Sergey Demin on his visit to Svalbard

October 13-19, 2019 in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, the SVF-8063 School of Society and Advanced Technology in the Arctic, organized by the Arctic University of Norway (UiT), was held. Senior colleagues and research assistants of the DeCAn lab participated in it. Sergey Demin shared his impressions on his visit to Svalbard.

I was lucky to attend the transdisciplinary Ph. D field course Society and Advanced Technology in the Arctic (SATA) that was held in October in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. It was fascinating experience for me to visit the northernmost settlement with population more than 1000.

The course was very valuable and covered? many topics. It consisted of lectures on social sciences, games theory, mathematics, computer sciences, economics, and many other spheres.

The most interesting and useful part of the course was the visit to the KSAT satellite station. The scientists working there gave us a lecture on the remote sensing system, which helps to detect any problems in the Arctic region, such as oil spills. It was especially useful taking into account the fact, that one of my scientific projects is devoted to the prediction and consequences elimination of emergency situations.

In addition, it is important to emphasize the organization of the course. We stayed at the best hotel on Svalbard with delicious meals. Interdisciplinary groupwork helped to improve my teamworking skills and gave me new colleagues from the norwegian university. I am very grateful to all the organizers of the school, especially to professor Rasmus Bertelsen and professor Fuad Aleskerov for this course.

Sergey Demin, research assistant of DeCAn lab