Coursework (training component)
The coursework amounts to 30 credits, and must be completed and approved before the dissertation can be submitted.
Main content
The candidate must complete a training component in scientific method, theory, theory of science, and ethics that provides depth and breadth in their own subject, while at the same time putting the subject into a wider framework. In the PhD education, the candidate must also be required to communicate scientific work to colleagues, students, and the public (cf. § 2-2)
The training component should provide training in professional communication and an introduction to research ethics, scientific theory and scientific method. The training component must, together with the research work, contribute to achieving the expected learning outcomes in the current faculty's PhD program and in line with the national qualification framework (cf. § 7-2)
The supervisor is responsible for giving advice on the training part (cf. § 6-3). The candidate and supervisor must prepare a plan for the training part, which must be approved by the department/centre management. Any changes to the plan will be followed up in connection with progress reports and mid-term evaluation
The training component of the research program consists of 30 credits, of which at least 20 credits must be taken after admission. Elements to be included in the training section must not normally be older than five (5) years at the date of admission (cf. § 7-2).
15 credits must be taken as compulsory courses offered at the faculty.
- Scientific theory and ethics – 10 credits
- Literature Review and Publication – 5 ECTS
It is possible to apply to the faculty for admission (prior approval) of external courses, to replace the compulsory courses.
- The application must be justified based on the candidate's project.
- It must be documented that the learning outcome of the external course is equivalent to the course being replaced.
1. VITHF900 Theory of Science and Ethics
2. PHDOF903 Literature review and publishing for PhD candidates
Course information here (link to be added soon)
Deadline for registration: August 12, 2026
Course schedule, fall 2026
25 August: Orientation meeting
1 September: Voluntary introduction to Endnote and Zotero
8 September: Day 1 of compulsory seminar
9 September: Day 2 of compulsory seminar
10 September: Day 3 of compulsory seminar
14 October: Day 4 of compulsory seminar
1 December: Deadline written asignment
Course program 2026 (tba)
3. Candidate-spesific courses
The candidate-specific training component must ensure that the candidates fulfil the requirements of the PhD regulations for the training component, beyond the content already covered by the compulsory courses.
The candidate-specific training component must therefore cover the following (cf. section 2-2 of the regulations):
- professional method and theory that provides depth and breadth in one's own field of research
- training in dissemination of scientific work
The department/centre is responsible for ensuring that the candidate-specific training component contributes to meeting the requirements of the regulations. This must be ensured both through the candidate's plan for the training component and any follow-up in progress reports and midway evaluation.
- Credit-giving activities may include:
- PhD courses under the auspices of UiB, research schools or other accredited institutions
- Participation with presentations at conferences and seminars
- Instrumental courses and courses with particular relevance to the thesis work (In the case of approval of courses from a lower level, credits reduction must be considered.)
- Mediation work
The following activities do NOT pay off in the training component:
- presentation of thesis chapters at internal seminars
- stays abroad
- duty work
- midway evaluation
- final seminar (master class)
Guidelines for the approval of the training component
The training part must be completed and approved before the dissertation is submitted. All activity must be adequately documented. Requirements for documentation can be found under a separate tab on this page. The training part must be approved in its entirety before the candidate can apply for submission. Inadequate documentation can lead to delays in submission.
Approval of the individual parts
Some PhD courses organized at UiB will be pre-approved, and the result is automatically registered on the candidate when the course is completed.
In order to have other activities approved and registered with ECTS credits (also applies to courses at UiB that are not pre-approved to be included in the coursework), the form «Confirmation of part of the training part» is used. The form must be signed by the supervisor and research coordinator at the department. Signed form and documentation is delivered to the local PhD coordinator for control of documentation. After checking, the contact person registers the credits in FS, before the protocol is sent to the faculty for archiving. There is a separate administrative routine for this work.
For courses / activities where there are no pre-calculated credits, the calculation must be made by the supervisor and approved by the department's research coordinator. 1 credit (1 ECTS) corresponds to 26 ⅔ working hours. This applies to all three cycles (bachelor, master and PhD). In addition, the nature of the subject must be taken into account, as well as the level and requirements for previous knowledge, when calculating the scope of work.
Final approval of completed coursework
When the candidate has obtained 30 ECTS credits and these have been registered and visible in Studentweb, the training part must be approved in its entirety. The supervisor and research coordinator carry out this approval on a separate form: "Final approval of completed training part". The signed form is delivered to the contact person for research education in the department administration, who sends it to the faculty together with a transcript showing how the training part is registered in the administratvie database (FS report 727.001).
Final approval of the completed coursewok must normally be in place 6 months before applying for the submission of a doctoral thesis.
Awarding of ECTS credits for conference participation
The main principle for awarding credits for participation in conferences is also based on the rule that 1 credit (1 ECTS) corresponds to 26 ⅔ working hours. On the basis of this, a practice has been established where up to 3 credits can be given for participation in a larger, preferably international, conference with speeches. There is also room to give up to 1 credit for participation in the equivalent without submission, if the program is of particular relevance to the candidate's own project.
Researcher Grand Prix
Participation in the Researcher Grand Prix can be credited with 2 ECTS credits. This was decided by the faculty's program board on 2020-06-10.
Requirement for documentation
In order to have an activity approved as part of the training part, you must first document production and / or presence during an event. Thereafter, the supervisor and the department must approve that the event / production can be included in the training part and how many credits should be awarded.
The training part of the doctoral education is a total of 30 credits, and 15 of these are compulsory. The compulsory credits must be divided between science theory / ethics and transferable skills with a minimum of 5 credits within each category. The 15 remaining credits are determined by the candidate himself in collaboration with the supervisor, but within the framework determined by the faculty's PhD program. Normally, no more than 30 credits shall be included in the training part, and the department shall not approve more credits than is necessary. Under certain conditions, it is possible to allow the training part to exceed this limit by 1-2 credits.
From other educational institutions: Credits taken at other educational institutions in Norway or abroad must be documented with a transcript of records (Norway) or course serifigate from the relevant educational institution. The documentation must be in English or Norwegian.
Courses, conferences and seminars: In order to document courses, conferences, seminars and the like where the organizer does not give credits, you must present proof of participation. This must be a course, conference or seminar certificate which must include the following information:
- organizer's letterhead
- name of participant
- event name, date and duration
- title of any presentation etc.
- organizer's signature
- stamp of the institution (if current)
It is emphasized that the program alone is not considered sufficient documentation
Lectures, articles, and other popular science: Written material must be documented in such a way that it is clear when and how it was published, such as a newspaper page, an entire magazine, etc. If it concerns posts on television or radio, supervisor confirm that this took place. Lectures must be documented by the organizer.
