University of the Faroe Islands

August 1, 2008 was a milestone for the University of the Faroe Islands. On that date the Faroese School of Education, the Faroese School of Nursing and the University of the Faroe Islands (Faculty of Faroese Language and Literature, Faculty of Science and Technology and Faculty of History and Social Sciences) merged into the enlarged and restructured University of the Faroe Islands as we know it today.

The merger was a result of the implementation of Faroese Parliamentary Act 58, dated June 9, 2008, on the University of the Faroe Islands, which was subsequently amended through Faroese Parliamentary Act 51, dated May 8, 2012.

The new Act is available in Faroese here.

The University is publicly funded, meaning that it is allocated an annual appropriation on the Faroese national budget. As an example, the University was allocated DKK 68,178,000 in the 2010 financial year. In 2010 net expenditure on core University activities was DKK 30,101,000. Furthermore, the allocation for the shared central services at Debesartrøð was DKK 1,267,000 – these are the joint maintenance and IT services. The University was also allocated DKK 100,000 to provide financial assistance to international students looking to study and research in the Faroe Islands. The following appropriations were also allocated: Research Centre for Social Development DKK 1,305,000, The International office DKK 765,000, The Faroese School of Education DKK 23,238,000 and The Faroese School of Nursing DKK 8,722,000.

In recent years several externally funded projects have been launched. These include both Ph.D. research and other research projects funded by the Faroese Research Council, Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, oil companies and other entities.