The Future Lies in the Arctic North
In 2007 UiS received NOK 3 million in funding through the Norwegian Cooperation Programme with Russia for a cooperative project with Arkhangelsk State Technical University (ASTU) on education in the petroleum sector.
Modernising the system
– Student mobility is a crucial part of the cooperation programme, says Terje Frøiland, head of administration at the Department of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Stavanger (UiS), Norway.
– Several of our professors have part-time positions in oil companies, while some oil company staff hold adjunct professor positions here at UiS. There are strong ties between the industry and UiS.
– The idea is to educate Russian scholars here in Stavanger, getting them accustomed to the Bologna features and make them fluent in English too. Our long-term goal is that they should return to Arkhangelsk to become associate professors and later, professors – and help modernise the system from within.
Oil boom
In 20 years, Arkhangelsk could evolve into Russia’s undisputed oil capital.
STRONG TIES | Our aiming is made possible because the academic and industrial world recognise that we have common interests in certain areas, says Terje Frøiland.
– Competence and wealth will swarm to the area and I think it is very likely that Arkhangelsk could experience a boom similar to what has happened here in Stavanger. But this will take time. Language barriers and bureaucracy are still the main obstacles.
What is this Norwegian-Russian cooperation really about, deep down: is it a matter of economic interests?
– We define our university as a public enterprise and therefore regard it is as our duty to help to implement our government’s High North strategy. It is all about searching for, finding and exploiting the oil and gas resources in the most efficient manner and with the minimum negative effects on the environment. We have to be present wherever the oil industry is operational. These days in Norway, the industry is gradually moving from the North Sea and towards the Arctic North. The future lies in the High North.
Read the full article in Global Knowlege.