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Study in Trondheim

Trondheim is known for student life that moves through the city like a current, filling the streets with fresh ideas, big ambitions, and the kind of energy you can feel.

More than a place to study.

With more than 40,000 students in the region, Trondheim brings world-class education, research, industry, nature, culture, and community into one compact city. Here, there's big opportunities, and room to make your mark.

UKA, Trondheim. Photo: Foto.samfundet.no

Small city. Big student energy.

In Trondheim, student life spills into everything. Campuses stretch across the city, yet you’re never far from anything. You can bike from lecture to lab to a student-run concert in under ten minutes. World-class tech communities sit beside historic wooden houses. The same people studying in labs are launching startups, running festivals,

and filling Samfundet on a Friday night. This city runs on curiosity, collaboration, and a little late-night ambition. Compact enough to feel personal. Ambitious enough to feel global. Trondheim runs on student initiative, and once you’re here, you’re part of the current.

40,000 students bring energy to every corner of the city.

From student-run festivals and volunteer organisations to packed nights at Samfundet, Trondheim’s student culture is one of the city’s strongest forces. It gives students more than a social life. It gives them a way to take part.

World-class technology and innovation close to student life

With powerhouses, NTNU and SINTEF at its core, Trondheim has long been a driving force in Norwegian research, technology and innovation, giving students access to ideas, environments, and opportunities that reach far beyond the classroom.

Nobel Prize-winning research, ideas with global reach

In Trondheim, students study close to Nobel Prize-winning research, 5,000 researchers and lecturers, and an international student community of 3,800. It’s a city where learning connects naturally to bigger ideas, global perspectives, and the people shaping what comes next.

Home to UKA, Norway's largest student-run festival.

Trondheim’s student culture reaches far beyond campus, from UKA to ISFiT and the communities built around them. Through festivals, volunteering, societies, events, and creative projects, students help shape the rhythm, culture, and energy of the city.

Study in the heart of a knowledge city

Trondheim is home to NTNU and SINTEF, together forming one of Europe’s strongest research communities. The city has long been a driving force in Norwegian technology and innovation, with strengths spanning science, engineering, sustainability, health, and entrepreneurship.

Find your path of study

Find study opportunities across a wide range of fields, with programmes connected to Trondheim’s strengths in research, technology, health, education, business, and society.

Engineering, Energy Technology & Sustainability

Study innovative solutions for the future, from renewable energy and green technology to sustainable engineering and industrial development. Trondheim has a long tradition of engineering education and is home to NTNU, known for its integrated five-year Master of Science in Engineering programmes and wide range of specializations across engineering and technology disciplines.

Marine Technology & Ocean Research

Explore one of the world's leading academic environments for marine technology, ocean engineering and ocean research. NTNU is ranked among the top universities globally in Marine/Ocean Engineering, and Trondheim is strengthening its position as an international hub for ocean innovation through the development of the Norwegian Ocean Technology Centre.

Computer Science, AI & Data Science

Develop skills in programming, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science and digital innovation in Norway's leading technology city. Trondheim's close collaboration between academia, research and industry creates opportunities to engage with real-world challenges and connect with technology companies, startups and entrepreneurs. The city is also home to SINTEF, one of Europe's largest independent research organizations, making Trondheim a unique environment for innovation and technology development.

Medicine and Health Studies

Contribute to the future of healthcare through studies in medicine, public health, clinical research and health technology. Trondheim is home to world-leading neuroscience research at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, where Nobel Prize-winning scientists May-Britt and Edvard Moser have transformed our understanding of how the brain navigates space.

Architecture & Design

Combine creativity and technical expertise to shape sustainable buildings, urban environments, products and user experiences. From the iconic Nidaros Cathedral and historic wooden neighbourhoods to modern approaches to sustainable urban development, Trondheim provides a unique setting for exploring architecture and design across past, present and future.

Natural Sciences

Gain a deeper understanding of the natural world through research-driven studies in the fundamental sciences. Students benefit from access to advanced research infrastructure and laboratories across a wide range of disciplines, including NTNU NanoLab, one of Norway's leading facilities for nanotechnology and materials research. Trondheim's interdisciplinary research environment also creates opportunities for collaboration across natural sciences, engineering, technology and health research.

Education & Early Childhood Development

Explore how children and young people learn, develop and thrive through studies in education, teaching and early childhood development. Trondheim is home to strong academic environments at both NTNU and DMMH, one of Norway's leading institutions for early childhood education and research, offering opportunities to study everything from teacher education and pedagogy to childhood development and learning.

Humanities, Social Sciences & Society

Explore people, cultures and societies through studies in communication, history, languages, psychology, sociology and politics. With more than 40,000 students, Trondheim provides a vibrant and international environment for examining how people, communities and societies develop and change. The city's interdisciplinary academic environment also offers opportunities to explore how technology, sustainability and public policy shape modern societies from a Nordic perspective.

Business, Economics, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Build knowledge in business strategy, economics, leadership and entrepreneurship while exploring how ideas become successful products, services and organizations. Trondheim has a strong entrepreneurial culture and close connections between students, researchers, startups and industry, creating opportunities to engage with innovation in practice.

Fine Arts, Music & Creative Studies

Develop your artistic skills and creative expression through studies in music, visual arts, performance and other creative disciplines. Trondheim is home to one of Norway's most influential jazz education environments and a wide range of festivals, ensembles and cultural venues that contribute to a thriving creative community.

The Journal

Meet the students shaping Trondheim

David Phan, TomatoSharp

"We're both studying medicine at NTNU and running TomatoSharp."

A medical student develops an obsession with Japanese knife sharpening during the pandemic. His girlfriend starts helping with the marketing. Their friends get involved. At some point there's a one-square-metre shed, a grandfather's workbench, and a bicycle carrying kitchen knives across Trondheim. Somehow, this becomes a business.

Read more

Deep student traditions

Trondheim’s student traditions run deep, but they are anything but stiff. They spill into festivals, parades, songs, costumes, late nights, volunteer work, and the kind of shared humour that makes the whole city feel in on the joke.

NTNU Students, Trondheim. Photo: Foto.samfundet.no

Your connection to student life in Trondheim

StudyTrondheim is the network working to make Trondheim an even better place to study, live, volunteer, work, and build a future.

Led by students and connected to educational institutions, welfare services, local authorities, and industry partners, the network brings together the people and initiatives shaping student life in the city. From temporary housing support to Workation and career connections, StudyTrondheim is a useful place to start if you want to get closer to what is happening for students in Trondheim.

Follow @studytrondheim

A city designed for student life

Trondheim is compact, social, and easy to navigate, making student life feel less scattered and more connected, with strong student welfare services, active volunteer communities, student organisations, career connections, and traditions that help new students step into the city from the start.