The educational component is compulsory for all candidates on the PhD programme. It must be equivalent to six months’ work, or between 30 to 40 credits. The content will, in combination with your thesis, give you academic breadth and depth within your field.
You apply to get your educational component approved when you apply for admission to the PhD programme.
Content and requirements
All requirements are specified in § 8 The educational component of the regulations.
In addition, there are supplementary rules for following candidates:
How can I change my approved educational component?
If you need to, you can make changes to your educational component after you got it approved initially. Fill out the form below and submit it to your administrative department contact person (PhD coordinator). The changes must normally be approved before you take the course you want to change to.
Application form for changes to the educational component (.pdf)
Research courses and special syllabuses
Credits can be taken as national/international research courses or special syllabuses. All requirements are specified in the regulations.
Research courses
Research courses are summer schools, hack-a-tons or other relevant courses offered within the research community, but they lack an accreditation through a university. Upon completing a research course, you are not given an official transcript of records.
You can apply to include research courses in your educational component, but we will need a course description to evaluate the content and decide upon the number of credits you can be rewarded upon completion.
Research courses with a final examination, which are fully or partly organized by the MN faculty or the Natural History Museum, can be included in the educational component as ordinary courses and does not count as a research course.
Special syllabuses
Special syllabuses are individual literature or methods studies that are relevant to your research project. Special syllabuses are used when there are no relevant courses relevant within your specialization.
To include a special syllabus in your educational plan, you must send in a detailed course description using the form below. The content, scope and examination form should be indicated in the same way as other course presentations at UiO.
The special syllabus must be approved before the examination takes place.
Application for subjects taken as special syllabus (pdf)
Where do I submit my form?
Your filled out and signed form is delivered to your Department/unit contact person.