Updated on: 2020-04-30
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| Q1A. What arrangements, if any, do you have in place to ensure scientific advice informs national policy and decision making in relation to Covid-19? | The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) acts as a national competence institution placed directly under the Ministry of Health and Care Services. The NIPH is responsible for knowledge production and systematic reviews and has infectious disease control among its focus areas. The NIPH has a central role in ensuring that scientific advice informs national policy and decision making in relation to Covid-19. https://www.fhi.no/en/ A growing number of studies and reports are being published on COVID-19 and the pandemic. The NIPH has launched a live map of COVID-19 evidence. The project will help decision makers and researchers navigate the research. The map provides an overview of scientific publications on COVID-19 categorized and parsed into more specific subgroups, providing quick access to specific topic-relevant publications. As a result, the map also identifies research gaps, possibly guiding further research efforts. NIPH's partner at McMaster University, Canada, is making an evidence map of trustworthy guidelines. Literature searches are conducted daily or every other day in PubMed. The searches will be supplemented with material retrieved by searches performed by organizations such as WHO, CDC, and others. https://www.fhi.no/en/qk/systematic-revi... The Ministry of Higher Education and Research has commissioned the Research Council of Norway to suggest measures to alleviate the negative consequences for industry and society. The suggested measures are currently being reviewed. |
| Q1B. In what ways, if any, are you coordinating on Covid-19 STI responses at international level? | The Research Council of Norway (RCN) is a member of the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R). GloPID-R is an international network of major research funding organizations with the aim to facilitate a rapid and effective response to infectious disease outbreaks. In response to the emergence of COVID-19, Members of the GloPID-R network, including RCN, immediately coordinated to identify the existing, funded research projects in this area and began launching emergency calls for funding. The RCN emergency call on COVID-19 research is published on GloPID-R website and RCN participates in ongoing coordination and information sharing activities through GloPID-R, which also includes WHO. |
| Q2.Do you have dedicated arrangements in place for communicating science advice and for refuting misleading information to the public on Covid-19? | Through its website (fhi.no), The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) provides scientific advise and information to the public. NIPH is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Care Services. Helsenorge.no is another public website that communicates scientific health advice to the public, including Covid-19. Information about both sites are communicated systematically in order make sure the public get quality assured advice and knowledge about Covid-19. |
| Q3. What new STI policy measures, if any, is your country taking to respond specifically to the Covid-19 crisis? | 1. Measures that have been implemented The Norwegian Research Council (RCN) has launched a COVID-19 Emergency Call for funding in order to contribute to the global response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The aim is to support research that will enable us to understand and contain the new COVID-19, as well as to improve efficient patient management and public health (national and international) preparedness and response to the current and analogous outbreaks that may come in the future. The call for proposals is based on the recent research priorities defined by the WHO. International collaboration with research groups in other countries, including those funded by GLOPID-R member organisations to foster larger-scale studies, is encouraged. The scope of the proposals may include different topics, including health and economic aspects. The total budget is EUR 2 560 000. file:///C:/Users/KD1258/Downloads/COVID-19%20Emergency%20Call%20for%20Proposals%20Project%20Outlines%20for%20Call%20Concerning%20the%20Fight%20Against%20Coronavirus%20Disease%20(COVID-19).pdf In cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The RCN is also launching several extraordinary measures in order to strenghten COVID-19 research in and in cooperation with lower income countries. A call for proposals on global health with a 20 May deadline has been allocated an additional 20 million NOK for projects of particular relevance to Covid-19. The Research Council also has a large portfolio of ongoing projects on issues in the fields of health, biotechnology and societal issues that may be relevant for COVID-19 as well. In addition, several research institutions and public health authorities (such as the Norwegian Institute of Public Health) conduct research that is relevant for this issue. However, we do not have a complete overview or a list of projects. 2. Measures under consideration, not yet decided The suggested measures encompass the Research Council's project portfolio as well as the different research-performing sectors, particularly related to trade and industry and the institute sector (the independent research institutes). The measures will be discussed with the relevant ministries. The measures suggested by the Research Council have been divided into six categories: 1. General measure aimed toward the institute sector (increased basic funding) 2. General measures aimed toward trade and industry 3. Measures aimed toward the direct restructuring of businesses 4. Digitalisation measures and competence-building for digitalisation ("kompetanseløft for digitalisering") 5. Measures aimed toward real-time research and research for crisis management 6. Other measures (the Norwegian public sector, the consequences for low-income countries) In addition to these suggested measures, the Research Council wishes to implement measures related to: - funding percentage; - the research organisations' own contributions for projects that receive funding; - changes to the contract period and other changes to the contract that can in part be carried out within the current funding and partly through increased public funding in order to reduce risk, as well as facilitate the situation for the most vulnerable actors in trade and industry and the institute sector. Furthermore, there is a need for measures aimed toward improving the situation for young researchers (PhD candidates and Postdoctoral fellows) who must stay at home to care for children, thereby being barred from using laboratories and other research infrastructure. Most of the measures are time-limited, and the budget for the majority of the measures must be distributed across several years as this concerns multiannual centres or research projects. |
| Q4A. At national level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19? | In order to ensure national coordination, the Central Norway Regional Health Authority has been tasked with coordinating research in the hospital sector. Including harmonisation of protocols and facilitating recruitment from smaller hospitals. An overview of ongoing research is available at www.norcrin.no/nasjonal-oversikt-over-co... Under the auspices of the various ministries and the Research Council of Norway there is substantial interaction and meetings between STI actors (universities, the research institute sector, industry, government, health sector) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19. |
| Q4B. At international level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19? | The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a foundation that takes donations from public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations, to finance independent research projects to develop vaccines against emerging infectious disease (EID). CEPI is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. At the 2017 launch, Nature said, "It is by far the largest vaccine development initiative ever against viruses that are potential epidemic threats". In March 2020, CEPI was identified as a "key player in the race to develop a vaccine" for the coronavirus. Norway had originally allocated 1,6 billion NOK to CEPI for the years 2017-2025, but has now allocate an additional 2,2 billions given the acute circumstances. In order to find out whether some of the existing medications may work against Covid-19, the WHO recently launched a global megatrial called SOLIDARITY. The coordinator of the is study John-Arne Røttingen, Chief Executive of the Research Council of Norway. According to a WHO press briefing on April 1st, 74 countries have so far joined the study, and more than 200 patients have been enrolled. |
| Q5. What novel approaches, if any, is your country using to address the coronavirus crisis (e.g. use of machine learning, open science initiatives boosting access and sharing of data and research results, development and use of prediction models, etc.)? | [Left blank] |
| Q6A. What impact on the STI system do you anticipate in the short-, medium- and long-term, and what measures are you implementing to address those? | The higher education sector, the business sector, the institute sector and other stake holders with different backgrounds, are working strategically to find innovative solutions for communication and cooperation. This new insight will in time change the way we interact. |
| Q6B. Is support of the STI system part of planned stimulus packages aimed at supporting the economy? | Additional responses have been new funding from the Ministries of Fisheries and Industry and Oil and Energy to increase the level of support to innovation projects that have recently been initiated. This concerns several hundred companies across the country and across sectors. Further, a call for proposals has been published for business innovation projects. Some redistribution of funds will be carried out, notably to better support research on economic consequences of the Corona crisis and the health industry. Further redistribution of existing funds is expected. To better adapt to current circumstances, standard deadlines have been abolished so that companies can apply on a continuous basis. The state aid rules will be more effectively applied, and funding decisions will be done throughout 2020. This also implies a significant renewal of internal procedures in the Research Council of Norway to accommodate larger funding streams and a need for efficiency. Previously agreed timelines for projects may be adapted, allowing for delays or speeding up as appropriate. Requirements for cash contributions may be abandoned to adapt to the tight liquidity situation experienced by many companies. Upon request from The Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Research Council of Norway has proposed measures to alleviate the negative consequences for industry and society. This includes a range measures in support of the STI system. The suggested measures are currently being reviewed. |
| Q7. Is there anything else regarding the STI policy response to Covid-19 in your country you would like to mention? | [Left blank] |