Norwegian government bails out research council

Minister offers one-off grant to prevent further cuts at financially imperiled Forskningsrådet

The Norwegian government has come to the aid of the Forskningsrådet, the country’s public research council, with a one-time extra grant of 1.64 billion Norwegian krone (€160 million).

The money will plug a funding hole in the council‘s budget and serve to avoid any further cuts to research funding to put the outfit on secure financial footing, the minister for research and higher education, Ola Borten Moe, said. The council’s newly staffed board said in June that it had already made cuts worth around Nkr2bn, but that further cuts would be unavoidable without extra funding.