What are compulsory activities?
Compulsory activities include everything from submitting assignments, lab work and fieldwork, commenting on other students’ work or giving oral presentations. This also includes mandatory attendance at teaching.
Requirements for attendance at the various mandatory activities vary from course to course. If participation is too low, the student loses the opportunity to attend the final exam. Information about the mandatory requirements that apply to the courses is provided in the course descriptions.
If there is an absence from the first lecture in a BIOS course, the study administration should be contacted before the lecture starts.
Handing in mandatory assignments
The assignment must be handed in before the deadline stated in the assignment text. Hand ins after the deadline will not be accepted, except for postponements as described under the headlines ?Illness? and ?Other reasons for postponement? below.
Hand ins are usually done in Canvas in the form of one PDF file. Scans must be easily readable. Hand ins that do not fulfill these criteria will usually not be accepted.
The hand in must include name, course, date/year and assignment number.
Cooperation
The Department of Biosciences encourage the students to cooperate when working on mandatory assignments and other hand ins, but each student must hand in an individual assignment. Some courses may have group assignments where one group delivers one report.
For individual assignments, please note:
- You can use all available support material unless otherwise specified.
- Cooperation is allowed, but your hand in must be phrased and written by the student, and reflect your understanding of the subject.
- If you include text, illustrations, graphs or anything else made by others, you must point it out clearly, and note where it is from.
- Getting hints on how to solve a problem is allowed, but this must be used as a basis for solving it by yourself, not just be copied as is.
- You may be asked to orally account for the contents of your hand in.
You must be able to explain the contents in detail, and explain how you reached your answers. If the enquiry finds you unable to explain your work, your hand in may be graded as failed (or be deemed cheating, see below).
In case of a group assignment where the group hands in together, every member of the group is required to be able to account for the main features of the hand in. Furthermore, every member must have contributed a reasonable amount of the total, and be able to identify and account for his or her part in detail.
If you have doubts as to what is legal cooperation, you can contact your group teacher or lecturer.
Quotes and sources in assignment hand ins
As a student you are required to familiarize yourself with the rules for usage of quotes and sources, and the regulations about cheating.
In any type of hand in it is important that it is obvious what is your own work.
You must note who you have cooperated with. If you have cooperated with others, used other’s opinions, ideas, interpretations, literature, internet sources or other sources in your hand in, you must always accurately note where you have found the information.
This applies to all kinds of work, oral and written, as well as laboratory reports.
If you have the opportunity and wish to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in your assignment, its use must be declared. Here is a suggestion for how this can be done.
Learn more about how to cite sources at the University Library.
Openness and is foundational for all academic work. Presenting others’ work as one’s own is considered plagiarism, cheating or a cheating attempt.
Read more about cheating at the University of Oslo.
Publication and deadlines
Projects are usually published at least 14 calendar days before the deadline; weekly assignments at least 7 calendar days before the deadline. The deadline shall be clearly stated in the problem text. The students are expected to familiarize themselves with the deadlines.
When handing in an assignment the student should easily be able to find a confirmation that the hand in is received, an example of this is the delivery system Canvas.
Assignments handed in after the deadline will be marked as failed unless you have a valid reason for delivering late, see below.
Illness
Due to illness or other valid reasons, an extension for submission or the opportunity to complete the mandatory activity at a later date may be granted.
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Extension for Submission:
Students are granted up to 3 calendar days extension for mandatory submissions in the case of acute illness if they provide a self-certification. The self-certification must be sent via email to the group teacher with a copy to the course coordinator before the submission deadline, and must not contain sensitive personal information.
In the event of acute illness lasting more than 3 days, you must apply for valid absence through the department's study administration via the online form.
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Absence from Mandatory Activity:
If you are unable to participate in a mandatory activity due to illness or other significant reasons, a self-certification should be sent via email to the group teacher with a copy to the course teacher the same day the activity is scheduled, and must not contain sensitive personal information.
Self-certification may, if possible, give you the opportunity to switch to another group in the same or following lab week. If you are ill beyond this, or were unable to switch groups, you must apply for valid absence to the department study administration via the online form.
What is considered a valid reason for absence?
Valid reasons for absence from a compulsory activity include the following:
- If you, or a person for whom you are the primary caretaker, are ill.
- Childbirth.
- Death of a close relative.
- Other weighty reasons outside of your own control.
Other compelling reasons beyond your control may be, for example, military service, litigation or political representation. Participation in sports competitions or gatherings, cultural events and political activity on national level may also be approved.
In the event of a longer illness in preparation for your exams, you should consider applying for leave of absence from your studies.
Feedback
Submitted assignments are usually graded, and feedback is given within one week for weekly assignments, especially when the exam is approaching.
If resubmission is possible, the deadline will be determined based on workload and the time until the next mandatory assignment but will typically be 3–5 working days.
Validity of Mandatory Activities
For students who have completed all mandatory activities in a course, these activities remain valid beyond the semester they were completed. The validity varies from course to course, and this is specified in the course descriptions.
You must attend any midterm and final exams even if you have approved mandatory activities from previous semesters.