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Professor Dehong Huang from the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) has a long and unique connection to Svalbard, and the UNIS owned Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO). PRIC began collecting data in Ny-Ålesund in 2003, and since opening its station in 2004, it has conducted continuous observations in the high Arctic.

Have the white auroral “GHOSTs” always been there – and why haven’t we seen them before? Traces exist in older data, but past instruments and methods overlooked them. Traditional auroral studies focused on narrow wavelengths, while GHOSTs appear as a broadband glow that can look white, gray, or faintly colored. Only now, with the right combination of instruments, can we confirm them as true GHOST aurora.

Lucas Frank has been following the PhD programme at the University of Bergen, and is defending his doctoral thesis at UNIS 23 October 2025

Stig Andreas Johannessen will defend the PhD degree at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management

How can we understand humans and make everything safer? A safety travel from oil and gas through cars over to preparedness and crisis management training, ending in Arctic Safety, as Gunhild Birgitte Sætren holds her inaugural lecture 10 October.

MSc in Bioscience Victor Gonzalez Triginer at the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology (AMB) will Tuesday 16 September 2025 hold his trial lecture and defend his thesis for the PhD degree in Natural Science at UNIS.

The Norwegian government has committed NOK 1 billion to the Polhavet 2050 initiative, a ten-year research effort uniting 18 institutions, including UNIS. The project will address climate, environment, industry, security, and preparedness in the rapidly changing Arctic.

Dwinnell will defend her doctoral thesis from the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, NMBU, at UNIS on 29 August 2025. Her research explores how climate change affects the food supply and foraging strategies of Svalbard reindeer, shedding light on the adaptive capacity of large Arctic herbivores in a rapidly warming environment.

Den 4. september arrangeres et åpent seminar i Longyearbyen som en del av forskningsprosjektet ZEESA. Her samles lokale, nasjonale og internasjonale eksperter for å diskutere hvordan fremtidens nullutslipps energisystemer kan tilpasses Arktis. Seminaret belyser både tekniske løsninger og hvordan overgangen til fornybar energi kan skje på en sosialt rettferdig måte. Alle interesserte er velkommen!

September 4, an open seminar will be held in Longyearbyen as part of the ZEESA research project. Local, national, and international experts will gather to discuss how future zero-emission energy systems can be adapted to the Arctic. The seminar will address both technical solutions and how the transition to renewable energy can be achieved in a socially just way. All interested parties are welcome!

We are excited to welcome each of you as you begin your studies on August 11th.

UNIS had the honour of hosting Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja for a visit in Helenstua on Tuesday 17 June.

Cheshtaa Chitkara will defend her PhD thesis "Arctic marine microbial eukaryotes–Spatiotemporal drivers of community structure and ecological impacts of Atlantification" at UNIS 28 May 2025.

Follow MSc in Biology Snorre Flo's trial lecture and disputation at UNIS 26 May 2025