Nordic inter-governmental co-operation on research and education is headed up by the education and research ministers, who make up the Council of Ministers for Education and Research (MR-U).

MR-U concentrates on promoting Nordic synergies in the following key areas:

• Schools and adult education
• Higher education and research
• Language co-operation throughout the Region
• Information and Communications Technology

Forums for co-operation

The ministers meet up to three times a year to discuss and adopt initiatives to improve work in areas where joint action and policies have a greater impact than can be achieved by the individual countries on their own – this is known as Nordic synergy.

The Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Education and Research supports the Council of Ministers. The Committee consists of civil servants from the ministries and agencies of education and research in the Nordic countries and the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, and meets four-five times a year. It takes care of the practical work and preparations for meetings of the Council of Ministers.

The Nordic Council of Ministers' Secretariat in Copenhagen is responsible for the day-to-day running of Nordic inter-governmental co-operation.

The Department of Education, Research and Labour (UFA) prepares the questions to be discussed by the Council of Ministers and their committee of senior officials. It is also responsible for implementing decisions once they have been taken.

Nordic institutions and partners

The Nordic Council of Ministers for Education and Research funds a number of institutions and organisations that contribute to achieving the sector's political objectives within their respective policy areas.

Institutions:

• NordForsk

Co-operation bodies:

• NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
• NifS – Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law
• Nordita – Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics
• NSI - Nordic Sami Institute
• NSU – Nordic Summer University
• NORVULK – Nordic Volcanological Institute

Objectives and visions

MR-U, its work and initiatives are designed to:

• bolster the position of the Nordic Region as a world leader in skills enhancement and research, with particular emphasis on developing human resources.
• promote joint Nordic interests in the international arena, with particular emphasis on the adjacent territories.
• ensure the competitiveness of the Nordic nations and autonomous territories in a globalised world.

These objectives are laid out in the MR-U Strategy, 2008-2010.

Areas of Priority

The main priority in the period 2008-2010 will be to address the challenges posed by globalisation and identify Nordic positions of strength, including development of the Nordic Research and Innovation Area (NORIA).

MR-U supports and stimulates specific partnerships and promotes an arena in which an information bank of Nordic globalisation initiatives can be built up to form the basis for creating networks and promoting joint Nordic synergy effects within research and education.