CORDIS Archive

The Oslo region is one of the top centres of research activity in Europe. More than 60% of Norway's non-university research institutes in all fields are located here, together with 3 science parks and 20 higher education institutions with approximately 64, 000 students ('96). In addition, you find half of Norway's consultancy firms, and the largest share of financial institutions that can offer risk-willing capital for innovation purposes.

The The University of Oslo is the largest in Scandinavia with 39,000 students and 4,500 employees. In addition the region hosts other large HE-institutions like the Oslo College, Norwegian School of Management and the AAgricultural University of Norway. The technological and R&D capabilities of the research institute sector cover the whole range of relevant technologies for the region's production structure, and the main research areas are the fields of natural science, technology and social science.

The Oslo region has more than one quarter of the country's employees, and 43% of the workforce with highest level of education. This suggests that the region's workforce is highly qualified, potentially affecting the innovation performance of individual firms and the region as a whole. A large part of the R&D infrastructure is clustered around a few main centres of excellence in the region. Click on the links below to see a list of gateways to more information:

• The Oslo Science Park
• The Technology Cluster at Kjeller
• The Biological Research cluster at Aas
• Other key institutions

The institutions in the Oslo Science Park represent around a third of Norway's total research resources. The Oslo Science Park is situated close to the centre of Oslo and comprises of a number of leading scientific environments that provide a unique resource for the development and progress of Norwegian industry. One key institution in this respect is the Oslo Research Park Ltd., which is a centre for innovation, business-targeted research co-operation and internationalisation in the Oslo area. Among other institutions here you find the University of Oslo, the new National Hospital which opens in 1999 and SINTEF which is the largest R&D organisation in Scandinavia. Together, the research institutions feature expertise in several technological fields, including biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical research.

Kjeller is the largest and most innovative technology cluster in Southern Norway and covers research, development, higher education and consultancy over a wide range of technologies. Some of these are energy, environment, defence, telecommunication and telematics, satellite communications, IT, petroleum and geo-sciences. Kjeller is located mid between the centre of Oslo and the new international airport at Gardermoen, and is considered a growth area in Norway, with more than 3.000 highly qualified employees in research institutions and high-tech companies. Campus Kjeller Ltd. organises the incubator and provides all types of support for business development. The organisation also link the industry and R&D institutes, either for establishing new R&D projects or bringing R&D results into profitable business. It also promote national and international co-operation through networks, bringing new products or services to the domestic market, or establishing international channels for Norwegian products and services.

There is biological research cluster at Aas, about 35 kilometres south of Oslo. The main institution in this area is the Agricultural University of Norway - also called The Green University. The research institutions at Aas are leading institutions both at a national and international level within agricultural and food science, the management and conservation of natural resources and subjects in the fields of community planning and aquaculture. An important objective is to secure expertise that can contribute to safeguarding food production for future generation. The Aas Science Park Ltd. acts as an intermediary between the research institutions, the business and the government agencies using their research services.

In addition to the above mentioned centres of excellence, there is also other growth areas in the Oslo region. In Nydalen, for example, you find a concentration of human capital in media and information technology. Furthermore, the building of a new international airport at Gardermoen has opened the way for new business activities, both in the vicinity of the new airport and nearby. At the old airport area at Fornebu, just 10 minutes from the centre of Oslo, another promising site will be turned into an area for business activities. Together with the public authorities, some of Norway's major private industrial investors are working on plans to transform Fornebu into Europe's most attractive centre of excellence for knowledge-intensive activities by the year 2005.

Public funding for R&D in the Oslo region is provided by several institutions at different levels. The two key institutions at state-level are the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund. The Oslo region also participates in different EU programmes.

The Research Council of Norway (RC) has overall responsibility for the national research strategy, and manages nearly one third of public-sector research funding. The RC identifies important fields of research, allocates funds and evaluates R&D. Among other tasks, the RC shall raise the general level of knowledge in society and encourage innovation in industry and public sector. Like RC, the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund (SND) also has its main office in Oslo. SND aims to promote economically profitable business development and offers company financing, venture capital investment and financing of regional development projects. RC and SND offer several programmes which aims at supporting the knowledge-based growth and innovation in the region.

In addition to these large state-level institutions, the state and local government together with private investors and financial institutions, is engaged in different kinds of programmes and venture funds at regional and local level.