| University Centre in Svalbard | |
|---|---|
| Universitetssenteret på Svalbard | |
| Established | 1993 |
| Type | Public University |
| Director | Gunnar Sand |
| Admin. staff | 65 |
| Students | 350 |
| Undergraduates | 80 |
| Doctoral students | 16 |
| Location | Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway |
| Affiliations | University of the Arctic |
| Website | www.unis.no |
The University Centre in Svalbard is a Norwegian state-owned limited company that provides university-level education in arctic studies. The universities of Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim are represented on its board. The centre is known as UNIS and forms part of the University of the Arctic. It is led by a director appointed by the board for a three-year term.[1] The university is the world’s northernmost higher education institution, in Longyearbyen at 78° N latitude. The courses offered fall into four main science disciplines: Arctic biology, geology, geophysics and technology.[2]
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The university was established in 1993 in Longyearbyen, a town of about 2000 inhabitants on the western coast of Spitsbergen island. The main idea behind establishing UNIS was that the unique geographic location of the island permits the study of Arctic sciences in situ, right outside the university walls. The university was established with an international spirit – its official language is English, and about half of its 350 students originate from outside Norway (in 2006, foreign students came from 25 countries).[1] The tuition is free of charge and is carried out by 20 full-time professors, 21 assistant professors and 120 guest lecturers. The latter are invited from Norwegian and foreign institutions within various joint research projects.[2] Those projects are also instrumental for the enrollment of master and PhD students – UNIS does not accept its own graduates for those courses and requires potential candidates to present a letter of support from their home institution.[3] One important collaboration is the educational exchange program with Russia. The funding for UNIS is provided by the Norwegian government, research councils and private industry.[1]
The university conducts both teaching and scientific research. Its main campus is the Svalbard science park, which was officially opened by the King and the Queen of Norway on April 26, 2006.[1] On September 2, 2009, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon visited UNIS. Together with the Norwegian Minister of Environment Erik Solheim, Ban Ki-Moon lead a debate on the impact of a melting Arctic on the environment.[4]
Although UNIS has no formal tuition fee, students are required to pay a semester fee of 420 NOK (about 55 EUR), plus an extra 120 NOK per day of the outdoor courses. These expenses mostly cover food and administrative costs.[5] UNIS has a wireless computer network connected to the Internet. Every room has a free local phone, and there are several international payphones. Every long-term student and staff member has a key to the main UNIS building and can access it 24 hours a day.[6] UNIS has a library, established in 1993, with a significant volume of printed books.[7] A significant part of the library is electronic: the university is subscribed to a number of electronic databases that can be accessed from the library computers.[8][9] Electronic are also most publications of the university, such as the UNIS Publication Series which report data obtained within the UNIS research projects and graduate courses.[10] UNIS has research laboratories[11] and a 15m long research ship Viking explorer.[12]
Most students at UNIS live in six renovated mining barracks in Nybyen, a settlement on the southern outskirts of Longyearbyen.[13]
Visitors and residents are not "permitted" to die in Longyearbyen, as the town's cemetery stopped accepting newcomers in the 1930s. The local authorities try to ensure that deaths do not occur in the region. Any seriously ill person is transported by ship or airplane to another part of Norway. The nearest regional hospital is located in Tromsø a two-hour flight away. This decision stems from the finding made in 1930s that buried bodies do not decompose in the cold climate of the island. Recent scientific examination of one body revealed a well-preserved influenza virus, which was the cause of a number of deaths on the island in 1917.[14]
Polar bears are abundant in the area and are a threat to human life. As a result local citizens often carry rifles, and every UNIS student and member of staff spends their first day learning how to use a rifle to defend themselves against bears.[15]
Because UNIS activities include field work carried out on boats, snowmobiles or on foot in a harsh environment, all new students and staff members are required to present a self-declaration confirming that they are in good health.[16]
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