The Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education (Danish: Ministeriet for Forskning, Innovation og Videregående Uddannelser) is the Danish ministry in charge of research, innovation and education above high school/upper secondary school.

The Ministry is formerly also known as "Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Denmark" or "The Science Ministry" or "The Research Ministry" or "The Ministry of Research and Technology".

Its primary purpose is to promote and coordinate the interaction between the industry and trade, centres of research and education and strengthen industry and research policies.

Dan Shechtman (Hebrew: דן שכטמן; born January 24, 1941 in Tel Aviv) is the Philip Tobias Professor of Materials Science at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, an Associate of the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, and Professor of Materials Science at Iowa State University. On April 8, 1982, while on sabbatical at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., Shechtman discovered the icosahedral phase, which opened the new field of quasiperiodic crystals. He was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "the discovery of quasicrystals". Shechtman is the fourth Israeli to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in under a decade.

Dan Shechtman was born in Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine. He is married to Prof. Tzipora Shechtman, Head of the Department of Counseling and Human Development at Haifa University, and author of two books on psychotherapy. They have a son Yoav Shechtman (a PhD student in physics) and three daughters: Tamar Finkelstein (an organizational psychologist at the Israeli police leadership center), Ella Shechtman-Cory (a PhD in clinical psychology), and Ruth Dougoud-Nevo (also a PhD in clinical psychology).

Derek Andre Hanekom (b. 13 January 1953, Cape Town) is the current South African Deputy Minister of Science and Technology. He has held this position since 2004 when he was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki. He was reappointed in this position by President Kgalema Motlanthe in September 2008, and again by President Jacob Zuma in May 2009. He has a strong ANC history having served 2 years in prison for the work he did for the ANC, during apartheid, with his wife Dr. Trish Hanekom who served three years for her involvement.

He is also the former Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs under the Nelson Mandela government. Hanekom's tenure as of Minister of Land Affairs was reflective of his career in the anti-apartheid NGO Sector and was selected by Mandela because of his ability, as an Afrikaner, to negotiate with white land owners. Hanekom's tenure as minister was marked by an affinity for redistribution as opposed to retribution, and rights as opposed to property. This marks a strong contrast with his replacement by the Mbeki government with Thoko Didiza, a middle class ANC cadre. He is currently the chairperson of the disciplinary committee of the African National Congress.

Tim Macindoe is a New Zealand politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2008 for the Hamilton West electorate. Macindoe represents the National Party.

Macindoe was born in Auckland New Zealand and attended Otago University, where he studied for a BA (Hons) in History. Macindoe has been heavily involved with New Zealand education, most recently as the Deputy Principal at St. Peter's School. Macindoe has also held roles in retail, agriculture and as a prison tutor.

In 2009, Macindoe completed his second degree; an LLB from the University of Waikato.

He is married to Anne Macindoe, and they have two children. Outside Parliament, Macindoe is a parishioner at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Forest Lake; and he co-chairs the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Regional Orchestra Steering Committee.

Macindoe has served on the boards of two local schools, as a broadcaster for Community Radio Hamilton, and on the Melville Community Action Group in 2005. He is a strong supporter of the Hamilton Hydrotherapy Pool Trust, even having his hair dyed blue in a successful fundraiser for the project in 2008. His sporting interests include golf, cricket and rugby and supporting his children's sporting activities.

Erhard Busek (born 25 March 1941 in Vienna, Austria) is a politician from the Christian-conservative People's Party (ÖVP). At present he is Coordinator of the South-Eastern Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and Chairman of the Institute for Danube Region and Central Europe among other things.

Busek was chief of the party and Vice-Chancellor of Austria in the coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Austria with the People's Party between 1991–1995 and was an important reformer of the Austrian Universities. From January 2002 until June 2008 Busek served as Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, the final person to hold the position.

Dr. Erhard Busek was born in Vienna, Austria, on 25 March 1941. He received his law degree from the University of Vienna in 1963. During his studies, he also served as Chairman of the Austrian Youth Council. He is a Roman Catholic. He was a Boy Scout in his youth.

He began his professional career in 1964 as legal adviser to the association of the parliamentarians of the Austrian People’s Party. He then served as Secretary General of the Austrian Federation for Trade and Commerce (1968–1975). In 1975 he was appointed Secretary General of the Austrian People’s Party and was elected Member of Parliament later that year. Erhard Busek gained additional experience in administration between 1968-1976 while with a publishing firm in the economic field. In 1976 Busek entered municipal politics. He was City Councilor and was elected Deputy-Mayor of Vienna in 1978, a position he held until 1987. He was appointed Minister for Science and Research in April 1989. From 1994 until May 1995 Busek was Minister for Education. He was elected Chairman of the Austrian People’s Party in 1991 and served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 1991 to 1995. In early 2000 Busek was appointed as Special Representative of the Austrian Government on EU-Enlargement. He served in that position until December 2001.