Music

Trondhjems Kvinnelige Studentersangforening | Conductor: Ingeborg Nygaard

• «Gaudeamus Igitur», arrangement: Gavin David Lee

Academic Procession

Music ​after the Academic Procession

Trondhjems Kvinnelige Studentersangforening | Conductor: Ingeborg Nygaard

• «Hellig er studentens kall», lyrics: Andreas Munch, melody: Conradin Kreutzer, arrangement: Per Winge

Dear new doctors, dear guests, dear colleagues and friends. Congratulations to the new doctors. 

Today we celebrate 233 new PhDs at NTNU. You know by experience, that the road to a doctoral degree is not straight forward without bumps and hurdles. There is hard work behind every single dissertation but also joy and satisfaction along the way. A journey that has required an impressive amount of effort over time.

We are celebrating your achievements today here in the Aula. Since 1910, students and scholars have walked through these corridors on their way to and from lectures and other activities in the Main building. Some may have stopped and wondered what is written in stone above the entrance to the library:

“Per aspera ad astra” - through adversity to the stars.

There are no shortcuts to knowledge and new insight. Nor are there any shortcuts to a doctoral degree. From the beginning to the end, a doctorate requires curiosity, dedication and hard work. Today, we celebrate your achievements and your success. You have all reasons to be proud of your PhD degree from NTNU. I wish you all good luck in your future careers and to use your knowledge and wisdom wisely.

Once more, congratulations.

Now I will continue in Norwegian:

Dear doctors,

Today you will receive your doctoral diploma, tangible proof of the knowledge and skills that you have acquired through a demanding doctoral course. A PhD signals professional weight, authority and accountability. The academic journey you have travelled at NTNU has been special in many ways. You have been doctoral students during a period marked by the pandemic and its consequences. Now you will join the working world at a time of great change.

But it is not just working life that is changing. In many ways, we are facing a world that is very unlike just a few years ago. The conflicts that have unfolded in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere on the planet have such major ripple effects that it is difficult to predict their consequences over the long run. At the same time, the consequences of climate change and the loss of natural diversity are so serious that they could affect the livelihoods of all humanity.

We now live in a time when men with great power, even in established democracies, are challenging the values and ideals on which our society and universities are founded. Who are tearing down the foundation for independent research and knowledge development. Men who describe professors as enemies, and who are determined to target areas of study that they do not like or see any benefit from. They are not only restricting the opportunity for a few to do research and teach – they are targeting academic freedom for all of us. Science is international and we are affected when our colleagues are faced with such dramatic changes as they are now.

In Norway, we have lived our lives in peace for decades. But my generation has parents or grandparents who experienced what it ultimately means to stand up for human dignity, democracy and freedom during the Second World War. Some of them are mentioned by name on memorials and plaques, including in this building here. We are now also living at a time when our values and principles are being seriously tested.

***

We do not choose the circumstances we are born into. But we can choose how we make the best of the situations we find ourselves in. NTNU's vision is "knowledge for a better world". It’s not because we believe that knowledge can make a difference. It is because we know and have seen that knowledge makes a difference for the better. Despite many setbacks and crises throughout history, academic values have survived for centuries. Now it is we who will carry the torch to the next generation. I am sure that we will pass that test, as long as we remain true to our values.

***

I have been fortunate enough to get an insight into what some of you have worked on during your doctoral research. It is very inspiring. Your doctoral theses span different disciplines and have contributed to new and valuable insights. They range from Jonathan Eriksen, who has researched how encryption in computer systems can be made less vulnerable to quantum data attacks in the future, to Marko Kovacevic, who has analysed church records and censuses to better understand why there was a higher mortality rate for female infants during the crisis years of the 18th century, for example.

Each and every one of your dissertations is solid evidence that NTNU is a university for thought-provoking, varied and groundbreaking research. Research that makes us wiser and that takes our society forward. One step at a time.

The unique knowledge that you possess, and that you build on, has ripple effects far beyond the words and thoughts you have recorded in your thesis. The knowledge embodied by 233 new doctoral students represents a formidable and positive force.

More than ever before, we need knowledgeable people who can handle complex challenges with wisdom and good values. Society will look to you for advice and leadership. With a doctorate, you have a solid foundation to offer just that. It may feel like a great responsibility to bear. But I would like to remind you that you belong to an academic community that extends beyond national borders. We are not alone in our search for knowledge and truth. We are many. And the academic community is strong when it stands together.

***

Dear everyone.

Your doctorate marks the end of this part of your journey. But a PhD also marks the beginning of something new and the next step in your life and career. I look forward to your future accomplishments, and I am certain that you will leave a mark that we someday will hear about.

Thank you very much for your efforts, all of you, and once again congratulations on your doctorate!

Music

NTNU Brass

• «Brass quintet nr. 1» Sats 3 (med kutt), composer: Victor Ewald

Lyrics written and performed by: Benedikte Fiskergaard Ytterli

I
can you picture a time
when the glossary    diary
has become notebooks    bricks
milk-pages that press    the buttercup flat

you fill up a book with thoughts   and think
how can i ever stop
now that i have written a start

can you picture a place
where you dare not sleep any longer
because a different reality lies hidden    in your fingertips
your puns like chameleons    seems more like codes
they want out    you want to shout

can you picture a word
stories     like building blocks

you pick up and collect   trash from the ditch
maybe as an atonement-attempt   a band-aid
glued over the doomsday that was foretold
this stone. this bird    goat horn and shoe sole
they have something to say   flintstone and bullfinch
they squeal    like a dog whistle    and suddenly you are unsure
do these melodies exist in my ears only?
so you write them down
collecting most things   to see what happens next
just like    in case

II
but do you have a language?   will your voice carry?
this way the doubt moves in   and freezes the throat
in the neck-hole    where the scream should have been
like you had demanded a foam-demand
like you had become simply mute-weird

who can your words convince?   who will they coil?
your shout will drown among manly sounds
the kings on the hill   and they will probably say
what do you really know    after all
you shall not eat from the menu of champions
in meeting the gentlemen    the ladies must curtsy
hide a bruise   with premeditated layers
make-up like a mask   decently thin

but you    you will take it won’t you?

the looks that avoid you as you enter the room
who is she?   where did she come from?
you hear it in your mind    echo chamber. horror-gongs.
your ears can still hear    the silent shrieks from silk-trumpets
they whisper the truth   the one on the rise
others will point and laugh   say mockingly
and you want to play-pretend a prophet?

but how else
how   when you cannot sleep
when you have not been able to sleep    since you first woke up
like you were a guest   lonely in the night at a sleepover-party
hag-ridden   head full of dark fantasies   cacophony
kaleidoscope of words that cannot be stopped
raw ink flows from the quill
calm protest in a silent symbol   olive branch. watermelon.

III
but can you picture a life
weakness like a free space   where you cannot rest
you   pot-stirrer   purposeful truth-challenger
the curiosity that you can never quell
ideas that you will never quiet

can you picture a world   where the sun again
shall open the horizon
make dawn    with a crowbar
sky-blue heaven. golden yellow light
shines over an encampment   a field   a house
a home    where fleeting voices shelter together

behind your clear-sharp eyes   there is drive and murder
book and fear.  stone and locker.
put them in the pile   make yourself a fire
shelves knocked over   you stack them upwards    a tower of babel
climb yourself free from the noise down here    you can read in the salt
laid in lay   head on a pole
go ahead you!   climb on you!
disappear upwards now!   wuthering and lonely

the wind whips your face here   harshly
reminds you of a ski-day   hot chocolate and snow-sleds
the trials cannot burn you
you are too far up    too out of sight

your voice   it carries   but only so far
you stutter. wobble.  then stagnate. whispering an oath
like a support beam   tap shoes. silly girl. 

suddenly a gust like a fist from the north
grabs hold of your collar    forces focus into your sight
you are view-struck   astonished   sublime navel lint

there   over there    can you see it    now?
 

Award of doctoral degrees and congratulations to the new doctors by Pro-Rector for Outreach and Social Responsibility Monica Rolfsen

Dear new doctoral graduates,

This ceremony marks your completion of the highest level of education you can achieve at a university. If the Norwegian education system were a mountain, then after much effort and hard work, you have now reached the top.

Like a mountain climber, you've struggled through challenges, celebrated successes, and faced setbacks. Even though you may have doubted along the way, your curiosity and dedication prevailed in the end. Today, you can add a three-letter abbreviation to your name — PhD.

These three letters carry weight, much like the titles of prime ministers or presidents. In every country and on every continent, a PhD opens doors to professional life. It gives you authority in whatever field you choose to engage in. Because a PhD stands for science, knowledge, and truth. That is why this degree is held in such high regard.

You have probably heard it before: knowledge is power. Knowledge has the potential to improve lives, to connect people together and to build the foundations for better societies. How power is used matters — but who wields it matters even more. In today’s world, this "who" has never been more important. That is why your education and academic values are just as crucial as the skills and insights you have gained here.

As new PhDs you have a responsibility to use your knowledge wisely:

• To use your voice and contribute to society.
• To challenge and ask the difficult questions.
• To propose solutions that might otherwise remain undiscovered.

Today, we celebrate your personal academic achievements. But as a university and as a society, we also celebrate how knowledge has the power to change the world for the better —sometimes slower than we hope, and sometimes faster than we expect.

Completing a PhD is a significant accomplishment. The possibilities that come with this degree are many, if you choose to pursue them. And at the same time, a PhD is also a privilege that not all people can obtain. When you have the opportunity to use your knowledge and skills, do so in a way that benefits others.

Before we conclude, I would like to address those who are here to support our doctoral graduates today:

Family members and friends, your support has been invaluable. Many of you have contributed in different ways, and your encouragement has been important for the doctors we celebrate today.

I would also like to thank the academic staff at NTNU for their cooperation and supervision. And not least, our partners in the private and public sectors, as well as in academia—both nationally and internationally.

Such partnerships are essential for ensuring the quality and relevance of doctoral research.

Finally, as you receive your diplomas today, remember you are not just graduates—you are ambassadors of knowledge.

With these words we will now begin the diploma ceremomy.

***

You are hereby promoted to doctors at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and are granted jus docendi, the right to lecture at NTNU. I also declare those not present today to be promoted in absentia.

Music

NTNU Brass

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

Trondhjems Kvinnelige Studentersangforening | conductor: Ingeborg Nygaard

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

Catarina Gärtner is born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden and studying her third year at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art. She has a background in crafts (glass and metal) and have an interest in form, materiality, scale shifts and iterations.

This piece of art was made with acrylic on cardboard.