Norwegian University of Science and Technology

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Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU logo
Established 1996 (1910, 1760)
Type Public university
Rector Torbjørn Digernes (Professor of marine system design)
Admin. staff 5,100
Students 22,349
Location Trondheim, Norway
Campus Gløshaugen
Dragvoll
Øya
Tyholt
Athletics NTNUI
Affiliations European University Association
TIME network
CESAER
Website www.ntnu.edu

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norwegian: Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet), commonly known as NTNU, is located in Trondheim. NTNU is the second largest of the eight universities in Norway, and, as its name suggests, has the main national responsibility for higher education in engineering and technology. In addition to engineering and the natural and physical sciences, the university offers advanced degrees in other academic disciplines ranging from the social sciences, the arts, medicine, architecture and fine art.

Contents

History [edit]

NTNU was formed in 1996 by the merger of the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) (1910), the College of Arts and Sciences (AVH), the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology (VM), the Faculty of Medicine (DMF), the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art and the Trondheim Conservatory of Music (MiT). Prior to the 1996 merger, NTH, AVH, DMF, and VM together constituted the University of Trondheim (UNiT), which was a much looser organization. However, the university's roots go back to 1760, with the foundation of the Trondheim Society, which in 1767 became the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. A group of Trondheim-based institutions including NTNU celebrated a 250th Jubilee in 2010 to commemorate this history, while NTNU itself celebrated its centennial. The centennial was also celebrated by the publication of a history of the university, entitled "Turbulens og tankekraft. Historien om NTNU," [1] which translates as "Turbulence and mindpower: A history of NTNU".

The celebration of NTNU's centennial year in 2010 has resulted in an enormous effort to expand the university's photo archive. Here, an engineering student from 1933, when the school was called the Norwegian Institute of Technology, shows off an engine presumably used in the course of his studies.

Campus [edit]

NTNU has several campuses in Trondheim, with Gløshaugen, for engineering and sciences, and Dragvoll, for humanities and social sciences as the main two. Other campuses include Tyholt for marine technology, Øya for medicine, Kalvskinnet for archaeology, Midtbyen for the music conservatory and Nedre Elvehavn for the art academy.

Academics [edit]

The university consists of seven faculties with a total of 52 departments and has approximately 22,000 students. Academic and administrative staff contribute 5,100 man-labour years of which 3,100 are in education and research. NTNU has more than 100 laboratories and is at any time running some 2,000 research projects. Students and staff can take advantage of roughly 300 research agreements or exchange programs with 58 institutions worldwide.

NTNU was ranked 16th in Europe and 85th in the World in January 2012 in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, [2] for its presence on the web, the highest ranking of any Norwegian university.

Research [edit]

NTNU's overall budget in 2011/2012 was 673 million euros, most of which came from the Norwegian Ministry of Education.[3] Funding from the Research Council of Norway (NFR) totaled 82 million euros, a decrease from 2010/2011 of 4.4 percent.[4]

The university is home to three of 21 Norwegian Centers of Excellence.[5] These are the Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures,[6] the Centre for the Biology of Memory[7] and the Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems.[8] The Centre for the Biology of Memory is also one of four Kavli Neuroscience Institutes.[9] In 2012 Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg opened the Norwegian Brain Centre as an outgrowth of NTNU's Kavli Institute [10] one of the largest research laboratories of its kind in the world.

Students [edit]

According to the Norwegian Social Science Data Services, NTNU had 84,797 applicants in 2011 and a total student population of 19,054, of whom 9,062 were women. There were 6,193 students enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, 3,518 students enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, 3,256 students enrolled in the Faculty of Humanities, 3,090 students enrolled in the Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, 2,014 students enrolled in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, 1,071 enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine, and 605 enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art.

Student life [edit]

NTNU welcomes students from all over the world, and offers more than 30 master’s programmes that are taught in English. PhD programs are open to qualified applicants, and are paid staff positions that give candidates specific workplace rights and benefits under Norwegian law.

NTNU students have a clear presence in the city of Trondheim. The most famous student organization is the Studentersamfundet i Trondhjem, also known as "the red round house" after its architectural form; every other year it organizes a cultural festival UKA. Another festival organized by students is the International Student Festival in Trondheim ISFiT, which awards a student peace prize and draws internationally known speakers. The student sports organization, NTNUI, has roughly 10 000 members in its many branches,[11] with the largest groups including orienteering, cross-country and telemark skiing, but there are also groups for sports less common in Norway, like American football, lacrosse and aikido. A cabin and cottage organization owns several cabins in the countryside, available for students wishing to spend a few days away. There are also student fraternities, some of which conduct voluntary hazing rituals, which provide contact with potential employers and for social interaction between students. There are also alumni associations; religious and political organizations; clubs devoted to various topics such as innovation, human rights, beer, oatmeal, anime and computers; and The Association for Various Associations, which is a parody of the university's large number of student organizations.

Noted alumni [edit]

NTNU's most visible living alumnus is Fred Kavli,[12] who graduated from NTH, one of NTNU's predecessors, and who founded The Kavli Foundation when he retired from a successful career as head of Kavlico Corp., one of the world's largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautics, automotive and industrial applications.[13]

The university's only living Nobel laureate is Ivar Giaever, who graduated from NTH in 1952, and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973.[14] Lars Onsager, another NTH graduate (1925), won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1968.[15] John Ugelstad (1921–1997) was a chemical engineer at the university who created monodisperse polymer beads, which are now widely used in medical technology.[16]

Other alumni of note are:

Photographs [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: NTNU Trondheim

  • The main building and the institution's first building, on the Gløshaugen campus

  • View from inside the Dragvoll campus structure, which is a series of buildings linked by a glassed-in street

  • "Elektro". The Electrical Engineering building

  • NTNU's newest building, for the natural sciences. The building covers 60,000 sq. meters and is the largest building in Trondheim

  • 1-2-TRE is an academic course for students of both architecture and construction. After a competition during the course, the students design and plan a life size camera obscura on the corner of the canal and the Nidelv river, using 3D cutter technology.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://www.universitetsavisa.no/campus/article6064.ece%7Cpublisher=Universitetsavisa |Retrieved 2012-05-10
  2. ^ http://www.webometrics.info/en/Europe/Norway
  3. ^ http://www.ntnu.no/documents/10137/1127022/rapport-2011-planer-2012.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.ntnu.no/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=166a8154-6853-4c76-afa7-8ef52a68cf22&groupId=10137
  5. ^ "Research Council of Norway. Norwegian Centres of Excellence". Research Council of Norway. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  6. ^ "CeSOS - Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  7. ^ "CBM - Centre for Biology of Memory". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  8. ^ "Q2S- Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  9. ^ "Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience". The Kavli Foundation. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  10. ^ "Norwegian Prime Minister opens brain research centre at NTNU". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Retrieved 2012-07-15. 
  11. ^ http://www.ntnui.no/main/Page/43.xhtml?lang=en
  12. ^ "Fred Kavli". The Kavli Foundation. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  13. ^ "FRED KAVLI PROFILE:A New Benefactor Takes Aim at Basic Scientific Questions". Science. 2005-01-21. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  14. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics, 1973, Ivar Giaever, Biography". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  15. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1968, Lars Onsager, Biography". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  16. ^ "Small beads make big medicine". Gemini Magazine. 1993-12-01. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 

External links [edit]

Coordinates: 63°25′10″N 10°24′9″E / 63.41944°N 10.40250°E / 63.41944; 10.40250
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