Partner 11.
The Research Council of Norway (RCN) -
Norway
http://www.forskningsradet.no/english/
http://www.fuge.no
Contact persons
Dr. Steinar Bergseth send mail
ERA-PG coordinator Norway, call coordinator, National Steering Committee (NSC) member
Mariken Vinje
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Workgroup
Prof. Dr. Atle Bones send mail
Head of Strategic University Progr. in Functional Genomics (plant-insect interactions) 2001-2006
Head of National Norwegian Functional Genomics Research Centre
Inst. Biology, Norwegian Technical University, N-7491 Trondheim
http://boneslab.bio.ntnu.no/
Scientific representative
About RCN
The Research Council of Norway (RCN) has an annual budget of more than NOK 4 billion (480 M €) and plays a central role in Norwegian research. The mandate of the Council is to promote and support basic and applied research in all areas of science, technology, medicine and the humanities. Important goals include raising the general level of the understanding of research in society as a whole and supporting innovation in all sectors and branches of industry.
The Research Council of Norway has established seven large-scale research programmes. These programmes will as a rule have a budget of at least 100 million NOK (12 M€) yearly, focus on both long and short-term research challenges in areas that are important for society at large or that have the potential of value creation.
FUGE – The National Programme for Research in Functional Genomics in Norway is one of these seven programmes. The programme runs 2002-2011. Budget 2003-2007: 150 million NOK ( 18 M€) yearly.
There are two primary objectives underlying the Government’s focus on the FUGE programme: Firstly, to raise the quality of Norwegian research in this area to international standards, and secondly, to promote our national industrial development. At the same time, the programme should facilitate the identification and utilisation of our national advantages, for instance in the fields of marine research, environmental protection, agriculture and medicine.
Plant genomics in Norway is part of the functional genomics programme FUGE. In the field of plant genomics the main actor is the Norwegian Arabidopsis Research Center (NARC) (budget 32 MNOK (3.8 M€); 2003-2008). Activities are largely directed toward research on the flowering weed Arabidopsis thaliana. NARC is responsible for providing a national competence and service center for Norwegian researchers and research groups.