Big leaps in natural science research often come from new methodologies needed to answer previously unanswered questions. This new knowledge, in turn, results in new questions that we previously did not know to ask. Accelerated methodological development within the width of our Faculty’s research areas seems never-ending. For example, within light microscopy, several techniques have been developed that provide a resolution greater than theoretically possible given the wavelength of light. This invention has brought revolutionary new insight in research areas of biology, and the physicists behind the invention – Eric Betzig, William Moerner and Stefan Hell – received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014.
Similar advances have been made within all research areas at the Faculty, not least within computational science, which is a necessity for analyzing the large amounts of data generated. However, do we have the capacity to explore all of the opportunities provided by new technology?
National initiative for research infrastructure
About ten years ago, the Research Council of Norway (RCN) established a national initiative for research infrastructure. This initiative has been directly funded in the Norwegian national budget since 2012. In 2018, 748 million Norwegian kroner was allocated on the national budget, and 600-800 million Norwegian kroner was allocated for the RCN call for research infrastructure in 2018. Many will agree that this is a staggering sum of money, but based on the mandatory sketches submitted before the summer the total amount of funding for research infrastructure sought by the Norwegian research environments was estimated to be 9.3 billion Norwegian kroner. A total of 165 sketches were submitted and the RCN asked the institutions to consolidate and prioritize before the October 10 deadline.
Intensive application work
The recommendation from the RCN was met with intensive application work by the researchers, while department heads, research deans and others attempted to coordinate to the best of their ability. When the dust had settled, UiO was the primary applicant on 16 applications, which together asked for 750 million Norwegian kroner and we were partners in applications asking for 2.6 billion Norwegian kroner. Needless to say, many of our applications will not be granted.
UiO roadmap for research infrastructure
We are accustomed to fierce competition for research funds, but the uncertainty of funding has another consequence for research infrastructure than it has for research applications. If we are to support world-leading research environments there has to be some framework conditions in place, for example access to necessary research infrastructure. The RCN wishes to support institutional strategies. However, when UiO alone applies for 2.6 billion Norwegian kroner when the available funds are only 600-800 million it is not easy to see what our priorities are. The University Board has acknowledged that we need a more explicit strategy for research infrastructure at UiO and has ordered this to be included in the annual plan for 2019-2021. I am looking forward to address this work with researchers, infrastructure managers and the research infrastructure committee at UiO.