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Arctic Yearbook 2014
individual basis. The most recent addition to the professorships at the University occurred in 2014,
when Statoil, one of the major players in oil exploration in Faroese waters, funded a full
professorship in energy engineering.
The University and the Public Sector
An important feature of the University lies in its close network and informal ties to researchers in
other public institutions that conduct research related to their respective fields. For example, the
Faroese Petroleum Administration (Jarðfeingi) has geologists, physicists, and PhD students engaged in
research. These researchers frequently appear as guest lecturers at the University, helping to
supplement the faculty’s knowledge base. Similarly, the following public sector institutions all
conduct research as a part of their duties and supply the University with guest lecturers on an
informal basis:
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Føroya Landsbókasavn (Faroese National Library)
Føroya Fornminnissavn (Faroese Archaeological Museum)
Nátúrugripasavnið (Natural History Museum)
Biofar (Kaldbak Marine Bio Lab)
Heilsufrøðiliga Starvsstovan (Environmental Agency)
Havstovan (Faroese Marine Research Institute)
Landsskjalasavnið (National Archives)
Jarðfeingi (Faroese Oil Administration)
Fiskaaling (Aquaculture)
Landssjúkrahúsið (National Hospital of the Faroe Islands)
iNova (Research Park)
Since the inception of the University it has been recognized that, should the University have a
chance to survive and flourish, it would need to draw on all available resources. On its own, the
University does not have enough manpower and resources to cover all areas necessary for offering
relevant research-based educational programmes. However, these partnerships have never been
formalised in form of a contract between the University and the public sector, except for a recent
agreement of understanding between the University and the Landsskjúkrahúsið (National Hospital of
the Faroe Islands), and the recently created iNova (Research Park). Nevertheless, it has been a de
facto practice over the years that employees in public institutions who are engaged in research are
allowed to give lectures at the University during their usual working hours (Joensen 1988).
Though these kinds of networks are by no means exceptional, they are nevertheless exceptionally
important for the University, since they provide vital input into the teaching and make it possible to
offer a research-based education that extends far beyond the research conducted by the 73
academics currently employed at the University. The effect of this informal organisation is twofold.
On the one hand these informal networks thus compensate for the limited scope for specialisation
in a microstate, and make it possible to offer research-based teaching in a much wider range of areas
Smits, Bertelsen & Justinussen