The RCN’s advisory role Stig Slipersæter and Randi Søgnen

The Research Council of Norway – central tasks Research funding Support basic and applied research Implement and support research on national thematic priorities support all science & technology fields Support private R&D Adviser to the government Arenas for dialogue, networking and dissemination Internationalisation

The research and innovation system

The RCNs advisory role To whom? How? Governmental authorities Research actors Business sectors How? Through various products of advice, often based on broad prosesses of consensus-building, networking and negotiations What? Examples of pieces of advice: The RCN budget proposals Input to White papers RCN’s policies and strategies Input to the Long-term plan for research and higher education (2015 – 2019)

Long-term plan for research and higher education (2015-2024) Oceans Environment and energy Public services Enabling technologies A competitive industry Excellence in research Marint Miljøvennlig energi Fornyelse i offentlig sektor IKT Næringsliv i bredden Fagmiljøer og talenter Maritimt Klimasystem og tilpasning Velferd-, helse- og omsorgstjenester Bio- og Nanoteknologi Kommersialisering Forskningsinfrastruktur Petroleum Miljø og samfunn Utdanning og læring Avanserte prod. prosesser Nærings- og samfunnsutfordringer Internasjonalisering

Science advice and credibility The advisory role must be exercised with the trust – of Government authorities HEIs/institute sector The business sector … our main target groups And the trust is fundamental for the legitimacy and credibility of our advice function And the credibility is mainly (but not only) based on a well developed knowledge base/strategic intelligence

Elements in the knowledge base … building strategic intelligence through three main elements: analyzing past behaviour (evaluations) reviewing research/technological options for the future (foresight) assessing the result and effects of the investments (effect studies)

Sources for improving the knowledge base statistics and indicators evaluations, monitoring, foresight studies other kinds of analyses, ad-hoc studies, etc. through research programmes (FORINNPOL) through (learning)arenas for dialogue, co-operation, discussions/debate

Focus on two sources of strategic intelligence in the RCN Evaluations Statistics and indicators

Research Evaluation in RCN RCN’s evaluations shall enhance the quality, efficiency and relevance of the research sector The evaluations activities shall: facilitate RCNs funding allocation support the RCNs advisory role towards the Norwegian government, ministries and the research community/research institutions inform STI policy debate

RCN’s evaluation activities Subject-specific evaluations/discipline evaluations Evaluations of the reserach institutes Evaluations of funding instruments, programmes or other council activities Research based evaluation of policy reforms Foresight exercises

A shift in RCNs evaluation orientation/activities More weight on prioritizing evaluations with regard to the need and expected usefulness Emphasis on following up main findings in evaluations Emphasis on RCN’s own activities to develop further our funding instruments More weigth on impact assessments

Statistics and indicators for advice Stig Slipersæter

RCN involvement in statistics and indicators National responsibility for statistics on R&D and innovation delegated from government Commission external projects and studies In-house statistics and analyses Participation in international activities, e.g. OECD EU Science Europe, TAFTIE – The European Network of Innovation Agencies Other bi- and multilateral collaborations

RCN national responsibilities Commission national R&D and innovation statistics National statistics based on OECD framework Covers HEI, research institutes, hospitals and business sector Annual or bi-annual data collection Carried out by independent agencies NIFU and Statistics Norway RCN responsibility Provide funding Quality assessment and reporting to government Further development of statistics and indicators according to need

Report on Science & Technology Indicators for Norway Annual edition, published by RCN As a book (240 pages) Part of RCN website Editorial board Contents: Presentation of national R&D and innovation statistics International comparisons (data from OECD and Eurostat) Indicators on higher education, patents, bibliometrics, collaboration, EU FP participation etc Short commentaries

From Norway in the world … … to the regions of Norway

Commissioned reports, example bibliometrics Strengths and weaknesses of the national R&D system Publication patterns Citations International comparisons Background information for evaluations Strategic advise and new instruments Emerging fields Collaboration patterns Bibliometrics used in evaluations

In-house data and analysis RCN funding by industrial sector Data collected through electronic handling of proposals, proposal evaluations, contracts, and reports All funded projects tagged according to a set of dimensions, e.g. RCN instruments Disciplines, technologies and thematic focus Government policy priorities Types of research (basic, applied etc) Data on the project (who, cooperates with whom, where, amounts of funding etc) E.g. institutions, business sectors, regions, countries of international cooperation

Monitoring Norway’s participation in H2020 Mill NOK

Wrapping up Statistics and indicators are fundamental for assessing: How Norway’s research develops compared to other countries Strengths and weaknesses overall, and in fields and thematic areas Identifying emerging and declining fields Development of various business sectors and regions International funding and collaboration RCN portfolio Thus a central part of the knowledge base for advice Which fields to prioritize How to improve structure of national research and innovation system How to increase international engagement