"Valuable to exchange experiences and create educational initiatives"

Every year, the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) allocates funds to projects that foster more collaboration with educational institutions outside Europe, through the UTFORSK programme.

This year, HK-dir granted 150 million kroner to 14 Norwegian universities and colleges for such purposes. UiT The Arctic University of Norway received 12 million kroner for four projects to be carried out in collaboration with partners in India, Japan, the USA, Brazil, China, and South Korea.

Collaboration with Indian partners

Two of the projects involve collaboration on technical and theoretical education, between the Faculty of Science and Technology at UiT and partners in India.

One project, called Photonics 4Life, is led by Professor Balpreet Alhuwalia, at the Department of Physics and Technology. He is collaborating with IIT Hyderabad and the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS). They will offer interdisciplinary courses and seminars to students and PhD candidates who can learn about how photonics is a tool that can be used in physics, engineering, biology, and medicine, to address societal challenges.

The UTFORSK Programme

Part of the Norwegian government's Panorama strategy for higher education collaboration with countries outside Europe.
Funded by the Ministry of Education and Research
Administered by the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills
In 2024, 150 million kroner were allocated through the UTFORSK programme to 14 Norwegian universities and colleges
UiT received 12 million kroner for four international educational projects

The second project is led by Professor Dilip K. Prasad, at the Department of Computer Science, who is collaborating with colleagues at IIT Dhanbad. Through the SEER programme, students and young researchers will be trained in how AI can be used as a tool in earth observation, to monitor the environment and climate.

Language training and nature conservation

Associate Professor Svetlana Sokolava, at the Department of Language and Culture (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences), receives support from Utforsk for the Hybrid STEP project, which is a programme for training in the Russian language on online platforms. Educational institutions in Brazil, China, and Japan also contribute to this project.

The fourth project, supported by Utforsk and called JANATEX-2, is led by Professor Elisabeth Cooper, at the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology. Several educational institutions in Japan are partners in the project. Through the project, students and upcoming researchers will be educated in the conservation of alpine ecosystems in both Japan and Norway.

Valuable educational initiatives

UiT’s Pro-rector for Education, Kathrine Tveiterås, emphasises that the allocations from the UTFORSK programme are an important contribution to UiT's international educational collaboration.

"This is an area of focus that is more important than ever. In times of major changes and geopolitical tensions, it is valuable to exchange experiences and create educational initiatives that promote academic values while also enhancing quality. Huge congratulations to the four research networks at UiT that have received funds to operationalise increased collaboration with the Panorama countries," says Tveiterås.

Kortnytt fra International Cooperation Section

Bredesen, Kim kim.bredesen@uit.no Rådgiver