As a student at the Technical University of Berlin I had the luck of hearing about the Nordic Water Network while taking courses in fluid mechanics and got the opportunity to participate at a number of NWN events. Subsequently I learned about the possibility of writing a thesis at one of the partner universities. The application process to write my master thesis aboard was fairly simple, once I talked to some possible supervisors and found a well suiting thesis at the Aalborg University (AAU) under the supervision of Professor Sørensen. Despite the pandemic, my work could take place and was only postponed for a few months, so that I could move to Denmark at the beginning of September.

When I arrived at the university, I was warmly welcomed by Professor Sørensen, who introduced me to all the current health regulations and gave me a campus tour and all the other necessary information. I was immediately taken aback by how direct the interaction was and, sometimes, I was almost laughed at when I addressed someone as “professor” instead of their first name. Although this was extremely pleasant, it took some time to get used to it. The entire supervision of Professor Sørensen and Professor Hærvig stayed just as casual and pleasant as it was at the beginning. They took a lot of time and were always available for questions as my office was only a few meters away from theirs and I was always welcome.

My thesis was regarding Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) of natural convection along enhanced surfaces.  As I specialized in fluid dynamics in my previous studies, the part of heat transfer in  natural convection phenomena were fairly new for me. Therefore, the first month was based mainly on obtaining theoretical knowledge and getting familiar with the experimental setup and its automation. Once I was able to get the results that needed to be discussed, we had weekly meetings that led to great supervision and where I learned a lot not only about my subject but also about the differences in the functionality of universities in Germany and Denmark. Even though there was a lot to be learned and the project was a full-time job, I was free to decide when to work as I had my own key card to the lab, buildings, and my office. Thanks to this I also had a great time outside the university life.

Denmark in general is not a lot more expensive than Germany, except for alcohol in bars. Denmark has a great social system. This includes great parks with free golf and disc-golf courses, but in the case of Aalborg also a housing guarantee for students. There is a nice website (aku-aalborg.dk) to apply for rooms and apartments, which also includes the option of a housing guarantee which means you will definitely get an accommodation, but it might be one that you did not apply for. In general, these accommodations are priced very reasonably and are located all around the city, making it possible to live fairly close to the university too. However, private accommodations which can also be contacted via AKU, should be viewed with caution as they might have lower standards.

Due to the pandemic, I traveled relatively little in Denmark, but the measures were quite relaxed compared to the German rules. Therefore, the sports facilities were also open, which are very cheap and well equipped due to government subvention. Shortly after my arrival I discovered the “Cable Park” on a city tour, which I can highly recommend. This is a wakeboard facility of a non-profit association. Of course, I immediately spoke with a present member, joined the club, and went wakeboarding the next morning at 6am for sunrise. As many long-term members had a key and always posted on Facebook when they are going, until mid-November there was almost daily wakeboarding before or after work or university hours, followed by a sauna session with an impressive view. Since everyone in the club was always in a good mood, it was also possible to make good friends very quickly. Here I also learned about “Streetmekka”, which is a gym not far from the university where you can do all sorts of sports besides my favorites basketball and bouldering for a monthly fee of 100 Krones (13€). Most of the time there were the same people and the atmosphere was always great. Since new hygiene measures from mid-November forbade the visit

of the sauna and showers while wakeboarding and at air and water temperatures below 8 °C, the hard-boiled members became rare, I spent a large part of my free time in Streetmekka from there on.

All in all, I have to say that I had a very exciting and interesting time and was able to learn an incredible amount in a very short time. For this great experience I am highly grateful to all who made it possible, especially to the Nordic Water Network, Markus Fischer and Professor Sørensen.

Hei, my name is Ludwig Kuhn, and I’ve been student at the Technical University of Berlin.

My subject during the Bachelor as well as the Master studies was Engineering Science, with a special focus on fluid flow mechanics and technical acoustics. During my Master’s, I took a lot of courses regarding analysis and design of wind energy turbines. Since I never got to the point of doing exchange, I pictured the Master’s Thesis as last chance to go abroad during the studies.

I remembered Prof. Thamsen from the Department of Fluid System Dynamics talking about the opportunity to write a Thesis abroad, that’s why I contacted him and was directed to Markus Fischer and the Nordic Water Network. This contact was established around fall 2017, with my intention to do the exchange after the summer term 2018. It was good to start planning everything early. Markus gave me the possibility to choose a supervisor at one out of five partner universities, and I decided to go the furthest north possible, to Norges teknisknaturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU) in Trondheim.

Master’s thesis at NTNU

I was lucky to get in touch with my supervisor, Lars Roar Sætran, in March 2018. He just did a sabbatical and had an office at TU Berlin. He offered me several projects to choose from, and we talked a lot about living and studying in Trondheim and Norway. I told him, that I would like to do experimental work, which was fine with him.

The contract was set up in June, and the final confirmation from NTNU came in July. That was a bit late, since the autumn term at NTNU starts mid-August. The most difficult thing was getting an apartment, since I was told that I wouldn’t be eligible for the SiT (Students in Trondheim) housing. Later, I found out that I could have applied for a spot anyways. Most of the private rented apartments I found on www.hybel.no and www.finn.no were for one-year rent only. Therefore, I was grateful to get a room in a shared apartment in Bakklandet, very close to both the city center and the NTNU Gløshaugen campus. I lived there together with three Norwegian students.

Photo © Ludwig Kuhn

The work at the master’s thesis started right away. I got a great introduction to the wind tunnel, the measurement equipment and the wind turbine model by Jan Bartl and Franz Mühle, two former PhD students of Lars. I was able to have a couple of days in the wind tunnel to do initial measurements and think about the experiments I had to conduct. For the final experiments, I got 8 days of wind tunnel time at the end of October. I was able to work very independently. The processing of the measurement data took the rest of the year, and the writing process last into spring 2019.

Besides the Master’s Thesis, I took a course called “Introduction to Norwegian History”, to experience the university system. It is quite different from the German system, and involves a lot of taking the students by the hand. Most of the courses are held in English, and both lecturers and students are very fluent in speaking it. Communication with Norwegians was never a problem, not even with seniors.

Personal experience

The Norwegian culture is very nice. I was lucky enough to have a friend driving me up to Trondheim, and along the way we were really amazed by the relaxed traffic situation. Basically no one tailgates or blows his horn, and with the maximum speed of 90 km/h (120 km/h at some parts next to Oslo), everything is forced to slow down and take some time. The next thing was the pure size of the country. The trip from Oslo to Trondheim took us way longer than expected, since we were taking the road over the Dovre mountains, Norwegians famous E6.
The main cliché about Norwegians is, that they are very introverted. I experienced them to be very open and friendly. Probably, being on first-name base with everyone pushes that as well. I had very nice talks with my supervisor about our weekend plans, such as hiking and skiing. I never experienced that in Germany.

Photo © Ludwig Kuhn

Trondheim itself is the third largest city of Norway with about 190000 inhabitants. With about 20% of them being students, I found myself in a perfect student city. Basically, everywhere you go and everything you do involves students. The universities sports club (NTNU) is Norway’s biggest sports club. You can join basically every sport you want, and there are lots of different music groups and student associations as well. Every year, there is either the worlds biggest student festival (ISFiT) or a big cultural event (UKA). Both of them involve a lot of student volunteering.
The big plus of Norway is the nature, which can be explored by hiking and sleeping in cabins. Most of the Norwegian families have a private cabin in the mountains, and NTNU has more than 20. They are mostly placed in the areas surrounding Trondheim and are reached by bus, train or ferry, with hikes of different length afterwards. The more touristy areas of Norway however are far away, and have to be reached by car (multiple day rides) or plain.

Some of the downsides are the ridiculously high prices for alcohol and sweets, as well as the lack of a proper food and party culture.

Both fall and spring term have their upsides. During fall, a lot of international students are in Trondheim. The term lasts not that long, so most of them are here for 4-5 month only. The fall is very rainy, but it’s also the best season for Northern lights. The spring term includes the proper winter, which can last to April, and then the awakening of the nature as well as the long days in summer. There are also more festivities going on, including the National holiday at May 17th. Personally, I liked the spring term more.

Norwegians (at least in the cities) are very open to foreigners, and therefore it’s also easy to get a job here (if it’s not mandatory to talk Norwegian). I am currently working as a research assistant at the Hydropower Laboratory at NTNU in Trondheim. Many of my co-workers are foreign. That helps creating a very international atmosphere.

In the end, I am very grateful for the chance I got to do this exchange, for all the people from all over the world I got to know and for the unforgetful experiences I had and still have here in Trondheim.

I first heard about the Nordic Water Network (NWN) when I was taking the course “Stromungsmaschinen – Auslegung” at the TU Berlin. Thanks to the Nordic Water Network, I had the possibility of participating in the course “Advanced measurement techniques for different flow fields” offered at the Cracow University of Technology with lectures from the cooperating universities in the NWN. I really liked the topics from that course and, for that reason, I decided to pursue my master’s thesis within the NWT. This led me to the Dublin City University in Ireland, where I completed my master’s thesis with the topic “Experimental characterisation of flexible membrane dynamics due to fluid structure interaction”.

The Dublin City University (DCU) is a young university located in the north of Dublin. DCU is a small university in comparison with TU Berlin with a vibrant student live and excellent facilities. During my stay, I was working with measurement equipment, such as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) or Digital Image Correlation (DIC), which is a great opportunity for a master’s student. My supervisor, Dr. Yan Delauré, was always available for any questions about the project, which is really helpful for the development of a good master’s thesis.

Dublin is a beautiful city with welcoming people, which makes anyone living there feel comfortable. Before going there, I was told that the weather in Dublin was really bad. This was, however, not my experience. It is true that it is sometimes windy and that it can spontaneously rain but, during the day, it is usually sunny, and temperature is pleasant. Irish people have a rich culture that is reflected in the amount of pubs, live music or live sport events that are all around Dublin. Regarding Ireland and its landscapes, I must say that it is impressive and that everyone should come here once in their live. I will never forget my time there.

There are some drawbacks about Dublin, though. Rent prices in Dublin are extremely high, making it one of the most expensive cities in Europe. Finding accommodation in Dublin is not easy and it should be planned in advance. The best way to do this is to fly to Dublin some weeks before starting at DCU and visit several accommodations before choosing one. The best webpage for accommodation in Ireland is, in my opinion, daft.ie. In contrast to Germany, public transport is not for free for students in Ireland, which can also be really expensive if living far away from DCU. Although the scholarship provided by the NWN is high, it may not be enough to cover all the expenses of the stay.

I would like to thank the Nordic Water Network and the Dublin City University, and specifically Markus Fischer and Dr. Yan Delauré, for this opportunity. I am grateful to have been involved in this European project and hope that more student take part in such projects to increase cooperation among European universities.

During an Erasmus semester in Norway, I met someone who was also student at TU Berlin and currently writing his Master thesis in Trondheim. He told me about the opportunity to spend another semester abroad, financed with a scholarship by the Nordic Water Network. I had a very interesting and exciting Erasmus semester. Therefore, I was looking on the website of the NWN for a possible thesis at a partner university.

In the beginning, I found it hard to find an appropriate topic, because my course of studies was slightly different to the offered topics. I studied geotechnology with specification in hydrogeology. But with the help of Markus Fischer I finally found an interesting thesis at the Cracow University of Technology. The supervisor of my thesis was Ph.D. Krzysztof Radzicki, scientific director of the Institute of Water Engineering and Water Management at Cracow University of Technology.

The organisation was quickly done. As the thesis was proposed by Ph.D. Radzicki, I only had to tell him when I would start to work in Cracow. The registration process in Cracow was also very smooth and quickly done. Due to the scholarship from the Nordic Water Network, I was able to rent a small but nice flat close to the city centre of Cracow. The cost of living in Poland are less than in Germany. Therefore I could afford a good standard of living in Cracow with the scholarship.

For the next participant, I would recommend to live in a shared flat, especially if you are writing a graduation work, because it is easier to get in touch with other people. However, Cracow is easy reachable from Berlin, so friends are able to visit you there. The city has also a very beautiful city centre and many historic buildings. If you haven`t been there yet, you definitely should go there someday.

I would like to thank the Nordic-Water Network for this opportunity and the support in the beginning and the end of my stay abroad. I think this is a perfect possibility to gain working experience abroad and also learn how other countries or organisations work scientifically.

My name is Artur Klingbeil and I would like to present my experiences as a master’s student in Norway. I have learned of the Nordic Water Network and the opportunity to visit Norway when I discovered the Water Week after finishing my courses in fluid water dynamics (Strömungslehre I +II). This was a chance that I could not pass on. After a successful application I went to Trondheim for a week in October 2016 and experienced lectures and organized excursions as well as the opportunity to see the city of Trondheim and a student cabin in the woods. In addition, we would listen to several presentations from professors and PhD candidates at NTNU. One of these presentations left a lasting impression, as it dealt with an intriguing sociological topic and was performed in an entertaining way. Markus Fischer told me that it would be possible to work on a thesis during a DAAD-funded stay abroad. Therefore, a few weeks after my return to Germany I decided to contact Manuel Franco Torres, the PhD candidate responsible for this presentation, in order to ask him whether he could imagine supervising a master’s student. For the next few months we kept mailing each other trying to find a suitable topic for the thesis. As Manuel was working on his PhD from his office in Oslo, we decided that I would come to Oslo after visiting Trondheim first.

In the summer of 2017 I finally came to Trondheim, where I enrolled as a student of NTNU. I received a room at the NTNU dormitory in Moholt and spent the following weeks mostly reading papers on different sociological topics. I decided that a hiking trip throughout Trondelag would be a welcome change. The NTNU offers several cabins (koiene in Norwegian) that can be booked by students and employees. These cabins are incredibly cheap, and we booked four of them planning a 5-day hike from cabin to cabin. In the end I stayed in Trondheim for a month before moving to Oslo. Although I received student accommodation in Trondheim, this was not possible in Oslo, as I was an NTNU student and therefore not eligible for student dorms in Oslo. Therefore, I tried to find a room on my own while I was still in Germany, using Facebook groups and FINN.no – a Norwegian advertisement website similar to ebay Kleinanzeigen with sections for jobs, housing, cars and various items for sale. When I stumbled upon an interesting ad for a room in a shared flat, my supervisor proposed to represent me and visit the residents. Eventually, I got the room and lived there for the rest of my stay. Not only did I find my accommodation through FINN.no, but I also bought several items and sold my bike. This website is very helpful.

In Oslo I received a desk and a notebook from Multiconsult, the company where my supervisor was working. Therefore, I would go to the office every weekday focusing on my thesis and relax on the weekends. The work environment at Multiconsult was great and my research for the thesis was both challenging and fun. In the course of the following months I gained greater insight into the topic and developed more confidence working in a field that was completely new to me. As I was speaking English on a daily basis and read papers that were almost exclusively in English, I experienced no barrier to writing the thesis in English.

However, research is not the only exciting activity in Norway. The country is famous for its breathtaking nature and one particular chain of islands called Lofoten offers arguably the most astonishing scenery of the country. Hence, a trip to Lofoten perfected my stay in Norway and I would recommend it to every nature lover that has the chance of travelling to these islands. In addition to several hikes through beautiful landscape we also managed to take a remarkable albeit short cruise with the iconic Hurtigruten – the Norwegian Coastal Express – seeing the Lofoten fjords.

All in all, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to visit memorable places in Norway, get to know the Norwegian culture, improve my English skills, work on a topic that was previously unknown to me and have thought-provoking and amusing conversations with many people. I would like to thank both the TU Berlin, NTNU and Multiconsult as well as the Nordic Water Network and DAAD for making this stay possible. I would like to offer my special thanks to my mentor from TU Berlin, Markus Fischer, who inspired me to conduct my thesis in Norway and to my mentor from NTNU, Manuel Franco Torres who kept a sense of humor when I was lost in the complexity of governance. To sum up, I would definitely recommend this opportunity to have an unforgettable experience.

Two years ago, I had an opportunity to visit Trondheim by participating at the Autumn School “Water Week”. The quality of the lectures and of the whole program were remarkable, and the town with its nature all around was so beautiful, that I have wished to come back again and ideally write my thesis at NTNU. With the help of Markus Fischer, I was able to find an interesting topic and a supervisor for the master theses. Thanks to DAAD, I have obtained a scholarship which was a huge help due to the high costs of living in Norway. Given that my studies are in “Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering”, department of Marine Technology at NTNU was the best choice. NTNU is considered one of the best universities in the world in the field of marine technology. The topic was about offshore wind turbines and the title was “Validation of Load Models and Calculations of Response for a Monopile in Steep Water Waves”. My supervisor at NTNU was highly competent Prof. Erin Bachynski and at TU Berlin Prof. Andrés Cura Hochbaum of the department of dynamics of maritime systems. A supervision at NTNU differs strongly from TU Berlin which is one of the biggest advantages to write a thesis there. Due to regular weekly meetings with the supervisor I was able to discuss the results or challenges that were occurring. This resulted in a high-quality thesis that I am proud of. Because I am not an EU-citizen I assumed that I will need a visa for the six-months period in Norway. It turned out that the Schengen-visa I was holding for Germany was suitable according to UDI (The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration), since I didn’t need to work there. This saved me the visa costs of € 500+. Also luckily, I took an advice from the previous experience reports and stayed at Moholt student village in one of the new buildings with a shared kitchen and an own bathroom. This enabled me to get plenty of new friends, mostly Norwegians. Since these apartments are very modern and for Norwegian standards rather affordable, I can also highly recommend them. Visiting Norway for six months should not be without exploring the nature this country offers. There are many interesting destinations near Trondheim, including the Fjords around Ålesund. The highlight of my stay in Norway was a trip to Lofoten, which I can describe as the most beautiful place that I have ever seen (and I have visited a lot of places and countries). If you have a chance to visit this piece of paradise, do not hesitate! Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who has supporting me in this final step of my studies, professors at TU Berlin, NTNU, the DAAD and Markus Fischer!

At the beginning there was only one thought: writing my master thesis abroad – that would be something!

Just get out of the national environment and into an international adventure, into another country with a different academic status. I was interested in how certain questions are approached abroad, what opportunities companies and universities offer and what approaches they pursue – maybe they are similar to ours but maybe you can still learn something from them and take it back to Germany. Furthermore, it was important to me not only to complete my master thesis, but also to learn a lot – which does not depend on the academic composition of the work – and to face new challenges that I would not have here in Berlin. For example, I wanted to test and improve my English skills. Of course, you can also write your work in English at your own university but in discussions and in everyday life you would always have the temptation to change to German out of convenience. In English speaking countries you are forced to communicate in the corresponding language and to use it.

Thanks to the Department of Fluid System Dynamics at the Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) I have already been able to participate in several events of the Nordic Water Network. Thus, I became attentive to the NTNU in Trondheim. Especially due to visits to Trondheim and meetings with professors from NTNU here in Berlin my interest in a thesis in Norway had intensified. Through my childhood in Norway, language, country and people were not alien to me.

The decision was made: I would write my master thesis at the NTNU in Trondheim! But how am I supposed to finance it? Norway, one of the most expensive countries in the world, is not so easy to afford for a student from Germany, especially when he spends half a year there. Consequently, I became aware of a program of the Nordic Water Network in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supporting student exchange between NTNU and TUB. I immediately prepared all the required documents and submitted my application for this program. When I eventually received a confirmation I was extremely happy and excited to be given this unique opportunity in my studies!

Through my previous contacts with the professors I quickly found an exciting topic and a period in which I could tackle it. The organization of the department was excellent and any questions that emerged were answered directly and helpful. The flight and a room in the dormitory were already booked. But please note that during the semester the dormitories are relatively full and you are not guaranteed to get a student flat right away. If necessary, you have to look for private accommodation which is rarely available in Trondheim. I was lucky when I arrived in Trondheim on 22nd February 2018 and could move directly into a newly completed building of the student dormitory Moholt. I shared the accommodation, a generous floor on the 3rd floor of a nine-story wooden building, with 14 other students. The kitchen was big, three people shared a fridge, had their own small cupboard and a drawer in the kitchen and could use the two stoves and ovens as well as the microwave at any time. The open kitchen was integrated into the common room, which consisted of a sofa set, tables and chairs. Furthermore, there was a public toilet on the floor, which could apparently be used by potential guests. Every room had its own small bathroom with shower. A table, a large cupboard, storage facilities and a bed with wooden slatted frame were also provided in the room. The tenant had to bring the rest of the interior (e.g. mattress, blanket, pillow, bed linen, towels, toilet paper, toilet brush, soap, table lamps, chair, etc.). Furthermore, a connection cable had to be brought along for the Internet since there was no WLAN available. Many students who wanted to live there longer have bought their own router for the time. Important! SIT bolig’s accommodation contracts are usually for whole semesters. This means that they are only valid for fixed periods of time which might not meet everyone’s needs. Apart from that, the time in Moholt was very pleasant, you could always have contact with the flat mates but you could also withdraw in the acoustically well shielded room if required. There was also a separate washhouse, a fitness studio within walking distance, two shopping centers (Bunnpris, Rema1000) near the student residence and a few sports facilities such as beach volleyball or trim park. It took me about 25 minutes walking from my accommodation to my workplace at NTNU near the Lerkendal Stadion and there is also a good bus service.

After the first meeting with my professor I drove to Ørsta, the place where the company Artic Nutrition is located, where I was allowed to record measurement data for my master thesis using a test facility and work in the laboratory. On site I had a supervisor who was a PhD student at NTNU and an employee of the company. The support was outstanding and the company’s employees were very friendly. Through the connection of NTNU, Artic Nutrition and the project I was able to learn a lot and put it into practice. An accommodation was provided by NTNU as long as I had my accommodation in Moholt. An exit from the tenancy with SIT bolig would have meant the loss of the room for the time back in Trondheim. So, I worked on the plant until the beginning of June and regularly exchanged views with my professor on further procedures and discussed the structures of the master thesis. After this fantastic time – I can only warmly recommend the landscape at this place – I went back to the NTNU in Trondheim to work with my professor on the paper. Moreover, I was in contact with my supervisor from Ørsta. The cooperation was extremely productive and educational.

At the end of August I landed in Berlin with two suitcases and a huge repertoire of experiences, knowledge growth and many, many beautiful photos and new contacts.

In summary
The decision to go to Norway and write my master thesis there was absolutely right! Not only the successful progress of my thesis and the routine in speaking and writing English, as well as the contacts I made during this time were more than rewarding. But also the unique and breathtaking landscapes of Norway, the people and the view from “outside” on life in Germany have had a positive influence on my own life and gave me many interesting thoughts.
At this point I would like to thank NTNU, Artic Nutrition and TUB and last not least the DAAD for making this stay abroad possible. I would particularly like to thank Markus Fischer for his untiring organizational engagement.

My name is Felix Polster. I am a Renewable Energy Engineering student at Technical University of Berlin (TUB). From February to August I spent half a year at the NTNU in Trondheim, Norway writing my master thesis.

Since I have never been abroad for studying purposes during my bachelor’s or master’s, drawing up my master thesis at another university was the last chance. Unfortunately, organizing a thesis abroad is not that easy since one must find a topic instead of just choosing some courses. Therefore, I started to contact some Professors at foreign universities who were doing research in the field of renewable energies. Unfortunately, without any success. Subsequently, I asked the TUB professors if they had any research relations to other universities. Luckily, through the chair of fluid system dynamics run by Professor Thamsen I got in touch with Lars Sætran from NTNU. He is the head of the experimental fluid dynamics group at NTNU. After a skype meeting with him and his two PhD students Jan and Franz we could already agree on a rough topic for my thesis. The thesis should contain the comparison of wind tunnel wake measurements with analytical wake models.

The overall organizational effort was held to a minimum due to the easy registration procedure at NTNU. After registration for the spring semester on the NTNU webpage I only had to apply for housing. Furthermore, I had to apply for the Nordic Water Network scholarship. In my case a scholarship was crucial since Norway is significantly more expensive than Germany.

I chose to live in the student village Moholt which is quite famous among exchange students. For a single room (14 m²) with own bathroom in a brand-new building with a very well-equipped kitchen I paid around 530€ per month. Other rooms with shared bathroom were slightly cheaper but in significantly worse conditions. Therefore, I can highly recommend an own bathroom. Furthermore, Moholt was only a 5-minute bus ride away from the university campus in Gløshaugen, which was convenient.

Already on my first day in Trondheim I had a group meeting with my supervising Professor Lars Saetran, his PhD students and the other master students. From the very beginning the atmosphere in this group was nothing short of remarkable. Everyone was exceptional friendly and welcoming. Over the next six month I was doing wind tunnel measurements and simulations. All my questions or request were quickly answered by Lars, Jan or Franz. The product was a great thesis which was graded as very good. Acknowledgement of the thesis at TUB was conducted without any problems.

Beside the thesis there was a vast variety of leisure time activities. The sport organization of NTNU, the NTNUi offered dozens of sports like football, volleyball and badminton. There were five gyms spread around Trondheim. Gym membership including the NTNUi membership costs around 200€ per semester. The NTNUi offered a free rental for different sport equipment like skiing, snowboarding, tents or hiking gear. Besides that, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) organized several multiday trips to different famous destinations in Norway, like Lofoten or Geiranger Fjord. Furthermore, they organized parties or other socializing events. The best experience during my stay in Norway was a 4-day backcountry skiing trip to an area called Sunnmøre alps. The area contains several mountains located directly at the awesome Hjorundfjord which were suitable for all levels from beginner to professional. Moreover, snow and weather conditions were great.