Morten Østergaard

Morten Østergaard Kristensen is the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education for the new Social Democratic Party-Social Liberal Party- Socialist People’s Party government.

He is a graduate of Political Science from Aarhus University and has been a member of parliament for the Social Liberals since 2005. Before he became Minister, he was the Vice-chairman of the Social Liberal Party's parliamentary group.

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Presentation

Grand challenges and great opportunities

Europe is faced with great challenges. Debt is high. Growth is low. And jobs all over Europe are being lost. That is the prevailing challenge of the day. But there will be more challenges ahead. And tomorrow's challenges will not be easier. We must solve cross-border challenges related to climate, energy, environment and security. And we are challenged by increasing global competition – from Asia and from new emerging markets. But great challenges also offer great opportunities. And education, research and innovation are a key part of the solution.

Denmark needs better quality education, more people educated and quicker completion rates. We aim to ensure that 95 per cent of a year group obtain a youth education, 60 per cent a higher education and 25 per cent a university education.

Denmark is focused on research and the Barcelona objective of using 1 per cent of GDP on public research should be a baseline, not a boundary. The government is also working to increase Denmark’s innovation capacity and is developing the country’s first innovation strategy that links global challenges with Danish core competences.