- Campus
- 24/06/2025
And how are things at Svalbard?
Tim Hulsen is on Svalbard (in Dutch: Spitsbergen) for his external internship in his Applied Physics master program. The Arctic climate of Svalbard and the close-knit community of international students he’ll never forget. “Hiking, skiing, or racing across glaciers and mountains on a snowmobile, you can do it all here.”
“With fellow student Danny Vogels, I went on Jan. 3 to the town of Longyearbyen, which at 78°N latitude is well inside the Arctic Circle. So we arrived in the heart of winter. The first week brought a strong snowstorm and temperatures around -20°C. Until the end of January, Svalbard experiences the polar night, meaning it's pitch dark all the time. At first, it's quite strange when it's constantly dark outside, but with the snow and the lights in the village, it quickly becomes cozy. In the student housing, you share a kitchen with 8 to 14 other students, which helps you build a social circle quickly.”
“By the end of January, twilight begins to return, and Svalbard truly comes to life. Danny and I first completed the safety training that every student at The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) is required to take. The training focuses mainly on preventing dangerous situations, very important in a climate that includes not only polar bears but also sea ice, avalanches, and a lack of mobile phone coverage outside town. The most exciting (and fun) parts are swimming in an ice hole and shooting with a rifle. Danny and I also took the snowmobile course, which was essential since we bought a snowmobile together.”
“February, March, and early May are the perfect months to conduct research in Svalbard if you enjoy adventure. Together with other students and our snowmobile, we experienced a lot. I visited several ice caves, drove to the east coast of Svalbard under the midnight sun, visited Barentsburg, explored various valleys, and spent multiple weekends at the student cabin, a hut you can reserve through UNIS. If there's one thing you must do here, it's going out on a snowmobile. This place may mostly be snow and mountains, but the views are stunning, and you can spot animals such as polar bears, reindeer, and Arctic foxes.”
“It’s also the perfect time for your family to visit and enjoy some tourist activities. Together with my brother and dad, we went on a boat trip through the fjord and did a husky sled tour. Thanks to my experience, we were also able to do several independent snowmobile trips. Additionally, through my external supervisor, Noora Partamies, we had the opportunity to go on a unique trip to the Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO), where the instruments I use for my research are located.”
“I got in contact with Noora Partamies, who studies the northern lights, through Hjalmar Mulders. I'm now studying a unique phenomenon in the northern lights where next to the well-known green and red colors also white light is observed, indicating emission on the full visible spectrum. During my research we have discovered new events of this phenomenon and for the first time made a correlation with the solar wind and changes in Earth's magnetosphere.”
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