Norway needs quality boost, says OECD

The Norwegian government must push for a culture of competition in higher education institutions to increase research quality, the OECD has said.

Norway falls below top performing countries and lacks world-class research groups, the UN Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its review of the country’s innovation policy published on 13 June. A strong research and innovation system is needed to transform its oil-dependent economy to a knowledge-based one, it said.

The conservative government of Erna Solberg has made significant efforts to reform the country’s research system. In 2014, it published a long-term plan for research, and in 2015 it launched a national merger exercise that is set to reduce the number of higher education institutions by more than half.