SETI Institute wrote about the University of the Underground and its call for applications on their website. The article describes the UU mission and aim and how it differs from other post-graduate programmes.

You can read the whole article here

Following the International Space Orchestra performance with Sigur Ros at the Hollywood Bowl, and the release of the trailers from the astrobiology project The Life, the Sea and the Space Viking; SETI Institute’s Designer of Experiences Nelly Ben Hayoun, is now up to a new challenge. She is opening a university in the undergrounds of cities. 

With the aim of teaching postgraduate students how to engineer situations, to design experiences and events, that best support social dreaming, social actions and power shifts within institutions, companies and governments, the world’s first University of the Underground, based in the underground of the urban space, promotes unconventional collages of references, interdisciplinary practices, chaos and experimentations at the start of any creative process.

The University of the Underground responds to the current trend of increased fees for postgraduate programmes by firstly proposing a business model in which every student is provided with scholarships to cover their tuition fees.  By hosting the University of the Underground, Sandberg Instituut is making steps towards a new, ambitious model for financing education. Scholarships are to be provided to students through the support of philanthropists (80%) and governmental grants (20%). As such, it aims to act as a model of what can be achieved through coordination, shared passion and belief in the next generation. The goal being to create many more of these educative structures worldwide with the same financial structure 80%, 20%.

The University of the Underground is Sandberg Instituut’s MA design programme based in the underground of cities. The Sandberg’s Instituut is the postgraduate programme of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. The University of the Underground is developing Sandberg Instituut’s Unconventional Research Practices Department that is aiming to provide PhDs in the near future. The programme will, therefore, emphasise research, critical theories and context within students’ practices.  

The University of the Underground is established as a foundation in Amsterdam, composed of a multidisciplinary world class team as part of its advisory board and teaching team. It is directed by Nelly Ben Hayoun and managed by Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios Ltd in the Village Underground in London and from the SETI Institute in Mountain View,  California, where Nelly will soon return.

You can read the whole article here

The SETI Institute is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education, and public outreach. We are located at 189 Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA.

Founded in November 1984, the SETI Institute began operations on February 1, 1985. Today it employs over 130 scientists, educators, and support staff. Research at the Institute is anchored by three Centers: the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, the Center for Education, and the Center for Public Outreach. Nathalie Cabrol is the Director of the Carl Sagan Center, Edna DeVore leads our Center for Education, and Rebecca McDonald helms the Center for Public Outreach.