Training component

Objective
The PhD education at the Faculty of Social Sciences shall qualify graduates for research and other work requiring high standards of scientific insight. As part of the education, the PhD candidate must complete advanced training in academic context, methodology and theory that will provide academic support and guidance for the candidate’s thesis work, a foundation for an independent, reflective relationship to the subject, and academic depth and breadth. During the PhD period, candidates shall also receive training in the dissemination of research results to colleagues, students and the general public. It is recommended that the training component be completed in the first part of the PhD education

Content and scope
The training component at the Faculty of Social Sciences shall consist of the following compulsory components:

• Philosophy and Etichs of Social Sciences, 7,5-10 ects credits
• Methodology, at least 5 ects credits
• Academic theory, at least 5 ects credits
• Academic dissemination, 3-5 ects credits

In total, the training component must comprise at least 30 credits. The training component for candidates affiliated with the Department of Economics comprises 60 credits and more fixed course requirements.

The Faculty undertakes the final approval of the training component. The training component must meet the following requirements:

• The training component shall normally be conducted after admission or appointment to a PhD fellowship
• Courses taken five years or more before admission to a PhD programme will not usually be approved. At least 20 out of 30 credits must be completed after admission
• The training component may not consist exclusively of master’s degree courses. Courses at the master’s degree level with a grade of B or higher, or equivalent, can be approved as part of the training component in the PhD education, provided they were not included in the candidate’s previous education as part of a degree. These kinds of courses must be pre-approved by the person responsible for the academic content of the PhD education at the department. The application must be submitted to the department at least three weeks before the deadline for enrolment. NOTE: On completion of the course, a PhD candidate’s participation will normally yield less credits than for master’s students (a 25% reduction)
• Courses at the 100 and 200 level cannot be approved as part of the training component
• All courses taken outside the University of Bergen must be documented in the form of a certified copy of the course certificate

The training component must be approved before the thesis is submitted.

The Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT) at the University of Bergen is responsible for the teaching in the Philosophy and Etichs of Social Sciences. All candidates must complete the Faculty’s general course, or be able to document and have approved a similar course at another university in Norway or abroad. Courses taken outside the University of Bergen must be approved by the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT).

It is recommended that candidates take the methodology and theory courses that are most relevant to their work on the thesis, but they can also take courses that develop their general methodological and theoretical competencies.

Elective courses in the training component

Within the framework of the Faculty’s programme description, the candidate may choose which courses and activities are to be included, but the training component must be planned in consultation with the candidate’s supervisor, and the choice of courses must be clarified in advance with the person responsible for the academic content of the PhD education at the department the candidate is affiliated with.

The candidate can take PhD courses at the University of Bergen or at other institutions that offer PhD courses that the department can approve, in Norway or abroad. If courses from institutions other than the University of Bergen do not carry credits, the department will stipulate the number of credits to be awarded in line with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, where one credit represents a workload of 27–30 hours.

In subjects where no suitable courses exist in Norway or abroad, individual courses may be approved as part of the training component. The course must be pre-approved by the department and Faculty.

Approval of external courses

External courses (courses arranged by other faculties or institutions) may be approved in the training component upon application. Documentation must be attached to the application to the Faculty after completion of the course. The application is processed by the department in accordance with the advance clearance and approved by the Faculty.

• All courses taken outside the University of Bergen must be documented with a course certificate
• If the activity is not weighted in the form of credits, the candidate must attach the programme and, as applicable, reading list. The department will then determine how many credits the activity can be assigned

Digital form for approval of the external courses

On completion of the approval round, the PhD candidate will receive a decision document from the department. Approved courses will appear in Studentweb.

Academic dissemination must constitute at least 3 credits og maximum 5 credits and shall include a combination of the following activities: 

The following requirements must be met in order to achieve approval of academic dissemination (3-5 credits):  

• Participation in at least one national or international conference with presentation of results from own research.
• Participation in activities from at least two different categories. (E.g. the combination of one international/national conference and one popular science article of at least 1,000 words, within your own academic discipline, will qualify as approved academic dissemination. On the other hand, participation in two conferences, and no other dissemination activities, will not qualify for approved academic dissemination).

Once the dissemination component is considered complete, the PhD candidate register all activities in the digital form. The documentation must be added to the application. The application is processed by the department.

Form for approval of the dissemination component

The PhD candidate will receive a decision document from the department. Approved dissemination will be displayed in Studentweb.

Use this form to apply for approval of completed external courses and for approval of academic dissemination (when you consider that the requirement for at least 3 credits has been met).

External courses are all courses offered at other Uib faculties or at other educational institutions (domestic and abroad). Also use the form for applying for Master's courses (more information under Requirements for approval of the training component).

Form for approval of external courses and academic dissemination in the doctoral education