Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 332

332 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: • • • • • • • • • • • 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