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First semester of your master's studies

During the first semester, you are expected to make or find an available master's project. You should find a supervisor and together choose courses for your master's studies. All of this should be included in a study plan that you need to submit by December 1st.

This is what you need to do in your first semester:

1. Find or create a master's project

Every fall in September-October, we organize information meetings where the department's research groups present their available master's projects. Many students also find their supervisor during this process. Find available master's theses on the programme page for your master's programme.

You can also design your own master's thesis and find a supervisor outside of established master's projects.

2. Find a supervisor from the right research group

It is your responsibility to contact a supervisor for a project you are interested in or who works within the field you want to write about. Grab the phone, write an e-mail or knock on doors

Everyone must have at least one internal supervisor working at IFI who belongs to a research group connected to their master's program. You may also choose to have supervisors from the research institutions Simula and SINTEF. If they are also employed at IFI and affiliated with a relevant research group, they can be considered your internal supervisors.

Find a Research Group from your programme

Programme Research Groups
CS: Bioinformatics
CS: Imaging and Biomedical Computing
Cybernetics and Autonomous Systems (programme option)
Design, Use and Interaction
Digitalization in the Health Sector
Digital Economics and Leadership
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
Information Security
Language Technology
Programming and System Architecture
Robotics and Intelligent Systems (programme option)

Exceptions to the list above:

Certain employees in the IS-group, ND-group and PSY-group may supervise a limited amount of students in information security. Some Professor IIs from the BMI-group may supervise CS: Imaging and Biomedical Computing-students.

3. Choose courses for your master's studies

The courses you take as part of your master's studies are referred to as your theoretical curriculum for the thesis.

You choose courses in collaboration with your supervisor. At least half of the courses, calculated in ECTS, must be core courses for your master's program. Core courses are listed on the program page for each program under Structure and Implementation. In addition, there may be other requirements related to your program that it is important to familiarize yourself with.

In addition to this, you can choose from all IN-courses at the 4000 and 5000 level at the Department of Informatics. Some of the master's programs also approve other courses at UiO if they are at the master's level and are academically relevant to the master's thesis.

4. Schedule your master's studies

In the study plan, you need to create a plan for when you will take courses and when you will submit your master's thesis. To finish within the standard time frame, you distribute this over four semesters.

The theoretical courses should normally be completed the semester before you submit your thesis. If you are submitting your thesis in the spring of 2026, you must complete the courses by the end of the autumn semester 2025. The final exam will not be held until you have completed all the courses. If you are writing together with a fellow student, both of you must meet the requirement in order to have a final exam.

5. Submit the study plan by December 1st

The study plan is a master's agreement between the student, supervisor, and the department. Through the study plan, you choose courses for your master's program and set up a schedule. If you are writing a long thesis (60 ECTS), you should also include a project description. Make sure to do all of this in collaboration with your supervisor(s). All first-year master students, except for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, are required to submit a study plan.

Find the web form for the study plan and a checklist for what to include.

Published Nov. 16, 2018 2:54 PM - Last modified Jan. 5, 2024 12:16 PM