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Guidelines for approval of PhD courses and seminars

Current guidelines for approval of PhD courses and seminars at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. All compulsory courses are arranged by the faculty by the Programme Committee for Research Training (PFF). These courses are pre-approved.

The following guidelines concern the elective courses in the educational component – international seminars and scientific article. Approval of elective courses (scope and level) is given by the Faculty or a person/committee authorized by the Faculty, not by individual course providers or supervisors.  

1. Approval procedure

All applications for approval of elective courses in the educational component must be sent to the Faculty. Appeals of the approval outcome are processed by the Programme Committee for Research Training (PFF).

JUR9503 – International seminars in Law:   

For application of approval please use the following form. The application has to consist of:

  • Description of how you have completed JUR9503 with regard to academic level, relevance to the PhD project and scope
  • Program
  • Participant list where your name appears
  • A recommendation from your supervisor that the seminar/course/conference is relevant to the PhD project and at a sufficient professional level
  • Relevant documentation

The PhD coordinator will forward the complete application for approval.

JUR9302 – Written work/scientific article, ready to publish:

The scientific article must be approved by your supervisor and the person responsible for the course appointed by the Programme Committee for Research Training (PFF). Articles that are published through a publication channel from The Norwegian Association of higher education Institutions’ listings, are automatically approved.  

2. Approval of courses taken prior to admission

A course that has been included in a candidate’s education at the first or second degree level cannot also earn credit as a PhD course. Courses taken during the master’s degree/second degree before completion of the second degree should not normally be approved as part of the organized research training, even when they have not been included as part of the training at the second degree level.

The Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo states that “The educational component shall correspond to at least 30 credits, of which at least 20 must be obtained after admission. Credits that are to be recognized as part of the educational component may not have been completed more than two years prior to the date of admission.”

3. Level required for approval as PhD course

  • The main lecturer and the person responsible for the course must have attained a high level of qualification (i.e. have a PhD or equivalent).
  • Attendance must be predominantly by junior researchers or established researchers/teachers. Some master’s degree/second-degree level students with relevant projects may attend without this compromising the requirement to academic standard.

4. Criteria for calculation of the scope (credits) of PhD courses

The approval evaluation uses as a base-line that 1 credit corresponds to 25-30 hours of work. Accordingly, five credits correspond to approximately 125 hours of work. This assessment includes time spent on the teaching activities, preparatory and follow-up work and the scope of the paper/essay.

5. Documentation of the educational component

Completion of the individual courses/training sessions taken during the educational component must normally be documented in one or more of the following ways:

  • A prepared written or oral presentation/lecture/paper
  • Participation in academic planning and implementation of a conference or seminar series
  • Written examination
  • Oral examination
  • Essay or similar
  • Written report (from a conference, seminar etc.)
Published Dec. 2, 2013 1:10 PM - Last modified Dec. 7, 2023 12:04 PM