More than 600 applicants for 75 study places

In addition there are 92 Norwegian applicants, a considerable increase from last year.

- Telemark University College have partner universities in China, Sri Lanka and Ukraine, and many of the applicants come from these countries. As many as 200 applicants are Chinese, but in addition to these there also are applicants from countries where we have no partners. Sahar from Iran is an exampl of this. Her sister was admitted here in 2006, and now she has followed her example. This is an indication that words spread, says Dean Ole Ringdal at the Faculty of Technology.

He thinks a mix of 50% international students and 50% Norwegian students is idea, and this is what they try to obtain when they work with admission each year.

- These students learn a lot about different cultures during their studies, which is a valuable experience when starting to work after graduation - whether the gratudates start working in Norway or in another country. It's interesting to find that the international students are especially preoccupied with courses in environmental and technological subjects. At TUC, research on CO2-capture, and knowing that for instance China has very high CO2 emissions on a world scale, it's important that the Chinese students can return home with expertise in this field, says Dr. Ole Ringdal.

Igor Lebedenko is from Ukraine, and has completed master's degree in System and Control Engineering this spring. He has spent to interesting years in Norway, and has studied Norwegian in addition to his engineering studies.

- The master's degree in Norway is more practically oriented than in Ukraine. At TUC we work a lot with projects and are introduced to real industrial problems, which is something I like kvery much.

The international students integrate easily and every year they invite fellow students on TUC's campus in Porsgrunn to a "food festival" where they serve dishes from their home countries. They also arrange special parties for students of all of the three master studies at Faculty of Technology.

Jane Nysæther Madsen is Norwegian and pursues a master's degree in Process Technology. She belongs to the minority - being a Norwegian girl, but she does not consider that a problem.

- Engineering is an internationally oriented profession, and the degree I get here I can use all over the world. In this respect it's an advantage that the master programme is taught in English, which gives me valuable practice communicating and studying in English. Also, it's a lot of fun to get to know people that aren't exactly from my own neighbourhood, adds Jane, who is from Skien - Porsgrunn's neighbour town.

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This year there was a total of approximately 1 100 applicants to all of TUC's engineering programmes. The bachelor prograammes are taught in Norwegian, and have mainly Norwegian applicants, while the master programmes are taught in English and attracts applicants from all over the world.