A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) was recently signed. The MoU is intended to facilitate a collaborative programme of research, training, curriculum and institutional development, to disseminate information, and to exchange faculty, students and staff.

The cooperation between HIT and NMBU in the Arctic research is increasingly deepening. Led by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and in collaboration with University of Alberta, Canada, University of Alaska, the USA, the Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, Northern State Medical University, Russia, and the International Joint Research Center for Arctic Environment and Ecosystem (IJRC-AEE), HIT, will start a Summer School on “Water management in cold regions” at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Norway on June 18-23, 2018. ProfessorREN Nanqi, member of Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Professor LI Yifan were invited to give lectures for the Summer School. Among all the six organizers, the HIT is the only University that is located outside the Arctic Circle.Through organizing the Summer School, the cooperation in the Arctic research between HIT and the Arctic universities will be greatly strengthened. Professors and students who are interested in participating in the Summer School can contact Li Yifan (dr_li_yifan@163.com).

Located in the Arctic Svalbard Archipelago, Svalbard is the most northern territory of Norway, with its capital of Longyearbyen, the city closest to the North Pole in the world (1300 kilometers). The Svalbard University Center is the world's most northern university. China is one of the States parties to the Svalbard Treaty, which entered into force in August 14, 1925. Under the treaty, all citizens of the Parties can enter the Svalbard and become residents without a visa, and citizens and companies of the Party have access to Svalbard including the right to fish, hunt or undertake any kind of maritime, industrial, mining, trade, and scientific research activities. The residents of Svalbard must follow Norwegian law. In accordance with the Treaty, China established the Chinese Arctic Yellow River Station in 2004 to carry out Arctic research there.