In addition to being the home of and/or coordinator of research projects, the NCS will be a project exchange forum, match-maker and laboratory for project development.

The NCS will:

• Encourage dialogue – for instance with the relevant representatives of professions – regarding the prioritisation of research themes and how research projects and research collaboration can be organised in an appropriate manner.
• Be a forum for further development of the school effectiveness paradigm. Danish researchers can contribute to the refinement and development of the theories and methods of this tradition, which will also be relevant in an international perspective.
• Be a forum for research of methods relevant to the school effectiveness approach, including the development of mixed methods, i.e. for the integration of and interaction between qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Take the initiative in coordinating the collection of education data. The problem today is that a great number of large and small research projects collect data individually, which is a burden on data providers, as well as meaning that data is not utilised sufficiently by the academic community.
• Ensure that the quality of the research projects included under the NCS as a project organisation meets high international standards. A scientific and expert committee will be appointed to carry out this task.
• Offer project facilitation, project development and fund-raising in collaboration with the rest of the Danish School of Education.
• Facilitate an initiative in relation to talent development, for instance with many of the PhD students who are financed by the PhD Council for Educational Research.
• Strengthen the international profile of Danish educational research by participating in international research projects, through publication support, and by establishing an international “advisory board”.

Based on the consideration that many of the reform activities and political activities in recent years have been relatively short-term, the NCS will provide research-based contributions and other support for the current task of identifying long-term goals for the education system as a whole, for instance in the form of what are known as “21st century skills and competences”.

A series of seminars on school effectiveness and research methods will be initiated with a particular focus on mixed methods. The seminar series will be organised by the NCS and will be offered to both participants in NCS projects and internal and external researchers and research students with an interest in the NCS’s research profile.

In addition, in December 2016 we are offering an introductory course in statistics which could be called “Statistics for beginners”. The objective in terms of knowledge is to gain basic knowledge of statistical concepts and methods. The objective in terms of skills is to be able to cooperate with statisticians in a qualified manner and to be able to assess statistically based projects and statements.