ANNUAL REPORT 2019 | 5
EXCERPT FROM THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS' REPORT 2019
May 2019: The Minister of Research and Higher Education, Ms. Iselin Nybø, visited UNIS and the Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO). Here pictured in one of the KHO domes. Photo: Mikko Syrjäsuo/UNIS.
The University Centre in Svalbard AS (UNIS) is a stateowned limited corporation, owned and administered by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. The enterprise’s objective is to provide an educational provision and engage in research based on Svalbard’s geographic location in the High Arctic and the special advantages this offers, by using the nature as a laboratory and arena for observations and collection and analysis of data. The educational provision shall be at university level and act as a supplement to the tuition offered at the universities on the mainland and form part of an ordinary programme of study leading to examinations at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD level. The educational provision shall have an international profile, and all tuition shall be given in English. There shall be a balance between Norwegian and international students. Through its activities, the enterprise shall contribute to community development in Longyearbyen and Svalbard in line with the overarching objectives of Norwegian Svalbard policy.
EDUCATION AND STUDENT STATISTICS
UNIS’ commission from the Ministry of Education and Research for 2019 was to develop an educational provision that represents approximately 220 studentlabour years.
In 2019, 743 students spent shorter or longer periods at UNIS, including both course students and guest master’s students. In addition, one guest bachelor’s student and 12 guest PhD students were registered at the institution.
Of the students in 2019, 50% came from programmes of study at Norwegian universities, while the proportion of Norwegian citizens was 32%. The discrepancy between Norwegian citizens and students from Norwegian universities may be attributed to the fact that foreign nationals are admitted to ordinary programmes of study at Norwegian universities. In recent years, UNIS has had a reasonably balanced gender distribution, with a slight predominance of women. The proportion of women has increased in recent years and in 2019 57% of the students were women. UiT – The Arctic University of Norway is the Norwegian university that sends the most students to UNIS, closely followed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
A total of 213 student-labour years were produced at UNIS in 2019 (down from 218 in 2018), of which 193 student-labour years were linked to credits (ECTS) from completed courses and 20 student-labour years linked to presence by guest master’s students. The decrease was primarily among bachelor’s degree courses, as production at master’s and PhD level has increase somewhat.
