Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland

The Ministry of Education and Culture, as a part of the Government, is the highest authority for the education and science policy in Finland. The Government outlines the principles underpinning science, technology and innovation policy. The Ministry of Education and Culture handles matters relating to education and science policy and the Ministry of Employment and Economy matters relating to industrial and technology policy. In addition to the policies, relevant legislation (i.a.university legislation) and financing are prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Publicly funded research is mainly conducted in universities and in research institutes, which are under several Ministries. The Ministry of Education and Culture finances university research both by direct funding and by the Academy of Finland. The Ministry of Education and Culture promotes scientific research by financing support services and facilities, such as equipment, information networks, scientific computing and research libraries. The Finnish Roadmap of the national research infrastructure is in the process of being prepared led by the Ministry of Education and Culture in cooperation with other Ministries and the industry.

Research geared to translate research results into gains in new diagnostics, treatments and prevention is urgently needed in response to the growing demands of the health care; it is also a requisite for the industry developing and providing new products and services. In order to organise the work effectively at the national and European levels, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, will support and provide feed-back to the work of EATRIS; especially to its work for an innovative strategy and an acceptable legal structure and financial procedures for the infrastructure under preparation.     

To the ministry's website