Organised in partnership with theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks, USA, the University Centre in Svalbard / UNIS, Norway, and the North-Eastern Federal University, Russia, the International Bachelor Permafrost Summer Field School (5 or 10 ECTS) will be held from the 19th of June to the 11th of July 2014, at the University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, Longyearbyen, Svalbard. 

The course will offer insights into:

• Permafrost history and its distribution globally.
• Permafrost temperatures in various parts of the World – climatic and other controls.
• Methods of permafrost observations, focusing on drilling, coring and instrumentation.
• Permafrost databases and their use in permafrost analyses.
• How does permafrost affect local community infrastructure and cultural life?
• Interaction between carbon and water in permafrost landscapes.
• How sensitive are permafrost landforms towards climate change?

Course load and Credits:
The course can be taken either as a 5 ECTS credit point course, finishing with an oral graded presentation in the summer school, or in addition, with an individual science project based on the course knowledge, to be submitted by the end of the autumn/fall semester following the summer field school, and then graded, a student can obtain 10 ECTS credit points. Note that students doing 10 ECTS will be given preference to the course.
 
Application Deadline:
The application deadline for the course is: 15 April 2014

Applications are availalble using the UNIS online application system: http://www.unis.no/10_STUDIES/1030_Admission/how_to_apply.htm
 
Tuition and costs:
There is no tuition fee for this course. There will be a possibility for non-European students to apply for a travel stipend to attend this course. Accommodation for students during the course will be in student housing in Longyearbyen, and it will cost app. 3125 NOK corresponding to app. 370 Euro.

The course will be taught by the following partners of the UArctic Thematic Network on Permafrost:

• Prof. Dr. Kenji Yoshikawa, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA
• Prof. Dr. Hanne H. Christiansen, The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, Norway & Center for Permafrost, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Prof. Dr. Mikhail Prisyazhniy, North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia
• Prof. Dr. Atsuko Sugimoto, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
• Prof. Dr. Ole Humlum, The University of Oslo and UNIS, Norway
• Prof. Arne Instanes, The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, Norway and Instanes Polar
• Dr. Guido Grosse, The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Science, Germany
• Dr. Paul Overduin, The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Science, Germany
• PhD. Student Samuel Faucherre, Center for Permafrost, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

For further information or questions, contact:
 
Hanne H. Christiansen hanne.christiansen@unis.no
or
Kenji Yoshikawa kyoshikawa@alaska.edu