NTNU graduates record number of PhDs

NTNU awarded 309 PhDs at a ceremony last week, a record number for the institution.

Torbjørn Digernes, Rector, told the graduates that now more than ever, society’s problems demanded their abilities, enthusiasm and expertise. “Never before has the nation and the world had such a great need for the knowledge you represent.”

Digernes also recognized the breadth of the expertise represented by the graduates, whose theses spanned topics ranging from improved ultrasound imaging of the fetus to the analysis of microorganisms from a chalk oil reservoir in the North Sea. “Major global challenges in areas such as energy, climate, environment and health require new solutions”, Digernes said. “People everywhere need new ideas, new creativity and new insights. We are proud to send new knowledge out to the world through the most effective of all communication channels: The well-educated individual.”  

Piers Blaikie, Professor Emeritus at the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia and Thomas Hughes, Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas, Austin were awarded honorary doctorates during the ceremony.

Both scientists have been active with NTNU for several decades as lecturers and in collaborative research projects. Professor Hughes is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of computational mechanics, which uses the power of computer modelling to describe complex physical behaviours, from blood flow in the heart and its surrounding arteries to the analysis of structural vibrations. Professor Hughes' work is instrumental to a number of projects at NTNU, SINTEF and Det Norske Veritas, where his modelling techniques are being adapted to the transport, offshore and maritime industries.