BIDDEFORD—The University of New England has announced a new partnership that builds on the university’s commitment to undergraduate and graduate education, research and economic development in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions.

UNE and two higher education institutions in Iceland, the University of Akureyri and Holar University College, reached an agreement during the 2016 Arctic Circle Assembly.  

The agreement opens up opportunities to develop new undergraduate exchanges, travel and other courses, the development of innovative international masters degree programs and new cooperative marine research and entrepreneurship.

It also will strengthen UNE’s existing partnerships with the Iceland Ocean Cluster House, the New England Ocean Cluster, the Maine North Atlantic Development Office and its many marine business partners.

The agreement was signed at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland in October by Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Anouar Majid on behalf of UNE President Danielle Ripich, Rector of the University of Akureyri Eyjolfur Gudmundsson and Rector of Holar University College Erla Bjork Ornolfsdottir.

“Our partnerships in Iceland are another opportunity for our students and faculty to explore areas of critical interest, especially in the marine economy,” said Majid. “The island nation is the gateway to a part of the world that is getting a lot of attention from the world community.”

Professor Barry A. Costa-Pierce, director of UNE’s Center of Excellence in the Marine Sciences, Dean of the Akureyri School of Business and Science Ögmundur Knútsson and Holar Professor of Aquaculture and Fish Physiology Helgi Thorarensen helped to negotiate the agreement, which was spurred on by new trade agreements between Maine and Iceland forged by the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip.

At the signing ceremony, Costa-Pierce talked about the significance of the new agreement.

“At UNE we don’t do paper agreements. I assure you that this is a tool with teeth,” he said. “We are part now of an Iceland/USA North Atlantic family that looks toward the north as our greatest opportunity. I’m committed to working with all of you to develop programs important for the next generation of global leaders in this rapidly changing region.”

The University of New England is Maine’s largest private university, an innovative educational community with two distinctive coastal Maine campuses, a vibrant new campus in Tangier, Morocco, and a robust offering of degree and certificate programs online.

The school attracts accomplished faculty and internationally recognized scholars who engage students in research and scholarship and is home to Maine’s only medical and dental schools—part of a comprehensive health education mission built on a pioneering interprofessional approach that includes pharmacy, nursing and an array of allied health professions.

For more information about the University of New England’s College of Arts and Sciences, visit http://www.une.edu/cas.