Course Information for exchange students to MN Faculty

Welcome to the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Below is some important information regarding course selection at our Faculty that we require you to read and understand.

The stages of course registration at UiO

1. You will make course selection based on courses in the course catalogue. You must fulfill any prerequisites and the course must be open to exchange students (some courses are restricted to degree students at UiO).

2. The relevant Department checks your background to see if you qualify (all students will receive an email with this information). Please note that even if the Department checks the qualifications, it will still be your responsibility to make sure you can keep up with the course.

3. If you qualify the courses will be added to your Studentweb, or you will be instructed to add it yourself. This does NOT mean that you have been admitted (many courses cannot be added by the students themselves).

4. The first round of course admission is completed about 2 weeks before the final deadline for semester registration (1 February / 1 September). This means that you will only find out if you have been admitted to a course in mid-August / mid-January.

5. You will see which courses you have been given admission to in StudentWeb.

6. After the first round those courses with available spaces will be listed and open for registration on a first-come, first-served basis.

7. The deadline for BOTH semester registration and course registration is 1 February / 1 September. If you have not registered by this point you will loose your student status.

How to Register

Please go through the following steps in order to register. You will be notified by email about which courses you have qualified for. This information is usually sent during the month of June/November.

If you have been told to register for a course yourself, but you can not find it when you search under "my active courses", please contact the study administration at the department offering the course.

1. Log in to Studentweb (use Feide)

2. Go to "my active courses" in the menu in the top left corner.

3. Search for the courses you would like to register for.

4. When you have registered, the courses should be in the list of Your active courses. Please note that even if you have registered, this does not mean you have been admitted. Please see "the stages of course registration at UiO" above for more information.

* You will also have to go through the steps of the study plan on the front page of Studentweb. However, please note this and "my active courses" are not the same thing, and the study plan is not where you register for the courses.

* There will also be information about the semester fee in Studentweb, however most Exchange students, such as ERASMUS, Nordplus/Nordlys and most Bilateral students, are registered with an exemption. 

Courses in English

We are pleased to say that we offer many courses in English, from the 2nd or 3rd year of the Bachelor level. However, courses at the lower level are almost always taught in Norwegian. Courses that are listed as ‘English on demand’ or 'English if requested' will run in English if at least one exchange student requests it before lectures begin, but we cannot guarantee that courses will change the language of teaching later if you sign up for the course after the beginning of the semester.

You can search the list of courses offered in English.

Changes in the course catalogue are unusual at this stage; however, courses are unlikely to run unless a minimum number of students register for them.

Prerequisites

Almost all of our courses have prerequisites which students must meet in order to take the courses. Courses are also generally assumed to be for students who study science and have taken science courses at university level already. More detailed information on prerequisites can be found on each course website. It is important that you upload/send enough information so that we can determine if you meet the prerequisites for the courses you want. Normally your transcript in English and a list of the courses you are currently taking will be sufficient. Occasionally, the department may wish to contact you for further clarification.

Course Load

A course usually has a credit value between 5 and 20 ECTS credits, with most courses being 10-credit courses. A full-time student takes courses worth 30 ECTS credits per semester.

Norwegian Courses

The Faculty of Humanities offers Norwegian courses for international students. Some students take Norwegian language courses as part of their 30 credits and some take them in addition. These language courses normally begin with the code NORINT. Please note that courses beginning with NORA are pay courses offered by the International Summer School, and not regular courses for exchange students.

Course Level

All courses at the university have a unique course code consisting of letters and numbers. The letters often reflect the course’s subject area or the course name: KJM means, for example, "Chemistry", while BIOS means “biology”. The numbers usually have four digits, where the first digit indicates the level of study for the course:

1 = basic courses at Bachelor's degree level

2/3 = secondary courses at Bachelor's degree level

4/5 = courses at Master's degree level

9 = courses at PhD level

Students are normally expected to take courses at or below the level of their degree at home. If you are in the final year of your Bachelor's degree, the courses at 2000 and 3000 level are most likely to be suitable for you. Some departments may be able to offer Bachelor students access to some of their Master level courses, however this is at their discretion.

Health and Safety Courses

Please note that if you have requested courses that have a laboratory or field course component, there will be a series of health and safety courses that you will be required to complete. The Norwegian abbreviation is HMS. Most of these courses are now e-learning courses that you can complete online. More information will follow.

Once you arrive in Oslo

If you have any questions, you can contact the Faculty's Student Information Centre, MN studieinfo, or visit them in Vilhelm Bjerknes’ hus during opening hours.

Information for Specific Departments/Centres/Other Faculties

Courses from other Faculties (Humanties/Social Sciences/etc)

You will be contacted directly by the relevant faculty if you have indicated that you wish to take courses offered by them.

Department of Biosciences

Please note that the Department of Biosciences is not able to guarantee admission to their courses until the semester starts.

Department of Chemistry

Some courses within the Department of Chemistry i.e. KJM3200 and KJM3400 require extensive laboratory experience in addition to or as part of the academic prerequisites.
All previous laboratory experience must be documented.

Department of Geosciences

Please note that the Department of Geosciences is not able to guarantee admission to their courses until the semester starts. This is because the courses are very popular with degree students and exchange students alike. We encourage you to consider alternative courses for your semester should your application not come through, and discuss these with the contact person at your home university, prior to departure for Norway.

Department of Informatics

Due to an increased interest in courses offered, the department cannot guarantee admission to all qualified students; we appreciate if you are able to consider alternative courses. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the student to keep up with teaching and course content throughout the semester.
Please note that informatics courses with a course code ending with NSA and beginning with ENT are not available for exchange students.

Department of Mathematics

The Department of Mathematics has made their own information for exchange students. The Department has also developed lists/groups of courses they recommend for exchange students at various levels and with interest in different fields. All course applications are registered by the students themselves in Studentweb. Note that you must make sure that you fulfill any prerequisites for the courses you register for, listed on the webpage for each course.

Department of Technology Systems

All courses with a course code beginning with TEK is offered by the Department of Technology Systems - ITS. ITS is located at Kjeller, about 25 km outside of Oslo, but there is a shuttle bus that runs between ITS and the main campus at Blindern.

 

Published May 4, 2015 10:11 AM - Last modified Oct. 31, 2023 10:14 AM