An Erasmus agreement between SAMS and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), enables students to study Arctic science as part of their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees.

 The students

Postgraduate Marie Porter on Spitzbergen to study oceanography

Marie is a PhD student studying oceanography and glaciology in the North Atlantic. As part of her studies, she is taking part in an Arctic glaciology course at UNIS during February and March 2010. More about Marie...

All change in the Arctic: 26th August 2009
This month it was all change for SAMS/UHI students studying in the Arctic.  During the last year Carl Ballantine and Jordan Grigor have been studying at the University Centre in Svalbard as part of their 3rd year studies.  Their second semester has now come to an end and the boys are returning home. 

Replacing them is Oban girl Jill McColl.  She arrived in Longyearbyen earlier this month and started her studies with a safety course which included how to handle and fire a rifle (as a guard against the presence of polar bears).  This week she started studying her two chosen options: "Pollution in the Arctic" and "Arctic Hydrology and Climate Change".  At the moment it is 24 hours daylight in Longyearbyen but by November it will be 24 hours darkness.  We will hear more from Jill through her blogs.  The option to study at UNIS allows students to progress to achieving a degree in Marine Science with Arctic Studies, a unique qualification in the UK.

Undergraduates to the Arctic: August 2008

On 1 August 2008 Carl Ballantine and Jordan Grigor  became the first SAMS UHI students to leave Scotland to study Arctic science at UNIS, as part of their four-year honours degree in Marine Science.

Press coverage

Read here two articles in the Glasgow Herald when Jordan and Carl left to go to UNIS in August 2008, and when Jordan arrived back in Scotland on 29 June 2009.