On 10 June, STINT and the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) together presented the online China–Nordic Workshop on Research Funding Policy. The workshop was on the topic of global research norms and international research collaborations and followed on the China–Nordic Policy Symposium on Research Funding, which took place in Beijing in 2019.
Representatives from STINT, NSFC, the Swedish Research Council, the Research Council of Norway, the Academy of Finland, Vinnova (the Swedish innovation agency), Independent Research Fund Denmark, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation participated. During the workshop, representatives from all countries provided status updates on developments at policy level since the 2019 symposium. Next, Dr Tommy Shih, Science Policy Director at STINT, and Dr Fan Yingjie, Deputy Director General, NSFC, presented on global research norms. These presentations were followed by those of Mr Thomas Hansteen, Director of Global Development and International Relations at the Research Council of Norway, and Dr Wencong Li, Deputy Director, NSFC, on research collaborations and the international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The workshop concluded with a discussion of these two topics as well as on how research funders can contribute to promoting a climate of open, yet responsible, research collaboration. The workshop was moderated by Dr Erik Forsberg, STINT’s Representative in China/APAC.
Finally, it was jointly decided that research funders will continue to collaborate and create working groups to further develop common frameworks for guidelines on responsible international research collaboration, the funding policies for such collaborations, etc. These efforts will be coordinated by STINT and will focus on global research norms and collaborations in general. A further discussion is planned during the next policy symposium that will be held in Stockholm at a later date.