Doctoral Awards Ceremony November 2023
Welcome to the Doctoral Awards Ceremony
- Venue: Aulaen, NTNU main building, Gløshaugen.
- Time: at 12 noon. The doors will open at 11 o'clock. Attendance no later than 11.30
Photos from 17 November
Programme 17 November 2023
Music
Trondhjems Studentersangforening | Conductor: Håkon Teigen Lund
- «Gaudeamus Igitur», arrangement: Gavin David Lee
Academic Procession
| Row 1 | Row 2 |
|---|---|
| Rector Anne Borg | Pro-Rector Marit Reitan |
| NTNU Honorary Doctor Trond Petersen | Pro-Rector Tor Grande |
| NTNU Honorary Doctor Roland Span | Pro-Rector Toril Hernes |
| MH - Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences | ØK - Fakultet for økonomi |
| NV - Faculty of Natural Sciences | SU - Fakultet for samfunns- og utdanningsvitenskap |
| IE - Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering | VM - NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet |
| IV - Faculty of Engineering |
HF - Faculty of Humanities |
| AD - Faculty of Architecture and Design |
Music after Academic Procession
Trondhjems Studentersangforening | Cond.: Håkon Teigen Lund
- «Vé No Velkomne Med Æra», arrangement: Eva Holm Foosnæs
Dear new doctors,
Congratulations!
Over the past six months, 215 candidates have completed their doctoral degrees at NTNU. We are gathered here today to celebrate 116 of you.
The doctoral degree awards ceremony is a major highlight in the University’s calendar of events. It marks a very special day for each and every one of you, for the guests you have invited to join you, and not least for NTNU. As Rector, I am proud, happy and humbled to be able to take part in this celebration with you.
There are no shortcuts to a PhD. It takes ambition, hard work, having a goal and – never losing sight of it.
As it was written in stone in this very room, above the entrance to the library, more than a hundred years ago: Per aspera ad astra – through adversity to the stars.
You will soon be presented with your doctoral diploma – the tangible proof that you have attained the highest level of academic education there is. Your doctoral degree will lend authority and gravitas to the views you convey. Manage that authority well!
The doctoral degree awards ceremony also marks the end of your education at NTNU. But this does not mean that all ties with NTNU will be cut from today. Far from it! We regard you as our ambassadors and an important part of our national and international networks. Let there be no doubt: You are important to us!
I would venture to add that NTNU and the network you have built up over the years you have spent with us will be important to you in the years to come. I hope you will keep in contact with NTNU in your future career. And that as you head out into the world, you will both want to and will have a professional interest in getting involved with our academic communities in various ways.
More than anything, from today you are ambassadors of knowledge. And we all know that knowledge needs good ambassadors – now more than ever.
These are unsettled times. In the Middle East, old conflicts have flared up again with renewed force, bringing inconceivable suffering to the civilian population. After nearly two years, there is still no end in sight for the war in Ukraine. The number of democracies in the world is decreasing at an alarming rate. Here at home too, we are seeing that our sense of unity and solidarity is being tested by forces that want to blur the distinction between facts and fabrications.
All of these factors are powerful reminders of the importance of knowledge. Knowledge can be the difference between welfare and poverty. Even between life and death, when taken to the extreme. They also serve as a reminder that we must never take respect for knowledge for granted. Similarly, we must never take respect for human dignity and democratic values for granted.
Therefore, stand up for knowledge, human dignity and democratic values with all the authority your doctoral degree gives you. Contribute to an open, knowledge-based debate and be a clear counterbalance to unfounded opinion-mongering and ignorance.
During the pandemic, which impacted you strongly as doctoral students, awareness of the importance of research grew. This is excellent news!
And not least, it became abundantly clear how important it is to collaborate – across disciplines and across national borders. The major challenges in society today can only be resolved through interdisciplinary work.
And this applies especially to the largest and most urgent of them all: climate change and the need for more sustainable development. The goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 necessitates a concerted research effort to find solutions that safeguard both society and nature, and can ensure a good and dignified life for all the inhabitants of the Earth. To be successful, the solutions must be global.
We all know that research knows no national borders. To succeed in developing new solutions to tomorrow’s challenges, we must work together with the very best academic communities, irrespective of where they are located geographically.
Knowledge always makes a difference. For individuals, for society as a whole, and for the whole world. At NTNU, we call this Knowledge for a better world.
Through his doctoral work, Hogne Lysne has developed a method that makes new solar cells 50% more efficient. This is an important contribution to the green shift and an example of how research can enable us to find more efficient, renewable energy solutions, which will be essential going forwards.
At the other end of the spectrum is research of significance to individuals. In her doctoral thesis, Astrid Hyldbakk shows that encapsulating the medicine in nanoparticles increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy for patients with abdominal cancer. This is important knowledge, because cancer that spreads to the abdominal cavity is very difficult to detect and treat. These highly promising results from her doctoral thesis are therefore fantastic news for this group of patients.
I wish I had time to present everyone’s results. The breadth of the research topics that your thesis represents is astounding. All of you sitting here today have, through your work on your doctorate, contributed important knowledge that will make a difference in the world. And rest assured, we here at NTNU will continue to build on these research results.
Dear new doctors. You are the keepers of an inestimable treasure – knowledge! Knowledge gives people hope and opportunities.
The knowledge you have developed and are taking out into the world will help shape tomorrow’s society.
I wish you all the best for the future! And no matter where the road takes you from here, keep on creating Knowledge for a Better World.
Music
NTNU Brass
-
«Fanfare for a Procession», composer: Claude Debussys
Professor Trond Petersen (born 1954) from the University of California, Berkeley has had an outstanding international career as a social scientist and has been an important international link for NTNU, especially for sociology and political science. He received his master’s degree in sociology in 1981 and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin five years later.
In 1988, he moved to Berkeley, where he is a professor in the Sociology Department. Through innovative methods and research, he has been important in shedding light on complex topics that have addressed gender differences in the labour market and the gender pay gap at the societal level. Many people, far outside his own field of study, are also familiar with Petersen for his valuable contribution as an academic bridge builder.
Petersen played a key role in the establishment of a large interdisciplinary programme for Norwegian students studying at UC Berkeley, which has become the largest exchange programme between Norway and any foreign university. Over the past 15 years, more than 600 NTNU students – from most faculties – have studied at UC Berkeley.
He was also a central in the establishment of the international research center, the Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study in Berkeley. This collaborative research initiative between Berkeley and Norwegian educational institutions, have among other things, facilitated academic interaction and integration with UC Berkeley's internationally top research environment.
Music
NTNU Brass
- «Marcia - Für die Arche», composer: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Professor Roland Span (born 1963) from Germany is a renowned researcher in the field of thermodynamics. Professor Span studied mechanical engineering at Ruhr University Bochum where he received his doctorate in 1992.
He has held various positions in both academia and the business sector, and now is Head of the Chair of Thermodynamics at Ruhr University Bochum. His research is of great importance in areas such as carbon capture and storage, transport of liquefied natural gas, and hydrogen production.
Professor Span has also put considerable effort into coordinating international research work and has been an important player in the research communities at NTNU and SINTEF.
His work on developing more precise thermodynamics models has given us important insights that can help us achieve the shift to greener technologies.
Music
Sara Fjeldvær
- «Don´t Come Around», composer: Sara Fjeldvær
Award of doctoral degrees and congratulations to the new doctors by Pro-Rector for Education Marit Reitan
Dear new doctoral graduates!
Congratulations!
This is not an ordinary day. This is the day to celebrate your new academic status. Since you defended your dissertation, you have been allowed to add a three-letter abbreviation to your names. Three simple letters in our alphabet. But put together they form a powerful title – PhD. They signify high research qualifications and scientific integrity. They also prove that you have had the endurance that was needed to complete your PhD.
One obstacle was of course the pandemic. Most of you have been working on your dissertation during periods of isolation and other restrictions. Anyway, how much struggle each one of you have experienced is only for you to know, and for me to speculate. One thing is nevertheless indisputable – a doctorate from NTNU does not come easy. And that is how it should be.
A doctorate is a door-opener to professional life at the highest level. It gives you the ability to focus on and solve problems that extend far beyond your selected academic specialization. It also gives you authority in several professional contexts - and it gives you responsibility. A responsibility to use your knowledge wisely and the privilege to contribute to a better society.
· To take part in a professional world that is much more than papers and research.
· To speak up and engage with society.
· To debate, and to ask questions that otherwise might not have been asked.
· Or to propose solutions that would not have been found without your ideas.
I also urge you to lend your voice and advocate for those who need it most, and to stand up for issues where your knowledge can make a difference. Your search for new knowledge must not end with your PhD. I encourage you to keep on exploring. Collaborate with colleagues at home and abroad. Build networks. But, most important – stay curious. Curiosity is the key to innovation and progress. Never lose it!
I do believe that for many of you, your family and friends have been invaluable supporters. They have stood beside you and supported you, and by this, contributed to your success. Therefore, warm thanks to all the guests that are with you here on this important day.
Also, warm thanks to supervisors and colleagues here at NTNU for the support you have given in your roles. And not to forget partners you have collaborated with at other universities, research institutes, companies, the public sector and elsewhere. Good partnerships are crucial in creating doctoral work of high quality. Most of you have already left our university to start your career elsewhere. Some of you have also left Norway.
Whatever your choice of profession or wherever you go, I wish you all the best! And I hope to see you back here at NTNU soon.
Finally: As you receive your diplomas today, remember that you’re not just graduates – you are standard-bearers of knowledge. Knowledge for a better world!
And again - congratulations to you all!
You are all hereby promoted to doctors at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and are thereby granted jus docendi, or the right to lecture at NTNU.
I also declare the new doctors who are not present today to be promoted in absentia.
Music
NTNU Brass
- «Country Pictures - In the Church», composer: Vassily Brandt
Trondhjems Studentersangforening | Conductor: Håkon Teigen Lund
- «Sjungom», composer: Prins Gustaf av Sverige og Norge, arrangement: Herman Sätherberg
Per Stian Monsås (born in 1990) works with graphics and installations. He was born and lives in Trondheim. He graduated with a master’s degree from the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art. His works have been commissioned for Hurtigruten’s hybrid-powered expedition ship MS Roald Amundsen and Kjell Inge Røkke’s exploration vessel REV Ocean.
Everyday existence and his own experiences and observations provide starting points for his art. Abstraction of these starting points, with a focus on the properties of the material and the method, forms the basis for his expression.
His work invites situations and moments that play on the body’s perception of what is around us and how this experience can be shared with others.
The circle is a recurring motif throughout his graphics. The circle inspires a sense of openness and endlessness, but it also has qualities that can be seen as limiting and closed. Between these points, a space swarming with expectations opens up, where a new image can take shape – often based on phenomena and the emotions related to them. Here, the different parts converge into a new whole.
