GoNorth is a “go”
3 March 2020
The GoNorth project, where UNIS is one of the partners, has received NOK 3 million from the Norwegian government to acquire more knowledge about the marine areas north of Svalbard.
New knowledge about sedimentary basins in Svalbard
24 February 2020
Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikora studied sedimentary basins from the Carboniferous and Triassic periods in Svalbard. She will defend her PhD thesis on 27 February at UNIS.
While we wait for the light – part 3
23 February 2020
While we wait for the light, we are still struggling to define how “dark” or “bright” it really is in the polar night. We know that organisms out there are able to respond to light we cannot see, and we know that polar night is not just a continuous darkness. But it is incredibly much more difficult to measure light in the dark than you might think.
While we wait for the light – part 2
21 February 2020
While we wait for the light, not everything goes as we intended. Sometimes the world is simply not as we thought. And sometimes you are lucky and are in the right place at the right time without any plan behind it. This year’s polar night cruise is a good example of this.
While we wait for the light – part 1
19 February 2020
While most of us at this time are waiting for the light to return, there are many animals and algae out there that thrive in the dark. For many of the marine organisms, the moonlight and mareel (morild) are more than enough to meet their primary needs – find a partner (or two) and food!
Ice in sight!
20 January 2020
We are on a polar night cruise and measurements we have taken show that both Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden are almost five degrees colder now in 2020 than it was at the same time in 2017, and the fjords are simply freezing around us!
We measure the temperature of Isfjorden
17 December 2019
We have been out again to take measurements in Isfjorden, this time with our good colleagues from the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute (MMBI).
Solar proton impact in the middle atmosphere
13 December 2019
PhD candidate Erkka Heino has studied the spatial impact of solar proton events in the Earth’s atmosphere. His research shows that current proton forcing in climate models significantly overestimates the impact area of solar proton events. Heino will defend his thesis on Wednesday 18 December at UNIS.
Funding for extra positions within renewable energy
29 November 2019
The Ministry of Education and Research has allocated funds for two new PhD positions within renewable energy at UNIS. – This allows us to build up a new scientific field in the Arctic Technology department, says UNIS director Harald Ellingsen.