Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Established	1996 (1910, 1760)
Type	Public university
Rector	Torbjørn Digernes (Professor of marine system design)
Admin. staff	4,300
Students	20,000
Location	Trondheim, Norway
Campus	Gløshaugen Dragvoll Øya Tyholt
Affiliations	European University Association TIME network
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.

History

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 will celebrate a 250th Jubilee in 2010 to commemorate this history, while NTNU itself celebrates its centennial.

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

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

The university consists of seven faculties with a total of 53 departments and has approximately 20,000 students. Academic and administrative staff contribute 4,300 man-labour years of which 2,500 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 24th in Europe and 116th in the World in 2011 in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, http://www.webometrics.info/top500_europe.asp?zoom_highlight=Norwegian for its presence on the web, the second highest ranking of any Norwegian university.

Research

NTNU's overall budget in 2009 was 590 million euros, most of which (434 million euros) came from the Norwegian Ministry of Education.^[1] Funding from the Research Council of Norway (NFR) totalled 73 million euros, an increase over 2008 of 12 percent.^[2]

The university is home to three of 21 Norwegian Centers of Excellence.^[3] These are the Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures,^[4] the Centre for the Biology of Memory^[5] and the Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems.^[6] The Centre for the Biology of Memory is also one of four Kavli Neuroscience Institutes.^[7]

Students

According to the Norwegian Social Science Data Services, NTNU had 75,978 applicants in 2009 and a total student population of 18,909, of whom 9,027 were women. There were 6,193 students enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, 3,195 students enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, 3,142 students enrolled in the Faculty of Humanities, 2,702 students enrolled in the Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, 1,980 students enrolled in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, 914 enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine, and 614 enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art.

Student life

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,^[8] 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

NTNU's most visible living alumnus is Fred Kavli,^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] Lars Onsager, another NTH graduate (1925), won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1968.^[12] John Ugelstad (1921–1997) was a chemical engineer at the university who created monodisperse polymer beads, which are now widely used in medical technology.^[13]

Other alumni of note are:

• Gunvald Aus, (1879) Norwegian-American engineer most associated with the engineering of the Woolworth Building in New York City.
• Jens G. Balchen, electronics engr., professor, "father of Norwegian cybernetics", IEEE fellow
• Alf Egil Bogen, electronics engr., co-inventor of Atmel AVR µcontroller, co-founder of Atmel Norway
• Helmer Dahl, electronics engr., WWII radar and ASDIC pioneer, research and industry mentor, technology historian
• Asbjorn Folling - graduated (1916), Jahreprisen 1960
• Martin Sigvart Grytbak - graduated (1903), Norwegian-American engineer involved in the design of the great bridges of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
• Bjarne Hurlen, mechanical engr., army officer, defence industry executive (Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk 1956–1975)
• Ediz Hun, biology & environmental sciences, lecturer at Marmara University, former Member of Turkish Grand National Assemble and famous Turkish actor
• Ralph Høibakk, physicist, computer industry executive, mountaineer, adventurer (Seven Summits; South Pole)
• Lars Monrad Krohn, electronics engr., industrialist (mini- and microcomputers)
• Olav Landsverk, electronics engr., military weapon systems computer pioneer, professor
• John M. Lervik, electronics engr., co-founder and CEO of Fast Search & Transfer (FAST)
• Finn Lied, electronics engr., WWII resistance agent, defence research director, Minister of Industry
• Terje Michalsen, electronics engr., venture capitalist
• Trond Halstein Moe, opera singer
• Ingvild Myhre, electronics engr., telecom industry executive (Alcatel Telecom Norway, Telenor Mobil)
• Robert K. Nilssen, electrical engr., professor, IEEE fellow
• Kristoffer Olsen Oustad - graduated (1882), Norwegian American Civil Engineer
• Venketa Parthasarathy, chemical engr., noted for work on wood pulp and two-stage oxygen delignification
• Johan Richter, mechanical engr.graduated 1924, inventor with more than 750 worldwide patents within the paper and pulp industry. Creator and CEO of Kamyr, Karlstad (now Kvaerner Pulping, Karlstad)
• Edgar B. Schieldrop, mechanical engr., student society co-founder, popular science & technology author
• Rune Skarstein, radical economist employed at NTNU
• Rolf Skaar, cybernetics engr., industrialist (minicomputers), Norwegian Space Centre director
• Øystein Stray Spetalen, petroleum engr., Norwegian investor
• Berit Svendsen, telecom. engr., MTM, CTO of Telenor 2000–.
• Anders Talleraas, mechanical engr., MP for 20 years, former Conservative party parliamentary leader
• Vebjørn Tandberg, electronics engr., industrialist (radio, tape recording, television)
• Leif Tronstad, O.B.E., chemist, nuclear chemistry scientist, planner and organiser of WWII's Operation Gunnerside
• Tor Olav Trøim, marine engr., shipping and energy industry executive (Frontline Ltd., Seadrill)
• Tore M. Undeland, electrical engr., professor, international textbook author (Wiley)
• Bror With, mechanical engr., inventor of the Rottefella ski binding and Dromedille dinghy; WWII resistance agent
• Vegard Wollan, electronics engr., co-inventor of Atmel AVR µcontroller, co-founder of Atmel Norway
• Gjert Wilhelmsen, marine engr., co-founder of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

Photographs

• 

  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

• NTH Ring
• Centre for Renewable Energy
• List of forestry universities and colleges
• Gemini (magazine), research news from NTNU and SINTEF

References

1. ^ http://www.ntnu.no/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=166a8154-6853-4c76-afa7-8ef52a68cf22&groupId=10137
2. ^ http://www.ntnu.no/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=166a8154-6853-4c76-afa7-8ef52a68cf22&groupId=10137
3. ^ "Research Council of Norway. Norwegian Centres of Excellence". Research Council of Norway. http://www.forskningsradet.no/servlet/Satellite?c=Informasjonstekst&cid=1224067014053&pagename=sff%2FHovedsidemal. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
4. ^ "CeSOS - Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. http://www.cesos.ntnu.no/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
5. ^ "CBM - Centre for Biology of Memory". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. http://www.ntnu.no/cbm/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
6. ^ "Q2S- Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. http://www.q2s.ntnu.no/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
7. ^ "Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience". The Kavli Foundation. http://www.kavlifoundation.org/norwegian-university-science-and-technology-ntnu/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
8. ^ http://www.ntnui.no/main/Page/43.xhtml?lang=en
9. ^ "Fred Kavli". The Kavli Foundation. http://www.kavlifoundation.org/fred-kavli. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
10. ^ "FRED KAVLI PROFILE:A New Benefactor Takes Aim at Basic Scientific Questions". Science. 2005-01-21. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/307/5708/340. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
11. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics, 1973, Ivar Giaever, Biography". Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1973/giaever.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
12. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1968, Lars Onsager, Biography". Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1968/onsager-bio.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
13. ^ "Small beads make big medicine". Gemini Magazine. 1993-12-01. http://www.ntnu.no/gemini/1993-dec/34.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 

External links

• Home page
• NTNU - facts and figures
• An overview of some of NTNU’s laboratories

Coordinates: 63°25′10″N 10°24′9″E / 63.41944°N 10.4025°E / 63.41944; 10.4025