Nordic Countries Attract International Researchers

Four representatives from Research Council Faroe Islands and University of Faroe Islands participated last week in a Nordic conference in Reykjavík on how Nordic countries can be more successful in attracting researchers from other countries.

Several international researchers have come to Iceland to work in the recent years. The Rector of the University of Iceland, Dr. Jón Atli Benediktsson, gave a lecture on their experiences with attracting researchers from all over the world and especially on retaining the international researchers.

International researchers are becoming a growingly important part of the research environment at research institutes in all the Nordic countries. Also in the Faroe Islands the number of foreign researchers have increased considerably recently. At the moment 10 foreign researchers are working at the University of the Faroe Islands.

The participants at the conference in Reykjavík were mostly staff-members at the universities dealing with welcoming and assisting foreign researchers and their families in their new environment.

Lectures were held at the conference about e.g. integration of foreign researchers and gender studies. There were several workshops about topics relevant for attracting and assisting foreign researchers. The University of the Faroe Islands and Copenhagen University arranged a workshop on language challenges and opportunities.

The Nordic Staff Mobility conference is held every second year. The next conference will be in Århus in 2025.