Finnish research - making the right moves
Finnish research is more extensive and effective than it has ever been, according to a recently published review. The review, published by the academy of Finland, looks at various aspects of the development of Finnish research from the late 1990s to present. Specifically it looks at three central areas: - Recent changes in the research environment in Finland, specifically in science and technology policy - The operating environment and condition of Finnish universities - The output and impact of scientific research in Finland As well as being a review, the publication makes forecasts looking at how R&D will develop in Finland in the coming years. The keys to the successful approach (OECD indicators show that only Sweden invests more in research and development than Finland) are manifold, but rest on general consensus. There is overall agreement in government, academia and funding sources that the innovation systems is best served by catering to the needs of scientific research and that funding bodies collaborate to help achieve this aim. Researchers are more mobile in particular and there has been a greater level of cooperation on both a structural and an informal basis. The role of universities has been key in the Finland's R&D progress. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research has been helped by both a reorganisation of cooperative structures (such as joint research laboratories). In addition, universities' research expenditure in Finland rose by 46 per cent between 1991 and 1998. In the same period, external research funding showed a 102 per cent rise. This factor led to a natural change in the structure of universities' research programme, but the report points out that the increased dependence on external funding has had the effect of making research programmes more vulnerable and short termist. The visibility of Finland's research increased dramatically in the 1990s, with publications from Finnish authors (or co-authors) increasing an average of 6.4 per cent a year from 1991 to 1999, and due to the relatively small population of five million people, Finland comes in the top four in the world in terms of visibility of R&D publications in relation to size and resources. The report, compiled once every three years, was produced with a steering committee made up of members of the Academy of Finland, the Finnish government, and various research councils.