foto: Dag Myrestrand for Statoil
RESEARCHER’S GATEWAY TO NORWAY
- A Foreign Researcher’s Guide to Norway
he northernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a
orthernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a resea
WELCOME TO NORWAY
The northernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and
fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically
advanced societies in the world. As a researcher in Norway, you will enjoy great
personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and
explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and professional
growth. Welcome!
In 2005, for the fifth consecutive year, Norway was ranked at the top of the UNDP
Human Development Index over national living conditions.
Why Norway?
Studies show that foreign researchers choose Norway due to its excellent working conditions and first-rate research communities, along with its highly developed infrastructure and optimal career opportunities. Other important reasons for
choosing Norway are a high standard of living and a family-friendly society.
This guide provides information about the Norwegian research system as well as
some practical insights into living in Norway. We hope this will help to make your
mobility experience as positive as possible.
Read more:
www.eracareers.no – The Researcher’s Mobility Portal to Norway
www.norway.info – Welcome to Norway – the official site
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researcher in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and
archer in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and profe
FACTS ABOUT NORWAY
- Population: 4.6 million
- Capital: Oslo
- Form of government: Constitutional monarchy
- Coastline: 25 148 km, including fjords and bays (without fjords and bays: 2 650 km)
- 6 National Parks and 11 glaciers
- Mean summer temperature: 16 degrees Celsius (Oslo)
- Mean winter temperature: Minus 3.5 degrees Celsius (Oslo)
- English is widely spoken
- High educational level: 23 per cent of the population have higher education, in
the 25-39 age group 37 per cent have higher education
- The most widespread use of computers and the Internet in the world
- Norwegians read more newspapers than any other people in the world
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he northernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a
orthernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a resea
R&D STRATEGY
Priorities in Norwegian research policy
The Norwegian government white paper “Commitment to Research”, published
in 2005, sets out Norway’s goal of becoming a leading research nation. The white
paper states that total R&D expenditures are to reach 3% of GDP by 2010.
Approximately 1% of this will be allocated from public sources. The white paper
also highlights internationalisation, basic research and innovation as the three
general areas of priority for Norwegian research during the 2005-2010 period.
Norwegian research policy gives high priority to internationalisation. The white
paper stresses that research cooperation with the EU will continue to be of key
importance, and bilateral cooperation with North America and Asia will be
strengthened. National advantages such as the infrastructure in Svalbard, topnotch petroleum research environments and reliably compiled databases and
health registers will be utilised as a platform for international cooperation.
In addition to the general areas of priority, special attention will be focused on
the areas of energy and the environment, health, oceans and food, as well as to
three areas of technology – new materials and nanotechnology, biotechnology
and information and communication technology. These priority areas largely represent a continuation of current priorities in Norwegian research.
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researcher in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and
archer in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and profe
In Norway all researchers, including early-stage researchers (PhD students and
post-docs) are considered post-graduate employees. They are paid accordingly,
pay tax and enjoy full social security rights. Thus Norway already largely complies
with the terms of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct
for the Recruitment of Researchers.
Read more about the Charter and Code of Conduct here: www.eracareers.no
The Norwegian research system
The Norwegian research system is divided into three levels: a research policy
level, a research strategy level and a research-performing level.
The research policy level comprises the Storting (Norwegian national assembly),
the Government and the ministries. The Research Council of Norway serves as the
key institution at the research strategy level, although the universities and colleges also have important functions in strategic research planning. The researchperforming level consists of the higher education and independent institute sectors as well as the industrial sector.
R&D expenditures in Norway
For 2003 the total expenditures in R&D performed in Norway amounted to NOK
27.3 billion, which is 1.75 per cent of GDP. Half of the total sum (12.8 billion) was
spent in the industrial sector, one quarter (7.5 billion) in the higher education sector, and the remaining quarter (6.4 billion) was spent in the institute sector.
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Ships and Ocean Structures, a Centre of Excellence: Professors Torgeir Moan, Olav Egeland and Carl M. Larsen with
their marine structure models. Read more: http://www.cesos.ntnu.no/ (Photo NTNU Info/Rune Petter Ness).
In 2003, 47% of total R&D expenditures in Norway were funded by industry, 42%
were funded by government, 4% by other national sources and 7% from abroad.
Total public expenditures in 2003 were NOK 11.4 billion, of which 27% were
channelled through the Research Council of Norway to the three research-performing sectors.
Read more:
www.ufd.dep.no/english - The Ministry of Education and Research
www.rcn.no/english - The Research Council of Norway
Centres of Excellence
The Research Council of Norway has initiated a Centres of Excellence (CoE)
scheme. The CoEs serve as an instrument for bringing more researchers and
research groups up to a high international standard. The centres are devoted to
long-term, basic research. As of 2005, 13 Centres of Excellence have been established. The centres comprise internationally recognised research groups and
approximately 1/3 of the scientific personnel are not of Norwegian origin.
Read more: www.rcn.no/coe
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RESIDENCE AND WORK PERMIT
The cooperation between the EU and Norway is covered by the European
Economic Area Agreement (EEA-Agreement). The EEA comprises 25 EU countries
(Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Malta,
Cyprus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia
and Slovenia) and three EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).
The principle of free movement of persons applies between all the EEA states.
EEA nationals have approximately the same rights as Norwegian nationals
regarding employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment. All EEA nationals must apply for a settlement permit to reside in Norway.
Applications may either be submitted to a Norwegian embassy, a consulate general or to the Norwegian police in the district in which the employee has his or
her future fixed place of abode. A settlement permit will grant the holder leave to
work, thus the term “work permit” will, in practice, become redundant.
Norway has introduced transitional rules for employees from eight of the ten new
EU states – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovakia, and Slovenia. These applicants are not permitted to start to work before
a settlement permit has been granted. Applicants must also have a concrete offer
of employment for a full-time job that complies with pay and working condition
requirements. These conditions are similar to the rules that apply for citizens outside of the EEA area.
If you are not a EEA national or need more information, please contact a
Norwegian foreign service mission (embassy/consulate general/consulate), the
Norwegian police or the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration.
Read more: www.udi.no/english - The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration
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he northernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a
orthernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a resea
WORKING CONDITIONS AND REGULATIONS
Working conditions in Norway are regulated by agreements and legislation. There
are two types of agreements: the individual agreements, which set out conditions
for pay and employment, and the collective agreements, which are signed
between the main trade unions and employers’ associations. The legislation in
force regulates conditions in the workplace that apply to all employees. Two of
the most important acts are the Act relating to Worker Protection and Working
Environment and the Annual Holidays Act.
All employees in Norway have the right but are under no obligation to join a trade
union. Trade union members have access to useful help and support. Larger workplaces usually have local branches of the major unions. More information about
the unions can be obtained from the union representative at your workplace or
directly from the trade union association.
Norway has a Gender Equality Act stipulating equal opportunity for women and
men. Thus both genders have the same rights and responsibilities everywhere in
society, including in the workplace.
Read more:
www.arbeidstilsynet.no/om/engelsk.html
- The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority
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researcher in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and
archer in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and profe
Excerpts from The Act relating to Worker Protection and
Working Environment
The Act stipulates that ordinary working hours must not exceed nine hours per 24
hours or forty hours per week. Work in excess of this is regarded as overtime. If
you work for more than 5 1/2 hours a day, you are entitled to at least one break.
Excerpts from The Annual Holiday Act
The Act gives you the right to holidays every year, it applies to all employees in
the public and private sectors. You are entitled to 25 working days off in the
course of one calendar year. Saturdays are also regarded as working days, even if
you do not ordinarily work on Saturdays. To ensure that you can afford to take a
holiday, you receive holiday pay which is 10.2% of the pay earned during the previous year.
Excerpts from the Social Security Act
An employee who has been working for at least six of the ten months immediately prior to childbirth is entitled to 43 weeks’ leave of absence with full pay or
53 weeks with reduced pay. 5 weeks of paid leave is reserved for the father.
If you have children under the age of twelve in your care, you have the right to
time off if the child is ill and you have to stay at home with the child. This right is
restricted to a total of ten days per year. If you have the sole responsibility for children, or have more than one child, or a handicapped or chronically ill child, you
are entitled to a greater number of sick days.
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TAXATION
The development of the welfare state in Norway is reflected in the government
expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP). The expenditure is about 40 percent in Norway and is spent on education, health care and
social benefits and welfare. There has been a decline in the expenditure since the
beginning of the 1990s partly due to the strong growth in oil revenues and GDP
in recent years.
In Norway income tax (“inntektsskatt”) and wealth tax (“formuesskatt”) are
direct taxes (“direkte skatter”). Taxes are paid both to the state and the local
municipality. In addition, a premium is paid to the social security system to
finance public hospitals, medical treatment and various social benefits.
The most important indirect tax (“indirekte skatt”) is value added tax, VAT, which
is a general tax levied on sales within the country and on import. VAT is levied on
most goods and services, and applies to all stages in the chain of production and
distribution.
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Demonstration of Augmented Reality Visualisation, showing augmentation of stereoscopic video images with other information sources such as 3D volume data. Augmented
Reality in surgery is the topic of a EU-funded project called ARIS*ER co-ordinated by the
Interventional Centre at Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet University Hospital. (Read more:
www.rikshospitalet.no/english)
TAX CARD
Your employer in Norway is obliged to deduct tax from your wages before you are
paid. You can obtain a tax card from you local taxation office as soon as you
arrive in Norway. The tax card states what percentage of your income your
employer must deduct in tax. Your local tax assessment office (“likningskontor”)
will provide more information.
TAX TREATIES
There are tax treaties between Norway and other states for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion.
Read more:
www.skatteetaten.no/international - The Norwegian Tax Administration
DUTY TARIFFS
Norwegian Customs & Excise (Tollvesenet) provides information on duty tariffs on
imported goods, including the importation and registration tax on vehicles and
boats.
Read more:
www.toll.no/default.aspx?id=94 – The Norwegian Customs & Excise
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he northernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a
orthernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a resea
SOCIAL INSURANCE
Norway has implemented a universal, public health service financed by taxation,
and a national insurance scheme, applicable to all citizens and residents, that provides a number of social benefits.
Everyone who is legally resident in Norway, and who lives in Norway or who will
live in the country for more than 1 year, is a member of the Norwegian National
Insurance Scheme. If you fulfil these requirements, your membership is calculated
from your first day in Norway. Membership of the National Insurance Scheme
entitles you to benefits such as health care, financial benefits at various stages of
your life, the right to a pension and several other rights. National insurance contributions are deducted from your salary/pension.
The Norwegian National Insurance Scheme covers hospital treatment in cases of
illness that requires hospitalisation. It does not cover expenses incurred by ordinary doctor or dentist check-ups, routine appointments or vaccinations. When you
undergo a health check or receive medical treatment, you are obliged to pay a
moderate “user fee”.
Read more: www.trygdeetaten.no – The National Insurance Administration
Download brochure: The Norwegian Social Insurance Scheme
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researcher in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and
archer in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and profe
FAMILY AND CHILDREN
Norway has invested a great deal of effort in providing beneficial conditions for
families with small children. Emphasis has been placed on enabling parents to
combine work and family life. Additionally, the increased participation of women
in the workforce has generated a need for adequate day-care programmes. At the
end of 2003, approximately 69% of children aged 1-5 were enrolled in such programmes. Day-care institutions in Norway vary widely in terms of substance, ownership and funding. As from May 2004, the price of enrolment in an ordinary daycare institution is not to exceed NOK 2,750 per month. There are currently not
enough public day-care facilities to meet demand, but a variety of privatelyowned day-care institutions are also available.
Children begin school at the age of 6, and they attend a compulsory 10-year programme of primary and secondary school. School is free of charge in Norway.
After school hours, children up to grade 4 may participate in an after-school programme, but parents must pay for this. All young people are entitled to continue
their education at upper secondary school, but this is not compulsory.
Read more: http://odin.dep.no/bld/english/doc/handbooks/
Download brochure: The rights of parents of small children in Norway
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he northernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a
orthernmost country in Europe – renowned for its spectacular nature and fascinating culture – awaits you. Norway is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. As a resea
CULTURE AND ACTIVITIES
You will find that Norwegian towns are quite small and have easy access to
nature. Even though Norway’s largest cities are small compared to cities on the
continent, they have much to offer within the cultural and entertainment spheres.
In any fair-sized Norwegian town you will find a large variety of private associations and organisations for activities within sports, theatre, music, religion, social
work, and other fields of interest. Virtually all of these activities are open for
membership to anyone who is interested in taking part.
Norwegians are fond of outdoor life and, while in Norway, you will probably want
to participate in their favourite activities; hiking and skiing. Forest and mountain
hiking is popular summer as well as winter. Skiing conditions are normally good
from December to March.
Read more:
www.norway.com – business, leisure and travel information
www.visitnorway.com – the official site of the Norwegian Tourist Board
www.norway.no - public sector information and services
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researcher in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and
archer in Norway, you will enjoy great personal freedom and plenty of time to pursue your research projects. Come and explore this exciting country, full of opportunities for adventure and profe
WORKING AND LIVING IN NORWAY
Norwegians tend to keep jobs and personal relations separate, resulting in a
reserved but pleasant work environment. Norwegians do value their privacy and
independence. Punctuality and openness count in establishing trust and confidence. You can normally expect easy access to top management, and decisions
are made by consensus. Casual dress is customary for researchers in Norway, and
in the summer, most people dress for comfort, even to the point of sportiness.
Workers are entitled to a minimum of 25 days of of vacation per year, most people take three or more weeks off work in July.
Housing costs vary a great deal, but have risen considerably during the last few
years. The highest prices are in Oslo and other densely populated areas. Due to
lower land prices, accomodation in Norway is less expensive than in many other
European cities. Norwegian houses are generally spacious, comfortable and
warm, and many families socialise at home with friends rather than in pubs and
clubs. A night out in Norway can be more expensive than in other countries. Yet,
the nightlife scene is very busy - especially during the spring and summer when
evenings are light and mild.
Norwegian salaries are high. Measured by GDP per capita, Norwegians are
amongst the highest earners in the world. Combined with a stable and strong
currency, most Norwegians enjoy considerable purchasing power abroad. Low
inflation and healthy economic growth have reduced the price gap for consumer
goods between Norway and other countries somewhat. The tax level in Norway
is lower than in Sweden and Denmark. Total taxes as a percentage of the gross
domestic product (GDP) give a rough impression of the general tax level. Total
accrued taxes as a percentage of GDP range between 40% and 45%. This level
is similar to that of the EU15, but higher than the OECD average.
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www.heaven.no
RESEARCHER’S GATEWAY TO NORWAY
- A Foreign Researcher’s Guide to Norway
More information about science and technology career
opportunities in Norway
A wide range of organisations in science and technology in
Norway offer opportunities for researchers from all over the
world. For regional/local information and questions regarding
practical issues, please contact the institution directly. You can
find national information here:
www.eracareers.no
For other inquiries please contact:
[email protected]
Telephone +47 22037500