Patrik Andersson

Patrik Andersson is an industrial PhD student at the Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, and the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Patrik’s PhD project, titled “Chinese Arctic Mineral Interests: Investigating Institutional and Political Reach,” looks at how Chinese geopolitical interests and mineral resource priorities affect Chinese investments in the Arctic mining sector. The main research question of his study is: How are Chinese geopolitical interests and mineral resource priorities in the Arctic formed, and how do these interests and priorities influence Chinese investment decisions in the Arctic mineral sector? Patrik is interested in how Chinese opportunities to invest in Arctic mining projects emerge and the implications of Chinese engagement in Arctic mining for Arctic communities and environments, and hence his research relates primarily to RT 2 and RT 4. His main research methods are content analysis of Chinese-language policy documents and journal articles, qualitative interviews and participatory observations. His project is supported by Innovation Fund Denmark.

Growing up in Sweden, Patrik has spent most of his adult life in China, where he has obtained a bachelor’s degree in Chinese from Sichuan University in Chengdu and a master’s degree in Ancient Chinese Literature from Beijing Normal University. In 2014, after eight years in China, Patrik returned to Sweden to pursue a master’s degree in Asian studies at Lund University, where he wrote his thesis on Chinese politics.