A day of joy: ”I actually felt tearful when I heard that this would happen today. So thank you very much,” Nord Rector Hanne Solheim Hansen tells the Minister of Fisheries and Seafood, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen (H), and the Minister of Research and Higher Education, Henrik Asheim (H). Photo: Bjørn-Åge Rånes.
The government is proposing an allocation of NOK 100 million for the new building and NOK 10 million for user equipment in the 2022 national budget.
“Never before have more students put Nord University down as their first choice. There will simply not be room for everyone in the coming years. With this funding, the new building can be ready in 2025,” says Henrik Asheim (H), Minister of Research and Higher Education.
“This will contribute additional expertise in aquaculture and marine ecology and improved skills training for nursing students with state-of-the-art welfare technology. The new building will be important to the region as a whole,” Asheim adds.
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A milestone in Nord’s development
Nord University is already strong in the fields of aquaculture, marine ecology and genomics. These are fields of study that are particularly important to the region and in which there is a great need for additional expertise.
“Blått bygg is a milestone in the development of Nord University and will form the basis for crucial new research into and knowledge of the sea and our marine resources. New knowledge of the sea is fundamental to the further development of our ocean industries,” says Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen (H), Minister of Fisheries and Seafood.
Rector: “We can open the floodgates now!”
Can be ready in 2025: Rector Hanne Solheim Hansen hopes that they can start work in 2022 and that the new building will be ready three years later. Illustration: HENT AS
The new building will enable Nord University to conduct research and teaching at a high national and international level. The University will strengthen “blue growth”, innovation, nursing and health sciences in Nordland and Trøndelag.
“This will mean a lot to Nord, the region and the country. But the research we will generate will also have a major international impact,” says Hanne Solheim Hansen, Rector at Nord University.
“There are a large number of students wishing to study aquaculture and health sciences with us. We have an industry that is crying out for expertise but we are a bottleneck. It will therefore be fantastic to finally be able to open the floodgates.”
Mette Sørensen is the Dean of the Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture at Nord University. She explains that they have been waiting for this news for eight years.
“It’s finally happening. In the interim, the Faculty has grown significantly in terms of both students and employees and we now need the new building more than ever.”
“The new and improved infrastructure will provide us with facilities for the state-of-the-art research equipment we rely on to be able to be a leader in research within our field. This will also make it easier for us to recruit outstanding professionals and it will make it more fun to study here. We strongly believe that new, modern infrastructure will increase the attractiveness of our study programmes even further,” Sørensen says.
Ready for a Clinical Centre of Excellence
In line with new developments, significant parts of the existing premises will also be freed up for a Clinical Centre of Excellence. This will lead to enormous strengthening of the health sciences.
“This means a great deal to the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, as it provides us with the opportunity to further develop our current skills department into a Clinical Centre of Excellence. This centre will provide us with the opportunity to practice to become clinically proficient in our field.
“Our students will receive even more training in clinical expertise but we will also partner with the local authorities and specialist health services to develop expertise and enable them to further develop their clinical expertise,” says Gøril Ursin, Dean of the Faculty.
The latest and most forward-looking expertise
Proud president of the student union:
“This will not only affect the university but also the regions of Trøndelag and Nordland alike,” says President of the Student Union Eugen Sebastian Hovden. Photo: Bjørn-Åge Rånes
“The new building will mean a lot to students at Nord University. We will see a strong increase in the number of students who are able to study here and this shows that we are investing in attractive and important programmes of study that society needs. Here, students will have the opportunity to gain the latest and most forward-looking expertise, which is incredibly important.”
“This will also have social ripple effects,” says President of the Student Union Eugen Sebastian Hovden.