SVF-8063 Society and Advanced Technology in the Arctic (SATA) - 5 stp

SATA will train Norwegian and Russian graduate students in cross-border transdisciplinary analysis and problem-solving concerning Society and Advanced Technology in the Arctic. The Arctic regions of Norway and Russia are important to both countries economically, socially, culturally, politically and strategically. Norway and Russia are neighbouring countries in the Arctic where both invest financial and political capital in a mutually beneficial relationship. Both countries therefore have strong interest in training future talent to think and act together across society and technology in the Arctic.

The topic is transdisciplinary application of fundamental research for improving living conditions in the Arctic using advanced technology (especially remote sensing and space-based technologies). The graduate students will be challenged to develop socio-technical solutions moving between demands and possibilities of society, economy, culture, regulation, natural science and technology.

Norwegian and Russian faculty, staff and graduate students will gain an understanding of Norwegian and Russian traditions, mindsets, cultures and institutions for such work, and they will acquire skills to work productively across such differing or similar traditions, mindsets, cultures and institutions.

The project will be centered on three field courses for Norwegian and Russian graduate students, one field course in each year. Each field course will be for one week and include presentations by academic and industry speakers, site visits to public and private research facilities, authorities and companies, and time for supervised group work by the graduate students to be presented and evaluated in plenum.

The 2019 field course will be in Svalbard. Travel and accommodation will be covered for the selected participants.

This course is aimed at PhD students and researchers (including PostDocs) from all scientific disciplines, but is open for applicants holding a Master`s degree. If you aim to include the credits from the course in your 30 mandatory PhD ECTS you should discuss it with both your supervisor and your faculty.

The course has 20 seats. 10 seats are for students from UiT and 10 seats are for students at Moscow Higher School of Economics.

If the number of applicants exceeds the number of places available on the PhD course, applicants will be ranked from category 1 to 4:

Category 1: People admitted to the PhD Programme at UiT

Category 2: Participants in the Associate Professor Programme that fulfil the educational requirements

Category 3: Doctoral students from other universities

Category 4: People with a minimum of a Master´s Degree (or equivalent). (A Norwegian Master´s Degree of 5 years or 3 (Bachelor Degree) + 2 years (Master¿s Degree).

PhD students or holders of a Norwegian Master´s Degree of five years or 3+ 2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted. PhD students must upload a document from their university stating that they are registered PhD students.

Holders of a Master´s Degree must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma. Applicants from listed countries must document proficiency in English. To find out if this applies to you see the following list: http://www.nokut.no/Documents/NOKUT/Artikkelbibliotek/Utenlandsk_utdanning/GSUlista/2016/GSU_list_English_14112016.pdf

For more information on accepted English proficiency tests and scores, as well as exemptions from the English proficiency tests, please see the following document: https://uit.no/Content/254419/PhD_EnglishProficiency_100913.pdf

The students have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student has:

• Knowledge about the interplay of society and advanced technology in the Arctic
• Knowledge about how to apply fundamental research in transdisciplinary and transborder settings for analysis and problem-solving
• Good knowledge of the pecific topic and local contexts of the field course
• Understanding of Norwegian and Russian traditions, mindsets, cultures and institutions

Skills

The student is able to / can:

• Be able to critically review and reflect on the literature on society and advanced technology in the Arctic
• Be able to engage in transdisciplinary and transborder analysis and problem-solving applying fundamental research to questions of society and advanced society in the Arctic
• Be able to work productively across differing or similar traditions, mindsets, cultures and institutions

The field course will take place on Svalbard, 13-19 October 2019. Topic: "A Norwegian-Russian-international science, technology and innovation future for Svalbard".

The teaching is concentrated around a field course, with preparation and follow-up via online learning platforms.

The field course will use a combination of teaching methods; guest lectures from internationally leading scholars and industry leaders, group exercises, and presentations in plenary sessions.

The following coursework requirements must be completed and approved in order to take the final exam:

In order to meet the objectives of the course, each participant will be required to satisfy two requirements:

• submit a writing sample based on the student¿s own PhD/Master research, and discuss another student¿s paper
• participate in the group exercise of a simulated SATA Research Council call during the field course

The exam will consist of:

Submit a discussion paper (1000 words) based on the other participant¿s writing sample

Evaluated with pass/fail.