| RESEARCH CENTRES |

| Introduction |

The Nordic Policy Studies Centre (NPSC) was launched in January 1996, with an inaugural lecture by Mr. Paavo Lipponen, then Prime Minister of Finland. It has since established itself as the leading unit in the UK for research on policy and politics related to the Nordic region. Although formally connected to the Department of Politics and International Relations in the University of Aberdeen, the NPSC is an interdisciplinary unit, with contacts beyond, as well as within its core disciplines of Political Science and International Relations.

The primary objective of the NPSC is to initiate and conduct applied research on the politics and international relations of the Nordic region. In addition, the Centre is also involved in the provision of undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes on Nordic-related themes. It also promotes student exchange and faculty contacts between Scotland and the Nordic countries.

Thus, the NPSC co-ordinates the University's participation in an EU-funded North Consortium student exchange programme with four northern Canadian universities and colleges, working on the European side with the Universities of Umeå and Luleå in Northern Sweden, and the University of Lapland in Finland. It is a member of the Circumpolar Universities Association, and has established formal as well as informal links with a number of universities in the Nordic countries. It has initiated a series of research conferences with participation from Scotland and the Nordic countries. The NPSC has a lively community of researchers and research students, and supervision is available for students reading for higher degrees.

| The directors |

The Director of the NPSC is Professor David Arter. A frequent broadcaster on Nordic questions, Professor Arter is a Knight, First Class, of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and an Honorary Correspondent of the Finnish Literary Society. He has an extensive list of publications, including The Scottish Parliament. A Scandinavian-style Assembly? Frank Cass 2003 and Scandinavian Politics Today, Manchester University Press, 1999. In November 2003 Professor Arter will be a visiting professor at the North Europe Centre at the University of Lille, the largest Catholic university in France. For more details on professor Arter, click here (link to DA's staff biography).

Deputy director of the NPSC is Anders Widfeldt. Previously with Göteborg University in Sweden, Dr. Widfeldt joined the Department of Politics and International Relations and the NPSC in March 1996. For more details on Dr. Widfeldt, click here (link to AW's staff biography).