News on Nordic Research policy

News on Nordic Research policy No 10 – 2006, December 20th

Markku Mattila new Director General for Academy of Finland

Doctor of technology Markku Mattila is the new Director General of the Academy of Finland from 1st March 2007, when the contract of current Director General Raimo Väyrynen comes to an end. Mattila is offered a five-year contract. Read more.

“Researchers must dare to speak loud and clear”

“To make the public understand that severe changes are needed in our climate politics, it is absolutely necessary that researchers speak out loud and clear. This is hard for scientists who are trained not to say anything unless they are 100 per cent certain.”Read more.

Is there life after the doctoral degree?

More and more people are awarded doctoral degrees in the Nordic countries, but few of them have an open position to look forward to. At the same time we will be needing more researchers in the coming years as the current ones become pensioners. What about consistency in Nordic research policy?Read more.

New survey: Collaboration continues after NordForsk grant period

A new survey from NordForsk shows that 90 per cent of the participants in NordForsk-supported activities continue to collaborate after the end of the NordForsk grant period. One in five have applied for EU funding as a direct result of the NordForsk collaboration. Read more.

Zero-tolerance against UK scientific fraud

A zero-tolerance culture leads to more revelations of scientific fraud in the UK, reports Times Higher Education Supplement. 25 British researchers have been found guilty of scientific misconduct in the last three years. Read more.

PhD students on scholarships miss out on social security

A new report from The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education shows that Swedish doctoral students on scholarships lack basic social security.
 Scholarships do not count as income and do not grant any sick leave pay, pension or parental leave. “We said this a long time ago,” replies the doctoral students‘ association. Read more.

Nordic Youth Council wants work life research

Nordic Youth Council wants NordForsk to focus on research within sickness absence and working environments. “The Nordic countries show great similarities in company structures and labour market conditions, and we should decide on common solutions,” their final document after this year‘s session says.Read more.

18 new Centres of Excellence in Finland

The Academy of Finland has selected 18 new national Centres of Excellence (CoE) for the period of 2008-2013. At least 21 million Euro have been earmarked for the top researchers for the coming years. Read more.