Master studies at the Department of Mathematics

Important information for new Master's students

Deadline for semester registration and course registrations

The absolute deadline for semester registration and course registrations is September 1st for the AUTUMN semester / February 1st for the SPRING semester. Read more about course registration deadlines at the UiO central webpage.

Within the start of every semester you must complete the semester registration and register for courses in Studentweb.

Deadline for submission of the Master's plan agreement

The Master's plan agreement must be submitted within the stated deadlines within your first study semester. This also applies to students studying part time. The appropriate deadline for you depends on if you are planning on including previously completed courses or not:

• September 1.: For students who plan on including previously completed courses.
• December 1.: For all other students who are not including previously completed courses. 

Please find the form for submitting the Master's plan agreement in the section for "Forms and deadlines" below and see the section for "The Master's plan agreement" for guidance on how to complete the form, choosing courses etc.  

E-mail: 

All students at UiO have their own student e-mail account. It is expected that you check this e-mail regularly, as important information is mainly sent to your UiO account, not your personal e-mail. It is possible to forward your student e-mail to your private e-mail if you want to. Read about this and more on the web page using your UiO e-mail account.

Contact person for your study programme

As a Master's student at our Department, you will be assigned a contact person for your programme. Your contact person will help you to get started with your Master's studies and guide you on how to choose a supervisor and a Master's project. If you have not been assigned a contact person during the start of the semester, please get in touch with the study administration on studieinfo@math.uio.no.  

Mandatory HSE courses

Students admitted to the Master's programme Computational Science must complete the following HSE-courses:

• HMS0501 – Safety and Physical Environment
• HMS0502 – Positive Learning Environment
• HMS0507 – Fire Safety

Rules and regulations at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

All students attending master's programmes at the Department of Mathematics at UiO are obligated to familiarize themselves with the rules and regulations at the Faculty. 

• Regulations for exams at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (only available in Norwegian)
• Regulations concerning courses, course groups and degrees at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Remaining courses in your Bachelor's degree or remaining courses to qualify for admission?

The Department of Mathematics does not offer conditional admission, but it is possible to receive conditional offers for admission.  

Conditional offers means that you are offered admission, on a condition defined within the admission letter you receive from UiO. Conditions may be that you need to document that you have passed one or several of the remaining courses needed to qualify, sometimes with a certain minimum grade, within a certain deadline, often within the start of semester. If you do not fulfill the condition, your offer for admission will be withdrawn. 

If you have gotten a conditional offer, please find contact information within the admission letter. 

Have you completed master courses before admission?

It is possible to include courses completed before admission as part of your study plan. Including previously completed courses will result in a deduction of your study period corresponding to the scope in ECTS of the courses you get approved to be included. 

Application is done by submitting the master's plan agreement form in consultation with your supervisor(s) during the first semester. 

The deadline for submitting the master's plan agreement, If you want to include courses completed prior to admission, is September 1st. in your first study semester.

Reduced study progession / studying part time

Study part-time due to work?

If you plan on studying part-time from the start of your studies, you must apply for this as soon as possible after admission (within September 1st), or as soon as you know that your study progression will be changed. The reason for part-time studies must be documented. Documentation of work, including job placement rate, must be attached to the written application. Send the application to studieinfo@math.uio.no. 

If you are applying for part-time studies from the second semester, you apply for this as part of the master's plan agreement. 

If you are applying for part-time studies from the third semester or onwards, you apply for this via the form for changes to your master's plan agreement. Se the section "Forms and deadlines" to locate the forms.  

Reduced studies / delay due to illness?

If you need to study reduced due to illness for a period of time, you can apply for this. The deadline for applying is September 1st and February 1st for the spring and autumn semesters, respectively, or immediately after receiving the documentation. Send your written application to studieinfo@math.uio.no. The application must contain the following:

• Stating the period you are seeking reduced progression for
• Your plan for the rest of the study (shift of courses and work on the master's thesis)
• Medical certificate or other documentation (a medical certificate or similar documentation containing sensitive personal information should be handed in on paper to the study administration to maintain privacy)

The documentation must confirm the period of illness by dates and state to what extent (in percentage) you are unable to study. Note that only statements about time period and degree of disability are used as a basis for reduced studies/postponement.

Reduced progression or postponement can be granted for the current and future semesters, not for completed semesters.

The master's plan agreement - supervisor, courses and more

The master's plan agreement is a written agreement between you, your supervisor(s) and the Department of Mathematics for how you will conduct your master studies. The agreement includes an overview of your study plan and theoretical syllabus, and master's thesis project.   

Here you will find information about what must be included in a master's plan agreement at the Department of Mathematics. 

The deadline for submitting the agreement is, as previously mentioned, December 1st in your first semester. If you are to include previously completed courses within your master agreement, the deadline for submitting is September 1st in your first semester. After the agreement has been submitted and electronically approved by your supervisor(s), the Master Council reviews the application and provides feedback on whether the agreement has been approved or not. 

If the agreement is not approved, any deficiencies and errors must be corrected as soon as possible, and the agreement resubmitted. When the agreement is approved, you and all your listed supervisors will be notified by e-mail from the study administration with a copy of the approved agreement.

Students who fail to submit the master's plan agreement will be considered as not wanting to continue their studies. Students who, for no specific reason, does not submit the master's plan agreement within the appropriate deadline will normally get their right of study withdrawn. In these cases the students in question will get a notice in advance. 

Supervisor(s)

Students who are admitted to one of the master's programs at the Department of Mathematics, or the fields of study administered by the department under Computational Science, must have at least one supervisor who is employed at the Department of Mathematics. This supervisor can be either the main supervisor or the co-supervisor. You can have more than one supervisor and you can have a supervisor who is employed at other departments at UiO or external companies. Together with the supervisor, you choose courses for the theoretical syllabus that will be included in your degree. 

Students attending the master's program Data Science must have at least one supervisor at the Department of Mathematics or the Department of Informatics. Where the main supervisor is employed determines the choice of study path in Studentweb, where one chooses affiliation to the department in accordance with the main supervisor's department affiliation.

Courses for theoretical syllabus

Remember to check the "Programme structure" on your study program's website and the field of study you are attending so that you know which courses are compulsory in your field of study and / or specialization. Remember to write in the agreement which specialization you are studying (only if you are attending a study program with specializations).

You can, upon application, use up to 20 ECTS of bachelor's courses in the degree. At the Department of Mathematics we have a requirement that these bachelor's courses must be at the 3000 level. The master's program in Fluid Mechanics and the Mechanics track within the CS program are exempt from this provision, where it is allowed for the 20 ECTS to be at the 2000 or 3000 level, and where credits at the 2000 level must be within the MAT/MEK/STK area. 

Courses that are included in the master's plan agreement cannot be part of a previously obtained bachelor's degree or be part of your admission criteria for your study programme. 

Resources

You must decide whether there is a need for extra resources for your project, e.g. for storage or computing power.

Signature

Both student and supervisor(s) must sign the agreement. The student signs the master's plan agreement digitally by submitting the form and the supervisor(s) sign digitally via a separate link for approval generated from the form. It is therefore important that you fill in the correct email addresses with correct spelling so that the approval links are sent to your supervisor(s). 

The master's plan agreement is not valid until your supervisor(s) and the Master council has approved your agreement, and you have received a confirmation by email from the study administration. 

Forms and deadlines

About the master`s thesis

Deadline for submission of the master's thesis

Remember that you must register for the exam in the master's thesis within ordinary registration deadlines. When receiving a confirmation of approval of your master's plan agreement, you will also get a confirmation for your submission deadline for the thesis. 

Submission of the master's thesis must take place within given deadlines for each semester. These deadlines are absolute. If the deadlines are not met, it will have consequences for the assessment of the assignment (cf. the regulations). The submission must take place by 14:30 o'clock on the submission date.

Submission deadlines for short (30 ECTS) master's thesis

• Submission in the spring semester: 15th of May
• Submission in the autumn semester: Monday in week 50

Submission deadlines for long (60 ECTS) master's thesis

• Submission in the spring semester: 15th of May
• Submission in the autumn semester: 15th of November

Extradition of project descriptions

Short master's thesis (30 ECTS, 4th semester)

Your Project description for a short thesis will be available on the following dates, depending on which semester the assignment is to be written. A short thesis is not offered in the first semester, the same semester you begin the master's programme - applicable to students who have completed courses prior to admission):

• Spring semester: Monday week 2
• Autumn semester: Monday in week 33

Long master's thesis (60 credits)

Project description for a long assignment is part of your master' plan agreement and is therefore available from when your agreement is approved.

Signing up for the master's thesis course

To sit for the exam related to the submission of the master's thesis, you must be registered for the exam.

Registration for the course is available from your education plan. Check the education plan at the same time - The diploma is printed on the basis of the education plan.

Course codes for registration for the final exam:

Long master's thesis:

MAT5960, SMR5960, MEK5960, DS5960, CS5960AMRA, CS5960MECH.

Short master's thesis:

MAT5930, SMR5930, MEK5930, DS5930, CS5930AMRA, CS5930MECH.
Associate Professor: MAT5930L, MEK5930L.

(MOD5930 / 60, ANMAT5930 / 60)

Requirements 

Requirements for the front page of the thesis
The Master's Council has decided that the front page of master's theses at the Department of Mathematics shall state the following:

• Department of Mathematics
• University of Oslo
• Thesis title
• Name of student
• Semester and year / date for submission

In addition, the University's seal must be affixed to the front. The name of the master's program with associated field of study, as well as the scope of the thesis must be on page 2 (back of the front page). Any organization logos and more can be put on page 3.

Cover page and layout of assignments written in LaTeX
The Department of Informatics has a website with general information about LaTeX with friends in Norwegian. Below you will find specific resources for writing the master's thesis.

Templates and guide for large documents

The front page template covers the requirements for the cover of your thesis and is available directly in Overleaf or possible to download to your own computer:

• LaTeX templates

If you are new to large documents in LaTeX, this guide can be useful:

• Guide for large documents

Old template

Previously, there was a Department specific front page and template. This is now replaced by the UiO template above. The old template and its documentation are still available here for reference:

• Overleaf
• Downloadable files
• Documentation

How to submit your thesis

From September 15th 2025, all master theses at UiO must be submitted in Inspera for grading and publication in the Norwegian Research Information Repository (NVA). The previous DUO Research Archive has been discontinued. 

Electronic submission of master's theses in Inspera
The web page Master thesis contains general information about submission of the thesis and publication in NVA. 

Follow the instructions for Submitting master's thesis to Inspera when submitting. Please familiarise yourself with the information about and submission in Inspera well in advance before the submission deadline. 

Restrictions
In some cases the student writes a thesis containing personal data or other confidential information. In those cases, one may place restrictions on the thesis.

What happens with my thesis after submission?

Please see the University library's web page on what happens After submission. 

Printing 

From the spring of 2020, the master's thesis will not be printed by the department.

If you want to print copies of the assignment yourself, it can be ordered from Graphic center as a private order.

Evaluation and Master hearing

Announcement
The time and place of the hearing are published online. This is visible from the front page of the Department of Mathematics on the page about master's studies. You can talk to the supervisor about setting a date for the hearing.

Censorship
The supervisor must not actively participate in the grading of master's theses. The supervisor shall provide external and internal examiners with information on e.g. the candidate's form of work, work effort and independence, and then the examiners must use this together with the other criteria for assessment of the master's thesis to determine the grade.
The examiners must emphasize information from the supervisor about the candidate's form of work, work effort and independence. More information on the faculty's page (in norwegian only). 

Final presentation of the master's thesis - the master hearing
After the thesis has been submitted, and it has been clarified that it is at least graded an E, the study ends with an oral master's degree examination. This exam first consists of a presentation of a minimum of 30 minutes where the student himself gives an overview of the assignment. The department has the following templates available :

• Beamer: Overleaf, zip
• Powerpoint

The presentation must be public,  and the external examiner, internal examiner and supervisor (s) must be present. The presentation is followed by an oral examination / conversation about the assignment with those who are deciding the grade.

The presentation, together with the subsequent oral examination / conversation, can be adjusting to the grade of the assignment. If the assignment as it is submitted is assessed to be an F, the final examination cannot change this, no final master's examination is conducted.

Two grades will be given on the protocol - one on the master's thesis itself and one final grade. The final grade will be on the diploma. Both grades will however be visible in Studentweb.

Grade descriptions 

The master's thesis is graded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Diploma

Remember to ensure that your education plan in Studentweb is correct. If something is missing in the plan / or you fail in one of the courses in the plan, you will not receive a diploma. 

Digital diploma

From 1 June 2022, you will receive a digital diploma. It can take up to 3 months before the diploma is ready. This is because they control the basis for the master's degree (and possibly a bachelor's etc.). The student is responsible for making sure that the basis for the master's degree is in order. This especially applies to students who have a bachelor's degree from other institutions than UiO.

In need of a confirmation of completed education before receiving your diploma?

If you in the meantime need a confirmation of completed education for use in job applications, etc., this can be obtained from the study consultant at the Department of Mathematics.