OSLO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Norway is set to welcome 14 leading foreign researchers under a new government program, including 13 from major U.S. academic institutions, the Ministry of Education and Research said Friday.

Run by the Research Council of Norway, the scheme enables the country's top research institutions to recruit established scholars from abroad. The government will invest 300 million Norwegian kroner (29.4 million U.S. dollars) in the program through 2029.

Launched in June, the initiative aims to attract experienced researchers from outside Europe to boost the quality and international profile of Norway's research sector.

Thirteen of the incoming researchers are currently based at U.S. institutions, including Cornell University, Harvard University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Columbia University. (1 Norwegian krone = 0.098 U.S. dollar) Enditem