Towards better Nordic coordination of largescale investments The high-level advisory group on research infrastructures will assist NordForsk in prioritising long-term investments and give the Nordic countries a stronger voice internationally. Professor Lars Börjesson will be chairing the effort. Researchers in a wide range of disciplines need access to various infrastructures in order to generate high-quality results. Such infrastructures are costly to build and operate. Thus it makes good sense for the Nordic countries to pool their resources when investing in and using them. To this end, NordForsk has appointed an advisory group with representatives from national and international infrastructure communities and a broad scientific scope. In addition to chair Lars Börjesson (Sweden), the group comprises the following members: Peter Sloth (Denmark), Paula Eerola (Finland), Ingileif Jónsdóttir (Iceland), Solveig Flock (Norway), Vigdis Kvalheim (Norway), Juni Palmgren (Sweden), Hans Chang (The Netherlands), Steven Krauwer (The Netherlands), and Cherri Pancake (USA). Chair Börjesson says: – My aim for the group is to identify areas or infrastructures where Nordic coordination will be crucial to the quality and long-term development of research in the Nordic countries, and to propose initiatives that will best promote
this aim. Through cooperation and coordination of our national resources we can create the critical mass needed as a basis for highly specialised infrastructure investments. New Oppurtunities – The group’s efforts will hopefully open up new opportunities for research. These may include coordinating the use of research databases in the social sciences, medicine or the climate and environment field, or promoting Nordic cooperation on investments in new infrastructure that can enhance research in a long-term perspective in areas important to the region as a whole. They may also include coordination of the Nordic countries’ investments in connection with international research infrastructure in areas where this will lead to greater added value in the form of better quality or efficiency of Nordic research, for instance in connection with the infrastructures on the ESFRI Roadmap to be established in the years ahead.
– The group’s primary task is to create Nordic added value. Professor Lars Börjesson
27