Data are compiled by Statistics Norway and include data for 18 higher education units and 12 units belonging to the institute sector for the years 2013, 2017 and 2021.
3,263 people involved in natural science in the evaluation units
In 2021, R&D personnel in the natural science units of this evaluation amounted to 3,263 people: 1,652 in the higher education institutes and 1,611 in the institute sector. There has been a growth in the number of R&D personnel from 2,626 in 2013. For the higher education sector, the growth was about 31 per cent, while the growth for the institute sector amounted to 18 per cent. The growth for the higher education sector was stronger from 2013 to 2017, than from 2017 to 2021. For the institute sector the growth was in the last period (2017–2021).
Young researchers and stable overall age structure
Among R&D personnel included in the evaluation, the age structure has been rather stable from 2013 to 2021. In the higher education sector, the average age among personnel in the evaluated units was 38 years for all years. This is younger than for the higher education sector in total, where the staff on average were 43 years in 2021. The professors were on average 55 years, associate professors 45 years, researchers/postdocs 36 years and PhD-students 29 years. The corresponding figures in the higher education sector were 56 years for professors, 48 years for associated professors, 41 years among researchers/postdocs and 33 years for PhD-students. In the institute sector the average age was 43.3 years in 2013 and 44.2 years in 2021.
The share of R&D personnel at 62 years and older at the professor level, rose from 26 per cent in 2013 to 28 per cent in 2021 in the higher education sector units, and only 5 per cent of the associate professor were 62 years or older in 2021. In the institute sector units, the overall share of R&D personnel at 62 years and older remained stable at 7 per cent from 2013 to 2021.
Still skewed gender balance at the professor level
Overall gender balance has improved slightly from 2013 to 2021 among units in the evaluation: In the higher education sector 33 per cent of the R&D personnel are women (30 per cent in 2013). At the professor level there is still a skewed gender balance with only 21 per cent women (17 per cent in 2013). This is the same share as for the total of natural sciences. In the institute sector, there are 39 per cent women, which represents an increase from 34 per cent in 2013.
A high share of foreign doctoral degree holders
Among the R&D personnel (among professors, associate professors, and researchers/postdocs) 46 per cent of the evaluated units had a foreign PhD-degree in the higher education sector, while 33 per cent had a foreign PhD-degree in the institute sector. Among the professors, 40 per cent had a foreign PhD-degree and among associate professors the share was 37 per cent. Among researchers/postdocs, the share has been over 50 per cent for all the years in the period; 54 per cent in 2021.
In comparison, in the higher education sector total (among professors, associate professors and researchers/postdocs), the share of foreign PhD-degrees was 28 per cent, and within natural sciences in the higher education sector, this share was 45 per cent. In the institute sector, 27 per cent of the researchers had a foreign PhD-degree in 2021.