Master's Programmes at the Department of Biological Sciences (BIO)

We have a Master's Programme in Biology, taught in English, with seven options for specialisation.

The various specialisations have different objectives and content, and contain some common courses and some specific to the specialisation. 

• Programme page: Read a general introduction to the programme, programme structure, admission requirements and how to apply. For more specific information about the specialisations, select a link below.

Specialisations offered in the Master's Programme in Biology: 

• Aquaculture Biology
• Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology
• Developmental Biology, Physiology and Nutrition
• Environmental Toxicology
• Fisheries Biology and Management
• Marine Biology
• Microbiology  

Geobiology is no longer a study programme option, but it is possible to specialise in Geobiology under Microbiology and Marine Biology. It is also possible to specialise in Nutrition through many of the other disciplines - especially Aquaculture Biology.

Your master's project will be performed in one of our research groups or with one of our collaborative partners. The project/thesis makes up half the programme, one year. You must find a thesis research topic/project in collaboration with academic staff at the Department. Available topics depend on available supervisors and other resources. In general, we encourage you to incorporate field work, laboratory or computer analysis work, statistical or conceptual synthesis, into the thesis research topics, as well as a write-up that puts the study and its findings into the context of previously published research.

Examples of our collaborative partners: 

• University Museum of Bergen
• IMR - Institute of Marine Resarch
• NORCE - Norwegian Research Centre

Students with a project in nutrition usually perform their project at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR)

You can find completed master's theses in BORA (Bergen Open Research Archive).

We also offer a Master's Programme in Molecular Biology, taught in English.

• Programme page: Read a general introduction to the programme, programme structure, admission requirements and how to apply.
• Additional information about our Master's Programme in Molecular Biology

Students may do their master thesis in one of our research groups, or choose to do the work for their master thesis with external supervision, for example at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) or at Haukeland University Hospital.

If you want an idea of what our students write about in their theses, take a look at our Master Thesis Archive for Molecular Biology students. You can also find completed master's theses in BORA (Bergen Open Research Archive).

Meet Aurélien, Master student in Marine Biology 

Meet Lena, Master student i Molecular Biology

Meet Martina, Master student in Molecular Biology