Visit of the Norwegian ambassador

The Ambassador of Norway Bård Ivar Svendsen was welcomed to the University of Groningen by President prof. Jouke de Vries. In a lively discussion, prof. De Vries mentioned that joining forces in the field of hydrogen and energy transition could be an interesting angle to intensify collaboration with Norwegian universities. He also elaborated on the plans for closer cooperation between the UG, the Universities for Applied Sciences and the schools for vocational education in the northern region (Universiteit van het Noorden).

Close cooperation from UG with Norway already exists via the North Sea Energy Law programme, offered in cooperation with the University of Oslo and the double degree Strategic Marketing Intelligence with BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo. Furthermore, the Arctic Centre UG collaborates with various partners in Norway in the SVALUR project: Understanding Resilience and Long-Term Ecosystem Change in the High Arctic. A Dutch SEES-expedition to Spitsbergen in which Arctic Centre is involved, had to be postponed this summer, due to COVID. The most important academic links of UG, including joint publications, are with University of Oslo, University of Bergen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Arctic University in Norway.

The Ambassador was accompanied by Honorary Consul Mr. Harmen Post and attaché Mr. Gerber van Erven. On behalf of the University of Groningen, Mr. Mervin Bakker (Director International Strategy & Relations) and Mr. Gernant Deekens (spokesperson) joined the President in the meeting.