Music

Trondhjems Kvinnelige Studentersangforening & Trondhjems Studentersangforening | conductor: Håkon Teigen Lund

• «Gaudeamus Igitur», arrangement: Gavin David Lee

Academic Procession

Music ​after Academic Procession

Trondhjems Kvinnelige Studentersangforening & Trondhjems Studentersangforening | conductor: Håkon Teigen Lund

• «Sangerhilsen», arrangement: Edvard Grieg / lyrics: Sigvald Skavland

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear new doctoral graduates,

Distinguished guests,

We live in challenging times.

Your PhD research at NTNU has been conducted during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the pandemic started, the world changed dramatically. And now we are in a period defined more by wars and conflict than peace.

Two years have passed since Russia began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Once again, soldiers are fighting and dying on European soil. And sadly, the ensuing war among Israel and Hamas has inflicted severe hardships on civilians.

At the same time democratic norms and democracies themselves are in decline around the globe. About 64 countries find themselves at a crossroad in 2024. This will be the year where more voters than ever will go to the polls – and decide which course their country takes.

Few humans have ever seen Earth with their own eyes from space. But the ones who do are reminded that we share a place that all humankind calls home. A home where the consequences of climate change and the loss of nature loom large. Despite our differences we share a common planet, including the soldiers aiming their weapons at each other today.

We will continue to face many challenging choices as a society. But the most important choice we can make today is to believe in what we can achieve together. With a PhD comes responsibility; the responsibility to use your knowledge wisely and the privilege of contributing to a better society. You are ambassadors of knowledge. And knowledge is power – use your knowledge where it is needed the most.

Now I will continue in Norwegian:

***

Dear guests,

The Doctoral Awards Ceremony is an old tradition and is considered one of the biggest celebrations at a university.

However, as you know, doctoral studies are not just about fun and games. Behind me over the entrance to the library is a motto in stone: “Per aspera ad astra” – through adversity to the stars.

Through adversity, you have all gained an academic ballast that few others have and that inspire trust and responsibility.

Completing a PhD demands a lot of hard work, and there are no shortcuts on the way to achieving your goals. Dedication, curiosity and the strong inner drive you have is what has brought you here.

But what does having a PhD actually mean? Today, I want to say a few words about that, and I would like to start with a story that unfolded not too far from where we are now.

Just behind you in Rådssalen, the first doctoral awards ceremony at the University was held almost 100 years ago.

At the time, there was only one candidate defending his doctorate. The candidate’s name was Fredrik Vogt, and he belonged to the first cohort of students admitted to the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH). In 1924, he stood there and defended his doctoral thesis on hydropower turbines.

After just over two hours of discussions about turbine diagrams and the accuracy of various mathematical calculations, NTH had its first doctor in the field of engineering sciences.

The new doctor hardly knew what was waiting for him – and the world in the years to come. It didn’t take long before the fragile interwar peace was destroyed by a new world war.

However, it wasn’t until after World War II that Vogt’s knowledge would make an important difference. After the war, Norway required a lot of energy, and Vogt was appointed as the Director of the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Agency.

In 1947, 20 per cent of Norway’s population did not have access to electricity. When Fredrik Vogt left his position as director in 1960, almost 98 per cent of the population had access to electricity.

There are few individuals who have influenced the development of hydropower in Norway more than he has.

The same hydropower that we continue to benefit from today helps ensure that Norway is a country with an abundant supply of renewable energy.

Dear doctoral candidates, I am now getting to actual point of this story. The unique knowledge that you possess and upon which you continue to build may have ripple effects far beyond the words and thoughts you have written in your theses. No one knows what the future will bring, but I do know that there is great creative power in knowledge and what you have learned here.

In the same way that Fredrik Vogt and his generation had to navigate turbulent times, your generation faces demanding and complex challenges that must be dealt with wisely. Society will look to you for advice and leadership. A doctoral degree gives you the intellectual weight to do just that.

Take Rialda Spahic’s research, for example, which shows how artificial intelligence can be used to detect damage to underwater pipelines. This is very valuable knowledge, especially when the protection of vulnerable infrastructure is becoming increasingly important.

Or Alexander Fiedler, who has helped shed light on how intestinal bacteria in salmon are important in protecting them from diseases. In his thesis, he points out that bacteriophage therapy can be just as effective as using antibiotics in the treatment of salmon. These are insights that are also transferable to the treatment of humans.

A third example is Janicke Marita Syltern’s thesis. She has specialised in the challenging ethical dilemmas that many parents and health professionals have to quickly address when it comes to palliative or life-saving treatment of new born infants who are at the edge of viability.

These three examples show that NTNU is a university for thought-provoking and ground-breaking research. Research that makes us wiser and advances our society, one step at a time.

I could have named many more examples, but one thing that all of you sitting here have in common is that you have contributed knowledge that is important. Knowledge that makes a difference and contributes to our readiness to solve challenges we don’t even know about yet.

In 1924, Fredrik Vogt was the only doctoral candidate. In 2024, 119 doctoral candidates are gathered in this Aula. Your combined force makes me optimistic about the future. I look forward to seeing the continuation of your efforts, and hope and believe we will see and hear a lot from each and every one of you in the future.

Getting a doctoral degree may mark the end of your education at NTNU, but it primarily marks the start of something new and exciting in your careers. You really have something to look forward to.

Dear guests, thank you so much for your efforts, and once again, congratulations!

Music

NTNU Brass

• «Holborne suite, 1. sats», composer: Anthony Holborne / arrangement: Hans Petter Stangnes

• «Chanson de matin», composer: Edward Elgar / arrangement: Roger Harvey

Professor Richard Spontak (born 1961) at North Carolina State University is awarded an honorary doctorate during the Doctoral Awards Ceremony this Friday. Professor Spontak is already well known at NTNU and was awarded a Lars Onsager's honorary professorship in 2012 for his work in chemical process engineering and polymer science. His research on membranes and gas separation has been an important contribution to developing techniques for carbon capture and storage. This is a field that has also become increasingly important now that hydrogen is being singled out as a priority area in the shift to greener energy sources.

Professor Spontak is an internationally recognized scientist and is one of eight American professors who has been named as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Both NTNU and other Norwegian institutions have enjoyed and benefitted from collaborating with Professor Spontak, which in turn has led to international prizes and new research funding.

Music

Rigla

• «Tjugedalaren», traditional
• «Jeg havde meg en venn», after Magnhild Almhjell, traditional

Award of doctoral degrees and congratulations to the new doctors by Pro-Rector for Innovation Toril A. Nagelhus Hernes

Dear new doctoral graduates.

The highest level of formal education is a PhD. This ceremony therefore defines your completion of the highest education one can achieve at a university. Like a mountain climber you've navigated through tough challenges, celebrated successes, and faced setbacks. You have shifted your focus between the goal far ahead and the issues that must be solved immediately. There have been false starts, early mornings and late nights spent on your research. There have been hopes, and sometimes maybe also doubts upon the  decision on starting this undertaking. But hard work pays off. Your curiosity and dedication prevailed in the end.

Today you can finally add a three-letter abbreviation to your names. Three letters that together form a powerful title – PhD. The title is a testament to the unique skills you have achieved by solving complex problems, and the unique knowledge you have gained through diving into areas and topics that few, if none have ever worked on before. But it is also important how you, throughout the work, have grown as human beings.

In every country and in every continent of the world a PhD is a door-opener to professional life. It gives you authority in whatever you choose to participate in. Through a rigorous qualification process a PhD signify to the world around you: science, knowledge, and truth. That is why this degree is highly regarded.

There are tendencies in our society that knowledge is becoming more politicized. It should not be controversial to base decisions on a robust foundation of knowledge, yet this principle is under increasing pressure. Therefore, I will remind you about two things:

Firstly, the possibilities that come with a PhD is numerous. Secondly, it is also a title that comes with responsibilities.

A responsibility to use your knowledge wisely and the privilege to contribute to a better society. 

• To speak up and engage with society. 

• To debate and ask the questions that otherwise might be unasked. 

• Or to propose solutions that without your participation might leave challenges unsolved. 

Today we are celebrating your personal academic achievements, but as a university and as a society we are also celebrating knowledge. Free and independently achieved knowledge - new knowledge that can change the world to a better place. Sometimes slower than you prefer - sometimes faster than you thought possible.

«The social and economic benefits of providing equal access to education and options in life for all citizens, is an example of a slow but a positive change all around in the world.  41 % of all the PhD graduates from NTNU in 2023 are women. This also represents progress and is worth mentioning today on the International Women's Day.

I would also like to say some words to those who are with you doctoral graduates today:

Family members and friends taking part in this celebration. Many of you have contributed to the doctorate in different ways. Your backing has been important to many of our doctorates here today.

I would also like to thank all the academic staff at NTNU who have contributed in cooperation and supervision. And not least all partners in the private and public sectors, and in academia nationally and internationally. Such partnerships are vital for high quality and relevance in the doctoral work.

Finally: To all you new graduates: Congratulations with your achievements. As you receive your diplomas today, remember that you’re not just graduates – you are ambassadors of knowledge. Use this wisely in accordance with NTNUs vision: Knowledge for a better world.

***

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 other doctors not present today to be promoted in absentia.

Music

NTNU Brass

• «Bryllup på Troldhaugen», composer: Edvard Grieg / arrangement: Alan Civil

Trondhjems Kvinnelige Studentersangforening & Trondhjems Studentersangforening | conductor: Håkon Teigen Lund

• «Sjungom», composer: Prins Gustaf av Sverige og Norge / arrangement: Herman Sätherberg

Hedvig Aannestad Iost (born in 2001) is a bachelor student at the Art Academy in Trondheim. She has previously studied at Einar Granum School of Art in Oslo, Norway.

The artwork created for the diploma is a continuation of a series of earlier works examining abstraction. It is painted in oil pastels on paper, and draws inspiration from music; the flow of sound, the movement of waves transferred onto paper.