The Norwegian authorities see the conference as an important venue for promoting Norway as a partner with North America in research, technology and higher education.
The theme for this year's event is global challenges in health, environment, education and innovation. – In many areas of research international cooperation is essential for advancing knowledge, quality and relevance, Aasland said in her opening speech.
Tora Aasland emphasized that it is our responsibility as industrialized and rich countries not to only fund research and to develop new technology, but also to share knowledge with the emerging economies in the world and with the less-developed countries. She also said that this is especially true for the global health and climate-related issues, like renewable energy, carbon capture and storage.
Research and higher education minister underlined that the Norwegian government wants to promote cooperation and mobility for students and researchers.
– The goal of state bilateral cooperation is to provide frameworks that allow the best brains can meet and help ensure that good ideas can flourish and that good results can be achieved, both for students and researchers. By doing this, we also have to research excellence and lays the foundation for greater results, "said Aasland.
