The goals of an environmental studies program include finding ways to increase energy efficiency, minimize pollution, increase environmental awareness and encourage alternative energy use. The main focus for students is to learn how to assess and solve environmental problems.

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Scandinavian unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and the subantarctic Bouvet Island. Higher education in Norway is offered by a range of seven universities.

The PhD is a doctoral degree, specifically called a "doctor of philosophy" degree. This is misleading because PhD holders are not necessarily philosophers (unless they earned their degree in philosophy!). That said, PhD recipients are able to engage in thought experiments, reason about problems, and solve problems in sophisticated ways.