated calls to joint programmes. The CHINOR-programme enables the RCN to enter into partnerships with Chinese governmental research financing bodies. The RCN is participating in the CO-REACH ERA-NET, which focuses on research cooperation with China, as well as the Asia NORIA-net, whose aim is to establish research funding cooperation between the Nordic countries and countries in Asia, particularly China and India. Within these networks, the CHINOR programme, in collaboration with relevant thematic research programmes and scientific activities at the RCN, will serve as a participant and funder of Norwegian participation in joint calls for proposals targeting China. Research Council of Norway, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Basic research, applied research and innovation. Activities may encompass bilateral cooperation with China, Nordic cooperation, as well as research cooperation with China within the framework of the European Research Area (ERA) and the EU Seventh Framework Programme. 16

17 Project duration Research topics Origin of funding Funding mode Budget (Norwegian) Beneficiaries History Normally three years The thematic priorities at start up is climate change, climate technology, environment and welfare Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from thematic programmes under the RCN. Funding modes may vary from exclusively national administration of funds provided to Norwegian players (fair return, distributive pot) to transfer of national funds to a joint budget to be centrally administered by the country or organisation that is authorised to do so on behalf of the participating countries and financing organisations (no fair return, real common pot). At start up 2.5 bill (NOK 20 million) per year. Trade and industry, universities and university colleges, as well as research institutes in both countries In 2008, a cooperation agreement on research and technology was signed between the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People s Republic of China. A cooperation agreement was also entered into with the Chinese Ministry of Education. Duration Submission Evaluation Data sources Aggregated data Confidentiality of data Website Calls for proposals and project follow-up will be carried out by the relevant thematic research programmes and scientific activities at the Research Council. The Executive Director will appoint an expert advisory group consisting of experts on China from the research, trade and industry and public sectors, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other funding ministries. The Research Council will maintain a close dialogue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the implementation of the programme. Data at the level of individual projects are available at RCN Not available Public Norwegian Programme for Research Cooperation with India Name of the programme Type Description Participating agencies Type of Norwegian Programme for Research Cooperation with India (INDNOR) The programme enables the Research Council to negotiate joint financing of Indo-Norwegian research cooperation with the Indian authorities. First joint call in June The programme will enable the Research Council to negotiate joint financing of Indo-Norwegian research cooperation with the Indian authorities. It will facilitate the integration of Indo-Norwegian research cooperation in the Research Council s programmes and activities and enhance research collaboration. The Research Council is participating in the Asia NORIA-net, whose aim is to establish binding research funding cooperation between the Nordic countries and countries in Asia, particularly China and India. Within such networks, the INDNOR programme, in collaboration with relevant thematic research programmes and scientific activities at the Research Council, will serve as a participant and funder of Norwegian participation in joint calls for proposals targeting India. Research Council of Norway Funding may include activities ranging from basic research to industry-oriented research and innovation 17

18 projects Project duration Research topics Origin of funding Funding mode Budget (Norwegian) Beneficiaries History Normally from one up to three years International politics, climate and the environment, clean energy and societal development. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Forms of cooperation may range from coordinated calls to joint programmes. Funding modes may vary from exclusively national administration of funds provided to Norwegian players (fair return, distributive pot) to transfer of national funds to a joint budget to be centrally administered by the country or organisation that is authorised to do so on behalf of the participating countries and financing organisations (no fair return, real common pot) bill (NOK 100 million) for the period R&D institution, trade and industry Norway and India signed a bilateral agreement on research and technology in November 2006 as well as a similar cooperation agreement on education in June Duration Submission Evaluation To the RCN Unlike other programmes at the Research Council, the INDNOR programme does not have its own programme board and its funds will primarily be administered by other thematic/scientific research programmes at the Research Council within the framework designated by the Research Board of the Division for Strategic Priorities. Data sources Aggregated data Confidentiality of data Website Data at the level of individual projects are available from the RCN. No Public South African - Norwegian programme for Research Co-operation Name of the programme Type Description Participating agencies Type of projects South African- Norwegian programme for Research Cooperation Joint programming The goal of the research programme is to continue the development of long-term and sustainable research co-operation between Norway and South Africa based on equal partnership. The purpose is to achieve scientific excellence and relevance to the thematic areas. Research Council of Norway and the National Research Foundation in South Africa (NRF) Travel costs, post graduate exchange grants, post doctoral exchange grants, salary subsidy, equipment grant, purchase of consumables, temporary auxiliary staff, workshops and conferences, project management, running costs, planning of joint applications to international research programmes. 18

19 Project duration Research topics Origin of funding Funding mode Budget (Norwegian) Beneficiaries History Maximum three years Health and medical sciences (with emphasis on mother and child health, public and community based health, preventive health and nutrition); HIV / AIDS (including non-clinical and multi-sectoral perspectives); Information and communication technology; Environment (with emphasis on aquatic research and polar research) Communication and social change (with emphasis on economic growth, governance, social transformation and human resource development); Education; Energy (with emphasis on renewable and sustainable energy sources and socio-economic impacts); an open category (to potentially excellent research initiatives outside the above prioritised fields limited to 10% of the Programme budget). Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Department of Science of Technology, DST The primary modality of co operation is through joint research projects bill (NOK 42 million) over a period of four years. Researchers, postdoctoral candidates and postgraduate (Masters and PhD) students, young researchers from historically disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa and women researchers In May, 2002, South Africa and Norway furthermore signed an agreement on scientific and technological co-operation. The South Africa Norway programme on research co-operation initiated in late 2001 and was fully implemented in 2002 for an initial four year period. The programme was extended for a second phase up to 2010 with the signing of a new Business Plan in May, Duration Submission Evaluation Data sources Aggregated data Confidentiality of data Website To the RCN The applications are assessed independently by external evaluators in both countries. Data on individual projects are available from the RCN No Public Nordic Top-Level Research initiative Name of the programme Type Description Participating agencies Top-level Research programme (TFI) Joint programme The Top-level Research Initiative (TRI) is the largest joint Nordic research and innovation initiative to date. The first call for proposals was launched in The national research funding agencies of the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden Type of projects Project duration 2-4 years 19

20 Research topics Origin of funding Funding mode Budget Beneficiaries History Energy, environment and climate. The initiative consists of the following six subprogrammes: Effect studies and adaptation to climate change Interaction between climate change and the cryosphere Energy efficiency with nanotechnology Integration of large-scale wind power Sustainable bio-fuels CO2 - capture and storage Nordic Council of Ministers Real common pot DKK over five years Universities, research institutes, private industry The Top-level Research Initiative (TRI) is the largest joint Nordic research and innovation initiative to date. The first call for proposals was launched in In April 2008 the Nordic prime ministers met to discuss how Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Norway could collaboratively meet future climate, energy and environmental challenges. The TRI is the result of decisions taken at that meeting. Duration Submission Evaluation Data sources Aggregated data Confidentiality of data Website To NordForsk, Nordic Energy Research and/or Nordic InnovationCentre External peer review Organisation s web pages No, but should be available through NordForsk Public National programmes funding performers abroad As noted in Section 3.1.2, although it is a political priority in Norway to open up national programmes to foreign participants, this is not yet implemented. Norway has thus no open programmes. The general rule for all RCN programmes is that the applicant PI needs to be affiliated to a Norwegian institution. On the other hand, there are no formal restrictions against including partners from other countries in the projects and part of the project funding may also be allocated to beneficiaries abroad. However, RCN have no available figures for funding to partners abroad. Hence, it is difficult to tell to what extent there are beneficiaries in other countries. 3.6 Cases of exclusion: revision of the national perimeter after the data collection During the initial mapping, a number of schemes were excluded from the JOREP perimeter, either because they did not fit the JOREP definition of joint and open programmes or because their scale was too small to be relevant. The programmes that were excluded include: The Community Innovation Programme; The Human Science Frontier Programme; China-Norway research cooperation programme; India-Norway research cooperation programme; French- Norwegian research cooperation programme; 20

21 The European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA); Funding to research infrastructure; Mobility and networking programmes. During the full data collection, there was only one revision of the Norwegian perimeter. The Polish- Norwegian Research Fund (PRO41) was initially classified as open but has been changed into joint. The programme was found not to be an open programme according to the JOREP definition, but a programme for funding to researchers in another country (Poland) only. And as there is also funding coming from the partner country (Poland) to (Polish) beneficiaries, it may be defined as a joint programme. All programmes in the final Norwegian perimeter are therefore classified as joint. 4. Overall assessment and discussion 4.1 Availability of data and methodological issues Concerning data availability, there are no principle problems in getting data on projects and funding, since almost all data are publicly available and RCN has well-organized databases. However, in quite a number of cases data need to be collected project by project and then aggregated; this was feasible given the small size of the country. Most information on programme descriptors comes directly from websites, in most cases there are specific webpages dedicated to the participation to each programme. Data has been collected mostly from the Research Council of Norway (RCN) webpages and programme/call documents. Additionally information has been collected from national programme coordinators at the RCN, and at the Norwegian Space Centre (for ESA) and the Norwegian Metrology service (for EMRP). For most of the ERA NETs there was one person at the RCN responsible for collecting the data. The contact with the Norwegian Space Centre and the Norwegian Metrology Service was especially important for information on funding flows. For the Nordic top level research initiative, information was provided by the programme officer at NordForsk (see national report on data collection in D6). 4.2 Problems encountered with data availability and measures taken to overcome problems No major problems were encountered during data collection on descriptors. Information on Norwegian participation in European joint programmes has been collected from programme officers at the RCN and other relevant agencies such as the Norwegian Space Centre. 5. Discussion on national participation to joint and open R&D programmes 5.1. Participation to joint initiatives (EU and national) The EU framework programmes are the most important international research programmes in which Norway takes part. Norwegian researchers have participated in the EU FPs since Norwegian participants are also actively participating in other joint ERA initiatives such ERA Nets, JPIs, JTIs and art.185 actions. Norway participates in approximately 40 ERA-Nets mostly though the RCN. Norwegian participation in ERA Nets is notable especially in the area of industrial technology, ICT, space, innovation and transport, but also within environment and energy. ERANETs with Norwegian participation have received a total funding of 96.3m, with close to 8.7m to Norwegian participants (Ministry of Education and Research, 2008). 21

22 Norwegian participation in art. 185 initiatives is à la carte depending on the national interest of the programme. Norwegian funding is managed through the Research Council of Norway under national rules. Norway currently participates to the following art. 185 actions: Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) through a specific cooperation agreement. Norwegian co-funding is available from the RCN under specific conditions. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and EUROSTARS. Together with Belgium and Spain, Norway initiated in 2010 the JPI for Health and Productive Seas and Oceans. Norway has expressed interest in participate in all current JPIs and participates in the following: A healthy diet for a health life Agriculture, food security and climate change Neurodegenerative Disease/Alzheimer s Climate knowledge for Europe (CliK EU) A part from participating in ERA related research cooperation Norway has long standing experience from coordinating research with the other Nordic countries. Norway s most important multilateral agreement with other ERA countries is indeed represented by the formalised Nordic research cooperation where the Top-level Research Initiative (TRI) is the largest joint Nordic research and innovation initiative to date (see previous sections). Moreover, Norway has signed several bilateral agreements with third countries. National joint programmes have recently been established in cooperation with China and India. The South African-Norwegian programme for Research Cooperation has been established to continue the development of long-term and sustainable research co-operation between Norway and South Africa. 5.2 Level of funding: general observations on national financial commitment on joint R&D activities The data collected shows that the Norwegian budget for the joint programmes amounted to 62m in 2008 and 76m in The Norwegian budget for ESA programmes account for more than half of the funding (67 per cent in 2009). The national budget for the mapped programmes (excluding ESA) amounts to 10 per cent 5 of the reported Norwegian public funding to international projects in 2008 (excluding funding to the EU Framework Programme), which indicate that the funding through these programmes is still moderate ( 13m for the programmes mapped in JOREP, compared to 120m reported in Table 1). The average funding per programme is also rather low Relationship with EU initiatives In general Norwegian research policy is strongly dedicated to international collaboration and in particular the participation in EU initiatives. In the period 1996 to 2005, the share of the EU Framework programme increased from 12 to 34 per cent of the total RCN budget for international cooperation. By Norwegian 4 Total for the 29 joint programmes in 2009 and 23 programmes in 2008 for which we obtained funding data. The total number of programmes in the Norwegian perimeter was 30 for 2009 and 23 for per cent when we also include ESA m per programme in 2009 excluding ESA programmes and programmes without a national budget. 22