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Life science course development support

UiO:Life Science supports development of interdisciplinary courses within the life sciences.

Who can apply?

Academic employees on behalf of their departments and faculties.

Next application deadlines

Open (no deadline).

Funding

Each applicant may receive a maximum of NOK 300,000. The support may be distributed over a period of one to three years.

Further description

Many interesting life science related topics are taught to bachelor students at UiO every day. It is, however, not always easy for these students to choose courses outside their own fields. UiO:Life Science believes all bachelor students should have the opportunity to get involved in interdisciplinary collaboration and to acquire an understanding of other scientific disciplines.

We believe that existing or new courses with life science topics can be adapted to an interdisciplinary student group and made available to bachelor students all over UiO.

The purpose of life science course development funding is

  • to stimulate adaptation of existing bachelor courses of rather disciplinary nature into more interdisciplinary courses suitable for mixed student groups including participants from outside the host faculty 
  • to develop new interdisciplinary life science courses at the bachelor level

The course may be planned to constitute part of the portfolio offered to the Circle U Open Campus programme.

With this initiative, we hope to encourage students to build more interdisciplinary bachelor’s degrees and facilitate their ability to do so. The strategy to build a broader field of competence is warranted by the future demand for a highly skilled work force being able to handle and solve the increasingly complex and multifaceted challenges facing the modern society.

The supported courses will be part of a multidisciplinary pool of life science courses that UiO:Life Science will work to promote.

The support from UiO:Life Science may for example be used to cover working hours needed to prepare course material, develop curriculum, and define learning methods. The funding is primarily intended for course development, but may cover running costs for a test period of two years, provided that the host department or faculty declares willingness to cover all expenses in the subsequent years.

Courses eligible for development support should satisfy the following criteria:

  • It is possible to sign up for students from other study programs outside the host faculty
  • If access is limited, at least 50% of the seats must be available for such students
  • Curriculum and teaching are adapted to students with different backgrounds
  • Should be of broad interest and not be too specialized
  • No other courses are defined as required prior knowledge

When possible, teaching should involve problem-based learning methods with the opportunity for case studies and exploit the interdisciplinary nature of the student group as a resource in the course.

Apply now

Submission and evaluation of applications

All applications will be handled in regular UiO:Life Science board meetings, five times a year. Contact info@lifescience.uio.no to receive information about when you can expect your application to be evaluated.

Visibility of support

The course shall be indicated to be part of the pool of interdisciplinary life science course on relevant web pages with acknowledgement of support from UiO:Life Science where appropriate.

After a pilot phase (2 – 3 years), successful applicants are expected to share their experience at seminars, in joint workshops or other platforms.

Published Sep. 30, 2024 8:59 AM - Last modified Oct. 31, 2024 1:08 PM