Bilateral co-operation on research

International co-operation on research is increasing in importance, and is vital to Norway as a small nation. The key driving force are the individual researchers and institutions, and their networks and collaborations with other researchers. The government on its side is facilitating co-operation through bilateral agreements on science and technology.

Norway has entered into bilateral agreements on co-operation in science and technology with South Africa (2002), Japan (2003), USA (2005), India (2006), France (2008) and China (2008). There are also Memorandums of Understanding with Brazil (2016), Argentina (2008) and South-Korea (2019). In 2015 the government put forward the strategy Panorama – Strategy for cooperation on higher education and research with Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Africa (2016–2020).

A main priority in the governments work on bilateral research co-operation is to follow up the existing agreements, and to consolidate the co-operation with the prioritised countries.

The bilateral agreements opens up for targeted activities within areas that are particularly relevant to Norwegian research and society. The agreements are general in nature, and do not point to specific areas or co-operation activities, which are topics in joint discussions.

Bilateral agreements on co-operation in science and technology

Memorandum of Understanding