A group of students in fisheries science and biotechnology visited Tromsø in Norway

Great job opportunities outside the country
A group of students in fisheries science and biotechnology visited Tromsø in Norway

At the beginning of November, a group of students in fisheries science and biotechnology visited Tromsø in Norway, together with Magnús Víðisson, director of the department of fisheries science at the University of Akureyri. The aim of the visit was becoming better acquainted with the University of Tromsø which, inter alia, offers programmes in fisheries science and marine biotechnology. The trip also involved visits to local companies and institutions relevant to this academic field. The visit was supported by Nordplus.

“What I enjoyed most was meeting staff members who had graduated from my academic field and have found excellent positions in a foreign company. This provides an example of how far this academic degree can take you”, says Friðbjörg María Björnsdóttir student in fisheries science.
Various companies and institutions were visited on the trip, for example Nergård As, Elvevoll Settefisk AS, Ewos fish feed factory, Biotech North, Marbank and the Norwegian Seafood Council (Norges Sjømåtråd).

“We attach considerable importance to demonstrating the large variety of jobs available to students after graduation. And it also gives us pleasure to see how well “our” people are doing abroad,” says Magnús Víðisson, programme director in fisheries science who accompanied the team.

At Tromsø University, the students were introduced to support services and the variety of courses on offer as well as being invited to tackle an assignment in the form of a game, during which the students had to design a fishing administration system for a new species in an imaginary country and, at the same time, try to satisfy different stakeholders connected with the fishing industry, population centres and the environment. Subsequently, the students presented their conclusions to the teachers and all gave excellent performances.

The team was specifically sponsored by Jón Ingi Björnsson at Nergård AS and Sigmar Arnarsson at Elevoll Settefisk AS, both graduates in fisheries science from the University of Akureyri