Application deadline

Application deadline in SøknadsWeb for PhD students ouside UiT The Arctic University of Norway is 1 December 2016. Application code is: 9304.

PhD students enrolled on a PhD programme at UiT apply for admission by registering for class in StudentWeb within 10 January 2017. 

Type of course

Admission requirements

Participants should have been admitted to a PhD-program at an accredited university. They should document a background of relevance for the topic of the course either in sciences, social sciences, law, or humanities. If places are available other participants can be admitted. Participants in this group should have fulfilled a Master's degree and have the necessary background to be admitted to a PhD-program in Norway.

A maximum of 25 students can be admitted to the course. Application code 9304 (Søknadskode 9304)

Course content

Oceans and seas are of vital importance for nature and human life. Research the last decades has underlined the importance of seas for the climate on earth, and also how climate changes can affect ecosystems and thus the large amount of human activity based on access to oceans. Climate change adds a new pressure to the diverse environmental problems caused by increased and diversified human use.

This course departs from an ambition to bring together new knowledge from two different parts of sciences. First, the recent understanding of the role of oceans in regulating nature, with a particular emphasis on climate change, and how oceans are essential as life supporting systems for humans. The focus will particularly be on the current situation, but also how oceans have developed and the prospects for dramatic changes. The second ambition is the presentation of social science perspectives and research on the human-nature interface. How the human use of the sea has changed with modernization and recent globalization processes, and how changes in use have triggered development of regulations and new institutions, either from a purpose of marine sustainability or societal goals.

A goal for the course is to attract students from both sciences and social sciences (including law and humanities) to improve understand across disciplinary borders, and make a new generation of researchers better suited to solve challenges from large ¿drivers¿ like increased exploitation of resources in the marine environment (the blue economy), climate change, global trade and shipping.

Objectives of the course

After the course, the students will have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student will obtain knowledge at an advanced level on:

• oceans as life support systems and factors that increase the pressure on marine environment and sustainability
• to what extent regulations and governance structures at different levels are sufficient tools to secure sustainable development in the marine environment and society

Skills

The student will be able to:

• to carry out cutting-edge analysis of strengths and shortcomings of models used in governance of marine resources

Competence

Ability to work with researchers from different disciplines in co-production of knowledge

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

• Lectures/presentations. Approximately 25 hours.
• Short presentations by stakeholders, representatives from research institutes and interest groups.
• Discussions and group work among participants.

Assessment

The assessment will consist of:

• A report/paper/article from one or several groups of students. The work will start during the course.
• An individual paper (approximately 15 pages). A short summary should be prepared, at latest a week after the course has finished. The topic should be approved by the responsible for the course.
• The exam will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.

A paper not accepted (fail) can be submitted within eight weeks.

Recommended reading/syllabus