You will become part of an active research team at the Department of Molecular Biosciences.
There are three programme options:
- Biochemistry,
- Molecular Biology, and
- Physiology.
Biochemistry is the in-depth study of biological problems from a chemical approach. You need to already have a solid background in chemistry and biochemistry at bachelor's degree level to follow this option.
Molecular Biology gives you in-depth knowledge of biological and/or medicinal processes through the investigation of the underlying molecular mechanisms.
Physiology focuses on the way in which living animals, including humans, function, and how living organisms adapt to their environment on a molecular, cellular, organic and individual level.
Irrespective of your programme option, as a member of a research group you will be asking questions such as:
- How are genes and genomes organised, and how is the gene expression regulated?
- What is the function of selected gene products?
- How do single genes and proteins contribute to the functions of cells?
- How do genes, proteins and cells work together in a living organism?
Master’s students often become participating authors in scientific articles that are subsequently published in international journals.
All thesis topics are listed on the Programme website, and all master’s students choose and apply for the topic they are most interested in at the start of their studies. If more than one student applies for the same thesis, it is allocated to the candidate with the highest grades from the bachelor’s programme.
In addition to the research project, you choose 6 courses from more than 15 offered at
- the Department of Molecular Biosciences,
- the Department of Biology, or
- the Department of Chemistry.
The master’s degree qualifies you for independent work in laboratories, critical understanding of scientific articles, and the presentation of scientific topics and research results.
Your future
A master’s degree in Molecular Biosciences can pave the way for a career in research or administration at a university, hospital, technical college or in the biotechnical industry. If you take an additional year of practical teachers’ training, you will be qualified to teach in upper-secondary school.
If your interests lie in research at an academic institution or in industry or the private sector, a master’s degree is the door to PhD studies either at Oslo University or another university in Norway or abroad. Most universities worldwide conduct research related to what you will learn in the Molecular Biosciences master’s programme.
Today, these techniques are applied to areas of all biological and medically oriented disciplines. Modern pharmaceutical, biomedical and biotechnical industry builds its research on biochemical and molecular-biology methods. There is a growing range of applications for molecular biosciences in many areas of society.