Norway budget: students given more support but research funds cut

Norway’s budget has prompted celebrations among students, who will see their financial support increase by 10 per cent, but university sector leaders were less enthusiastic amid planned cuts to research funding.

The budget, which was due to be debated for the final time on 20 December before it is adopted, includes a rise in student aid of almost NKr14,000 (around £1,000) a year. “This is great news for Norwegian students – almost like an early Christmas present,” Oline Sæther, president of Norway’s National Union of Students (NSO), told Times Higher Education.

“Currently, many students spend a lot of time on their part-time jobs, having to prioritise it above their studies in order to cover their basic expenses,” Ms Sæther added. “We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to study full time, including those who don’t have parents who can cover expenses like rent or food.”

Universities and colleges, however, will see the dedicated government grant they have been receiving to compensate for inflation and wage growth cut by NKr50 million.

The government has abandoned plans to phase out the Norwegian Partnership Programme for Global Academic Cooperation, which funds collaboration and student mobility between Norway and 40 partner countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. But two other funding initiatives – the Centres for Excellence in Education scheme and the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme – will be scrapped.

Funding for business-oriented research will also be cut by NKr13.5 million. Agnes Landstad, director of the Association of Norwegian Research Institutes, said this would have a “significant effect” on institutions by “limiting the ability to conduct research in collaboration with industry, slowing down technological breakthroughs [and] limiting innovation and competitiveness”.

Nevertheless, the chief executive of the Research Council of Norway, Mari Sundli Tveit, welcomed the budget overall, after a government spending clampdown saw the council’s 2023 resources cut by NKr2 billion.

“We are pleased to have put the difficult situation last year behind us,” Professor Sundli Tveit told THE. “Predictable, high levels of funding is crucial for the research community, and we are content to have regained predictability of research funding with levels consistent with previous years.”

Sunniva Whittaker, chair of Universities Norway, said the umbrella body “wished for a more ambitious budget for research and higher education”.

“We think it is unfortunate that the government yet again are cutting the compensation for increased prices and salary costs. This will provide increased pressure on the budgets of the institutions,” said Professor Whittaker, rector of the University of Agder. “Building excellent research groups that can compete internationally takes a long time and consistent efforts. Therefore, the universities need stable and solid budgets.”

The budget was mostly in line with expectations for Tor Grande, pro-rector for research and dissemination at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “If you look at the financial situation for the students, it’s a positive development,” he said.

“Ideally we would like to see an increase in the research council’s budget, and that doesn’t happen in Norway today,” Professor Grande noted.

“Competition for funding has become harder and harder. Less of our scientific staff will have the possibility to compete or succeed with external funding from the research council. That will have an impact on research portfolio and our development as a research-intensive university.”

He added: “Historically, the budget for the university sector has seen a steady growth over time. This growth is now ending. We have to adjust our activities to a budget situation where either the budget will be constant, or it will be reduced slightly. That’s a new situation for the university sector in our country.”

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com