University of Oslo

In 1813, the University of Oslo (UiO) was founded. It was established when Christiania, the city it bears its name after, was still just a small provincial town, making it Norway’s first university. Since then, it has made significant advancements in the fields of law, science, particularly maritime science, and played a significant part in the independence of Norway from Danish rule. The original campus of UiO is situated right in the middle of the city, close to both the parliament and the royal palace. A short subway journey away, with views of Oslo Fjord and proximity to forested hills, lies its main campus in Blindern. From 1913 to 1989, Norway’s national library was housed at an astronomical observatory that was constructed in 1933 and is still operational today. With eight faculties—theology, law, medicine, humanities, mathematics and natural sciences, dentistry, social sciences, and education—the university is Norway’s largest research institution. It provides nearly 800 courses, all of which are taught in English, along with 40 Master’s degree programmes. Three Viking ships, including the best-preserved and first-ever excavated, are housed in UiO’s own museum of cultural history. The institution has also taken pleasure in being a “elite school” for upper secondary school teachers from its inception. The university boasts five Nobel Prize winners. Odd Hassel, a chemist, Ragnar Frisch, an economist, and Ivar Giaever, an electrical engineer who specialised in electron tunnelling and biophysics, are among them. The majority of Norway’s sovereign wealth is in the hands of Jens Evensen, a former student of the institution and a leading authority on international law. He coined the phrase, “The right to undersea natural resources belongs with the state,” enabling the nation to assert its ownership of the resources along its coastline. There are 600,000 people living in Oslo alone, or 10% of all the residents in Norway. Nearly 75% of the 60,000 students living in the city are from places other than Oslo.