The major historical events 

1760 – The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters

In 1760, The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab) was founded, and The University Museum and Gunnerus Library stem from this. 

1768 – Norway’s oldest library is founded

The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters established The Gunnerus Library, which is Norway’s oldest library.

1870 – Engineering education starts in Trondheim

The engineering education in Trondheim began with Trondhjems Technical School in 1870. Until its closure in 1916, TTL was the leading technical-theoretical education in the country. The school trained young men as machinists and managers for smaller factories. In 1898, TTL moved into Munkegata 1, which today is Trondheim’s City Hall. 

1877 – Ålesund gets its Seaman’s School

This is the beginning of maritime education in Ålesund city.

1900 – NTH is approved in the Norwegian Parliament

As early as 1833, officer and member of parliament Herman Foss proposed a Technical School in Norway, but the decision to establish the school was not made until May 31, 1900. The Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) was approved, and the good news was conveyed to the city via telegram. This led to a spontaneous celebration with brigade music, parades, and flagging.

1906 – The memorial stone is placed

The memorial stone was built into the main building of NTH on King Haakon VII’s coronation day. The stone was placed as high on the wall as the construction work had come at that time.

1908 – The Royal Norwegian Mining Academy is moved to Trondheim

The Royal Norwegian Mining Academy was first opened in Kongsberg in 1757, moved to the University of Christiania in 1813, and was thus located in Trondheim in 1908. NTNU’s oldest academic community, Bergteknikk, can trace its history back to when the Mining Academy opened in Kongsberg.

1909 – NTH’s first four professors are appointed

Adolf Wilhelm Joseph Watzinger (heat engines), Sem Sæland (physics), Ole Sivert Bragstad (electrical engineering), and Peder Farup (inorganic chemistry).

1910 – King Haakon opens NTH On September 15

In 1910, King Haakon VII officially opened the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH). This was celebrated with great festivity and lectures by, among others, Richard Birkeland. The Main Building itself, designed by architect Bredo Greve, was completed in 1915.

1910 – The Norwegian Institute of Technology’s sports association is founded

At the same time, NTHI was founded as a sports association for both employees and students. Today, the sports association is called NTNUI and is the country’s largest of its kind.

1910 –  The Student Society in Trondheim is founded

The Student Society in Trondheim, or "Samfundet" , as it is also called (in Norwegian: Studentersamfundet i Trondhjem), is the third oldest student society in Norway. Nineteen years later, Samfundet had its own building at Elgeseter. The first chairman was Edgar Bonsak Schieldrop, who made the following famous quote in his speech on the society’s first anniversary: “The School wants to make you a learner, we at the Student Society want to make you a student. He is blind who does not see the gap between the meaning of these two words. The one who is only the former without being the latter, he will not be a man, not a complete human - at best, he can become a professor.”.”

1912 – Technical middleschool established

Trondheim Technical Middleschool was established as a successor to Trondheim Technical Learning School. The school changed its name to Trondheim echnical School in 1936 and moved to Kalvskinnet. In 1977, Trondheim School of Engineering (Trondheim ingeniørhøgskole) became the new name. The school became part of Sør-Trøndelag University College (HiST) in 1994.

1921 – Tapir is founded

Students and employees at NTH established their own bookstore for writing materials and requisites.

1922 – The Norwegian Teacher’s College starts up at Lade Mansion

The Norwegian Teacher’s College was approved by the Storting on June 1, 1922, and was located at Lade Mansion from 1922 to 1960. The school then moved to larger premises at Rosenborg, where space was set aside for teaching science, among other things. It became possible to increase the number of students, and in practice, this became a transition to university studies with the establishment of basic and intermediate subjects.

1925 – The physics building

The physics building at NTH opens at Gløshaugen.

1929 – Studentersamfundet opens

Studentersamfundet gets its own house - the red round one at Elgeseter. The house was called Cassa Rossa, and the members worked voluntarily to run the house and activities.

1936 – The first nuclear particle accelerator in the Nordic countries

Johan Peter Holtsmark, a professor of physics, gave a lecture for DKNVS where he demonstrated NTH’s recently completed Van de Graaff generator. The generator was built in the period 1934-1937 and was the first nuclear particle accelerator in the Nordic countries.

1939 – The Ship Model Basin opens

The Ship Technical Research Institute (Ship Model Tank) opens at Tyholt in Trondheim.

1946 – The Art School in Trondheim opens

This is the precursor to what is the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art at NTNU today.

1949 – Sivilingeniør becomes a protected title

Sivilingeniør (Masters of Science degree) is introduced as a protected title, and only NTH could award the title. After 1985, several educational institutions were given the opportunity to award the title.

1950 – SINTEF is founded

SINTEF (Foundation for Industrial and Technical Research at NTH) was originally established to be NTH’s extended arm towards industry. Professors at NTH saw opportunities to build up a contract research business and used SINTEF as an instrument. SINTEF had its strongest growth period in the 1970s, and large national laboratories such as the Ocean Laboratory and the Multiphase Laboratory were established at this time.

1959 – The State Teacher’s School

The Teacher’s School in Trondheim was established as the State Teacher’s School in Trondheim.

1960 – Chemistry Block IV is completed

The Chemistry Department was one of the first to receive new buildings in connection with the extensive expansion of NTH after World War II. The other buildings were completed in 1967 (no. III), 1954 (no. I), 1955 (no. II), 1957 (no. V), 1958 (the experimental hall), and 1962 (intermediate building no. IV).

1962 – Trondheim social college

The school was established to address the lack of educational institutions for social workers in the northern part of the country. The school was the third of its kind in the country and the first outside Oslo. They took over the premises of the Norwegian Teacher’s College at Lade Mansion.

1964 – Trondheim School of Economics

The college has since changed its name to Trondheim School of Economics and was from 1994 a department under the University College of Sør-Trøndelag (HiST). The college is now a separate department at NTNU: NTNU Business School.

1965 – Møre og Romsdal Technical School

The school became Møre og Romsdal Engineering College in 1977.

1966 – Gjøvik Technical School

In 1988, the State Forestry School Brandbu was incorporated into the engineering school, which was then Gjøvik Engineering School.

1967 – The Nursing School in Sør-Trøndelag

The Nursing School in Sør-Trøndelag was established as a merger between Trondheim Red Cross Nursing School (1906) and Trondhjems Sanitetsforenings Nursing School (1919).

1968 – The University of Trondheim (UNIT) is founded

In the 1950s, there was a major expansion of the Norwegian Teacher’s College in Trondheim (NLHT), and basic, intermediate, and finally main subject teaching in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences was gradually introduced. NLHT, from 1984 called the General Science College (AVH), then merged with the University of Trondheim (UNIT) in 1968 as an autonomous college on a par with the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH). UNIT was thus established as a common superstructure for NTH, NLHT, and VM (Interim Board). However, the Storting’s intention to integrate these institutions was followed up to a limited extent, and NTH and NLHT retained a high degree of autonomy.

1972 – The BIBSYS project is launched

BIBSYS started as a collaborative project between the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences, the library of the Norwegian Institute of Technology, and the Computing Center at NTH. The purpose was to automate internal library routines. From operating a library system for two libraries in Trondheim, BIBSYS developed a national library system for Norwegian subject and research libraries.

1973 – Trøndelag Conservatory of Music

Trøndelag Conservatory of Music was established through a division of Trondhjem Music School of 1911 into a municipal music school and a conservatory for which the state had to take financial responsibility in the 1980s.

1974 – Department of Medicine

The Department of Medicine was established on April 9, 1974, at the University of Trondheim, and medical education began the following year. In 1984, the Faculty of Medicine was formally established. From 1996, the faculty became part of the newly established NTNU, and the name today is Faculty of Medicine and Health.

1974 – The Nursing School in Ålesund

In 1994, the college became part of the College of Ålesund.

1978 – The University Center at Dragvoll is opened

In 1978, the Norwegian Teacher’s College moved to the first development phase at Dragvoll. The building was the first physical, architectural expression of the University of Trondheim. This is an iconic building that is internationally known and has many followers, also in Trondheim (for example, Royal Garden Hotel and Nye Elektro at Gøshaugen). The architect was Henning Larsen.

1979 – The Academy of Fine Arts in Trondheim

In 1979, the Art School in Trondheim (KiT) entered the college system, and from 1987, the Academy of Fine Arts in Trondheim became a state art academy. From January 1, 2017, the Academy of Fine Arts became a separate department under the Faculty of Architecture and Design.

1979 – Jazz education

The same year as the Academy of Fine Arts, the jazz education was also established at Trøndelag Conservatory of Music, which today is part of the Department of Music at the Faculty of Humanities.

1984 – The Teacher’s College changes its name to the College of General Sciences (AVH)

AVH becomes a reality and moves to a faculty structure in the same way as the universities in Oslo and Bergen is organised.

1986 – The Nursing School in Oppland

The National Association and the Oppland County Nursing School become the Nursing School in Oppland. This forms the basis for what would become part of Gjøvik University College.

1988 – Møre og Romsdal Fisheries Technical College

This was a college for the education of naval officers. Since 1983, the county council had provided education within the framework of upper secondary school. From January 1, 1988, the state took over the operation of higher education, and the college became part of Ålesund University College in 1994.

1994 – Gjøvik University College

Gjøvik Engineering College and the Nursing School in Oppland merge and become Gjøvik University College.

1994 – Ålesund University College

The college was established by the merger of the regional colleges Møre og Romsdal Fisheries Technical College, Møre og Romsdal Engineering College, and the Nursing School in Ålesund. Just before the merger with NTNU, the college had about 2400 students and 200 employees.

1994 – Sør-Trøndelag University College

Established after the merger of eight schools: Trondheim Engineering College, the State Food Technology College, Trondheim Health College, the Social College in Trondheim, the Nursing School in Trondheim, Trondheim Teacher’s College, Trondheim School of Economics, and the Conservatory.

1996 – The Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU is founded

In 1996, the University of Trondheim (UNIT) became the Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU. The idea of a technical-scientific university in Trondheim was first proposed by NTH Rector Karsten Jakobsen in 1989. The idea was relaunched by KrF, with Jon Lilletun leading the charge, after the proposal was met with political opposition. The majority of Christian People’s Party, Socialist Left Party, and the Norwegian Labour Party went on to change UNIT to NTNU in 1995. The name was chosen to express a technical and scientific main profile, while the term university implied a broad range of subjects in humanities, social sciences, and medicine.

1999 – Ålesund new collage building 

In 1999, Ålesund got its own college building located just outside the city center, close to several major business actors.

2000 – The Natural Science Building finished 

The Natural Science Building in Trondheim was opened by King Harald on May 30, 2000, on the centenary of the Storting’s decision to place NTH in Trondheim.

2010 – Jubileum with four celebrations 

2010 was a big year for NTNU, with four celebrations. NTNU marked its own 100th anniversary with the opening of NTH. Both the Student Society in Trondhjem and NTNUI celebrated their 100th anniversaries at the same time. Not least, the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters celebrated its 250th anniversary.

2014 – Nobel Prize 

In 2014, May Britt Moser and Edvard Moser were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with John O’Keefe from University College London.

2016 – Merge

In 2016, NTNU, Sør-Trøndelag University College, Gjøvik University College, and Ålesund University College merged to become NTNU.