1. Research in Norway - Research Strategy for North America Hans M Borchgrevink MD MHA Senior adviser The Research Council of Norway

2. Increased internationalization – a main priority in Norwegian R&D Europe – participation in the EU framework programs (FP) since 1988, full member since 1994 Participation in several large facility programs and organizations (CERN, EISCAT, EMBL, EISCAT etc) Long traditions in Nordic R&D-cooperation Increased focus on bilateral R&D-cooperation with selected countries: USA, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and China

3. International R&D-cooperation Between scientists Between institutions Between research programmes and directed internationalisation measures Between countries  Europe the main route  North-America the strongest R&D-region  Asia – the coming economic region

4. Norway’s new ”Strategy for Scientific and Technological Cooperation with North America” launched Oct 2004 by the Government Trans-atlantic R&D cooperation has long traditions The strategy intends to contribute to long-term escalation of R&D collaboration increase researcher mobility between Norway and the USA and Canada help enhance the quality of research and improve entrepreneurship and stimulate knowledge-based economic development in Norway

5. Which areas of R&D should be addressed? Potential R&D areas include Energy, including hydrogen, CO2-sequestration, and new forms of energy Oil & gas ICT Materials and nanotech Maritime technology Biologi and biotechnology, including genomics, epidemiology and health Food quality and safety Marine technology, seafood Climate research Polar research Sustainable development and environmental impact Social sciences including migration and multi-cultural societies Humanities and culture International politics, conflicts and peace processes Defense and terrorism Space, including satelite and telecomunications

6. What’s in it for the USA and Canada? Norway offers  high-quality research  frontline infrastructure in several of these fields that might be of potential interest to US and Canadian researchers Norway offers  outstanding registries and databases

7. Areas focused in Norwegian R&D Basic science R&D for Innovation ICT Marin science Medicine and health Environment and energy Biotechnology Materials Petroleum

8. 13 Norwegian centres of Excellence Geohazards Physics of geological processes Study of Civil wars Ships and ocean structures Mathematics for applications Biology of memory Molecular biology and neuroscience Centre and perifery in medieval Europe Theoretica l Linguistics Integrated petroleum research Aquaculture protein Quality of Service in Communication Systems Climate Research

9. RCN large-scale programmes 100 mill. NOK or more per year for a 10-year period Comprise basic and applied research and stimulate to innovation, value creation and commercialisation Long-term; a ten-year perspective Support the national research policy – including the thematic priorities Promote multi- and interdisciplinarity, involve the divisions and be embedded in several sectors of society A strong international approach

10. RCN large-scale programmes  Functional genomic research (FUGE)  Nanotechnology and materials (NANOMAT)  Oil/gas- increased recovery and efficient exploration (PETROMAX)  Clean energy technology of the future (RENERGI)  ICT (VERDIKT)  Aquaculture (HAVBRUK)  Climate change and impacts in Norway (NORKLIMA )

11. FUGE Functional Genomics in Norway 2002-2011 http:\\www.fuge.no

12. Foundation Medical research Marine research Basic biological research (incl. bioinformatics) Through regional, national and international efforts High quality functional genomics research

13. Biobanks for health (2 plattforms) Bioinformatics (CBU) SNP technology (CIGENE) Microarrays (NMC) Proteomics (PROBE) Structural analysis (NORSTRUCT) Molecular imaging (MIC) Model organisms: oTransgene mice o Microbiology (CAMST) o Arabidopsis (NARC) o Zebrafish Genomics (Salmon, Cod & Bovine) FUGE: 13 Technology platforms

14. Which areas of R&D should be addressed? Norway is a small country with limited R&D resources. To get substantial impact, targeted funding should therefore operate in close cooperation with large programmes, CoEs and other established funding instruments Scientific quality should be an essential criterion The Research Council of Norway looks forward to increased R&D cooperation with USA and Canada