Resource hub for Master¡¯s students in Biosciences

New master's students

• Attend the mandatory information meeting
  • Inform the Study Administration if you cannot attend
• Get to know your master's program
• Get to know the sections at The Department of Biosciences

Find a Master's Project

• Follow this link to see published projects
• Projects published under other program options may be relevant for you
• You are welcome to look for projects that are not published, but if you find a project outside of IBV or NHM
  • the main supervisor must find an internal co-supervisor from IBV or NHM, and the topic and scope of the project must be approved by your internal co-supervisor
• Instructions for supervisors of master's students at IBV

Study Agreement and Project Description

• Hand in your master's agreement by 01 December
  • A preliminary short description of your master's project should be provided by your supervisor and uploaded with the study agreement by the deadline of December 1st. The finalized project description must be written by you and approved by your supervisor and submitted by March 1st via the form: "Form for Submitting Changes to Your Study Plan Agreement." IBV has written a template for the finalized project description (pdf)
  • All students must fill in The HSE self declaration form.
    • the reference number to your submitted HSE form should be uploaded to your study agreement.
    • If you have an internal master`s project at IBV, you will be required to upload a risk-assessment in the HSE-self declaration form. The risk assessment shall be provided to you by your supervisor. Please note that it is not required to upload the risk assessment in the master`s agreement. 
  • Apply for courses. It is common that the deadline for course registration in the 1st semester is before you have decided on a master's project. Therefore elective courses will have to be choosen based on interest and relevancy to your program option.
    • List of courses at IBV
    • Your last semester should be reserved for working on your thesis. You are otherwise free to organize the courses as you wish. However, finding three courses that don't have scheduling conflicts can be difficult.
    • This site can help you plan your schedule
• Inform the Study Administration if your study agreement isn't ready by the deadline, and give them a new estimated date. It is important that you do not start working on the project before the project has been approved by your internal supervisor.

If you have moved to Oslo from another country to study Biosciences at UiO, there may be other aspects of coming to Norway as an international student that are covered by the information page for International Students.

Tasks for the start of term

• Register and pay semester fee
• Apply to courses by deadline
  • List of courses at IBV
  • This page can help you check for collisions in your course schedules
  • Make sure to check the exam date as well. It can be found in the course description. Choose the right term, and then exam.
• The results of the course admission will become visible in StudentWeb after the applications have been processed
• Make sure to attend the first lecture - also applies to those on wait-list

Lektor students at IBV

Welcome as students in The Department of Biosciences. 

Find a Master's Project

• Follow this link to see published 30 credit projects
• You are welcome to look for projects that aren't published, but if you do, make sure to:
  • inform the potential supervisor that your project should be 30 credits
  • talk about when you will be able to start working on the project

Study Agreement and Project Description

Students in the Biosciences master's program should hand in their study agreement and project description by 01 December. We don't expect lektor students to be ready that early, so there's no set deadline for you. Our advice is that you hand in the study agreement when you have found a project, and that you, in lieu of a project description, attach a document that shows what you and your supervisor have agreed on. The project description may be sent at a later time.

The study agreement should include a list of the courses that you will be taking. You can find a list of available courses in Biosciences here. Choose courses that you find interesting and relevant to a subject you would like to work on in you project. Ask your supervisor for recommendations if you have already found a project.

Contact the study administration at The Department of Biosciences if you are having trouble finding a project or if you have any other questions.

Working on your thesis

Our department does not have strict rules for the layout and format of the thesis, but you can find some guidelines here and cover templates here.

Go to the section "Handy resources" at the bottom of the page for resources that may be helpful in your process.

Submitting your thesis

Be aware of your deadline, which is visible in StudentWeb. All students must submit their master's thesis in Inspera and in StudentWeb by the set submission deadline. Plagiarism checks will be conducted on all master's theses. Once the date for your master's exam has been set, the student advisor for your program will download a copy of the thesis from Inspera and send it to the examiners.

Printing your thesis

You may also print your thesis through the UiO Graphic Center. IBV covers 15 copies in b/w or color up to NOK 1000. When ordering you must use koststed 15550000 and delprosjekt 102420154. It is recommended that you print your thesis, as the examiners may prefer a printed version.

Download standard cover page from Graphic Center

Master's Exam

Once the thesis is submitted, a master's defence (a presentation followed by an oral examination) must be held 3 - 6 weeks after thesis submission. All courses must be passed prior to the master's defence.

Information about the format of the exam

Forms for the exam can be found at the bottom of this page.

Tasks before the exam

The Candidate should:

• prepare for the exam

The Supervisor should:

• find examiners - one employed at UiO and one external
• set a time for the exam in collaboration with the examiners
• inform the Study Administration about the names of the examiners and the time of the exam and provide the name and contact information of the examiners

The Study Administration should:

• arrange a contract for the external examiner
• send a copy of the thesis to the examiners
• book a room for the exam (if held in Kristine Bonnevies Hus)
• publish the event
• send information about the exam to all involved

Following the Master's Exam

Any borrowed IT equipment must be returned to the IT section at IBV and keys must be returned to the IBV expedition office. A clerance form must be filled out and sent to studieinfo@ibv.uio.no.

The diplomas at UiO have been made digital and can be found in the Diploma registry