Educational Competence - FAQ

The requirements for educational competence are a statutory qualification requirement for employees in teaching and research positions. From 01.08.2024, the former Regulations on Appointment and Promotion to Teaching and Research Positions were replaced by the Regulations to the Universities and University Colleges Act: Regulations to the Universities and University Colleges Act (Universities and University Colleges Regulations) - Lovdata (Chapter 3).

Section 3-8 of the Regulations describes educational competence as follows:

Educational competence means pedagogical or didactic competence to promote learning, including knowledge and skills in the development and implementation of teaching and supervision at university and college level.

The university has developed more detailed requirements for educational competence adapted to each job category. UiB's guidelines can be found here (section 3.1.2). UiB gives the faculties the authority to adopt supplementary provisions.

Universities Norway/Universitets- og høgskolerådet (UHR) has developed national guidelines to further describe this competence: https://www.uhr.no/temasider/karrierepolitikk-2/nasjonale-veiledende-retningslinjer-for-uh-pedagogisk-basiskompetanse/. According to these national guidelines, university pedagogy competence is to be able to:

• plan and carry out teaching and supervision, both individually and in collaboration with colleagues, in a way that promotes students' learning and professional development
• plan and carry out research-based teaching and involve students in research-based learning processes
• select, justify and further develop appropriate learning activities and teaching and assessment methods in relation to academic goals and educational programmes
• contribute to academic and pedagogical innovation through the choice of varied teaching methods that include the use of digital tools
• justify one's own view of learning and knowledge and relate reflectively to one's own role as an educator
• analyze, prepare and further develop course- and programme descriptions within one's subject areas
• assess and document results from one's own teaching and supervision based on expectations in subject curricula and national frameworks for higher education
• collect and use feedback from students, colleagues and society to develop teaching and learning processes
• describe the content of relevant governing documents related to teaching in higher education

The qualification requirement for employment as an associate professor is documented educational competence, i.e. pedagogical or didactic competence to promote learning, including knowledge and skills in the development and implementation of teaching and supervision at university and college level.

At UiB, this is defined as having completed a university pedagogy program (minimum 200 hours)/relevant courses. 200 hours correspond to a minimum of 8 ECTS/credits. Contact the Center for Medical Education if you need help assessing what are considered "relevant courses". Normally, teacher education or pedagogical education aimed at learners outside the higher education sector cannot replace university pedagogical education. The university pedagogical education should be at master's or PhD level.

If an applicant cannot document such competence at the time of employment, he or she must acquire this within 2 years. This will be included as a condition in the employment contract and shall be followed up by the head of department in accordance with UiB's regulations: After two years, the head of department must recommend to the appointing body whether the employee meets the requirement, based on the original assessment from the expert committee.

The qualification requirement for appointment as a professor is documented educational competence (as defined for associate professor) AND the following four requirements:

1. Extensive expertise and experience in planning, implementing and evaluating teaching

Both formal university pedagogy training and practical teaching experience are required. The applicant should demonstrate their competence in all phases of teaching from planning to implementation and evaluation. Assessment/exam work and supervision activities can also be included in a broad teaching concept.

2. Significant contributions to systematic development work in teaching and supervision

Educators must demonstrate motivation and ability to develop their own teaching. This can be done by documenting initiatives to evaluate your own teaching, seeking feedback from students and peers, revisions of teaching, and willingness to try out new methods and teaching strategies. Furthermore, you can demonstrate your willingness to develop professionally by attending pedagogical courses, workshops, seminars, and/or congresses. You can also show such development by reflecting on your own development as an educator and by providing reflective descriptions of what you have changed over time as well as justifications for these changes.

3. Broad experience from supervision, preferably at master's/Ph.D. level

In this context, “broad experience” refers to having supervised students in various contexts and at various levels. As a minimum, you must have supervised one Ph.D. student as a main supervisor. If you work within an academic discipline with few students or for other reasons there are few opportunities to supervise, you can argue in the application for how to have broad supervision experience in other ways.

4. Efforts and cooperation to promote the quality of education in one's own academic environment

This requirement deals with various types of pedagogical work such as educational leadership and/or program revisions, participation in larger developmental projects, reforms, evaluations, or progress reports (locally, nationally, or internationally). You can demonstrate skills in this category also by having initiated or substantially contributed to faculty development work to strengthen colleagues' pedagogical competence as individuals or groups.

PLEASE NOTE: Exceptions may be made from these requirements for applicants to a primary academic position if the requirements are achieved within two years from the date of appointment. The employer must arrange for this to be carried out and ensure that the requirement is met after 2 years.

For promotion to professor, a 2-year extension is not granted – see below. 

For promotion to full professor, the same qualification requirements apply as for appointment to a professorship (see separate section). However, a 2-year deferral is not granted. This means that in order to qualify for promotion, university pedagogy competence (as defined for professor positions) must be documented before promotion. The reason for this is that in the event of promotion, the employee has had a qualification period during the time he/she has been employed as an associate professor.

As a general rule, your educational competence shall be assessed by the expert committee that has been appointed to assess the application for promotion.

Yes, there are some exceptions:

1. Short term of office: The requirement is waived when the period of service in a teaching and research position is less than two years. In the case of extensions beyond this, educational competence must be documented in accordance with the requirements for the given position. This means that an exemption can only be given once. This applies to all types of positions.
2. Soon to retire: Exceptions can be made to the requirements for basic educational competence for all types of positions where the applicant has a short period of service/a short time left until retirement age (i.e. less than 3 years). For employees in a secondary appointment who are approaching retirement age, an exception is made at 62 years +.
3. Recruitment from abroad: Exemptions from the requirements can be made in special cases, for example when recruiting particularly sought-after foreign professors who come from institutions that do not have similar requirements. Most European universities have similar or stricter requirements for educational competence than we have in Norway.
4. Externally funded research projects: The requirement for educational competence may be waived if the position does not include teaching or supervision, but only research that is externally funded.

University lecturer (universitetslektor): Completed introductory courses in university pedagogy with a scope of at least 39 hours. If the person who is appointed cannot document this at the time of employment, it must be included as a condition in the contract that it is obtained within 2 years.

The course UPED600 + an optional module covers the requirements. At the Faculty of Medicine, the course MEDDID601: Introduction to Medical Education is recommended.

Lecturer (lektor): Completed introductory course in university pedagogy with a scope of at least 20 hours. If the person who is appointed cannot document this at the time of employment, it must be included as a condition in the contract that it is obtained within 2 years. UPED600 covers the requirements. At the Faculty of Medicine, the course MEDDID601: Introduction to Medical Education is recommended.

The national regulations claim that employees in secondary appointments may be exempted from the requirement for educational qualifications. At the Faculty of Medicine, it has been decided that, as a general rule, the same requirements shall be set for part-time employees as for employees in primary positions. See which exceptions apply in a separate section.

If a person has a secondary appointment (in a 20% position or less) is unable to document educational competence at the time of employment, it shall be included as a condition in the contract that it must be obtained within 4 years. This contract requirement must be fulfilled before any appointment renewal of additional acquisitions. If the contract is considered renewed before four years have passed, you must at least show that university pedagogical training has begun.

If you believe that you meet the requirements described for full professor before the end of the fixed-term period, contact the department for an assessment. Employees in secondary appointments can no longer apply for promotion based on individual qualifications – instead the position must be publicly advertised. The requirement for educational competence will then be the same as for full professors seeking promotion; This means that the competence requirement must be met in advance and that no postponement is granted.

All newly appointed associate professors in a primary position will have as a condition in their employment contract that educational competence must be acquired within 2 years, unless the 200-hour requirement is considered to be met at the time of application. This will be followed up by your head of department. You should make a plan for which courses you will take and when – most people need 1-2 years to get through the program. When you have completed the program, send the documentation to your department for approval and archiving.

The most common form of documentation is a teaching portfolio. A teaching portfolio will be requested in advertised positions and in connection with applications for promotion to professor and will be assessed by an expert committee.

A teaching portfolio at UiB contains a minimum of three elements:

A teaching CV: a systematic and chronologically organized resume of the educational roles you have had.

A short teaching philosophy statement/reflective essay: This is a text where you describe and reflect on your teaching experiences, the achieved results of your teaching, other educational work experiences you have had and how you work to develop your teaching and supervision. Your reflections should link your experiences with research-based knowledge about teaching and learning in higher education. It might also include topics such as reflections on your educational role(s), what characterizes learning and quality teaching in your specific subject and context, rationale behind the methods and strategies you use, strengths and areas for improvement etc. The essay should be approximately two pages long.

Relevant attachments/appendixes: For example, course certificates or diplomas, documentation of attendance (and program) from seminars and conferences you have been to, conference papers or scientific articles, project reports, evaluation reports, recommendations, awards etc. Make sure all these forms of documentation are related to teaching and learning in higher education.

Your teaching portfolio should be approximately 3-6 pages long (appendixes come in addition). See our suggested template for a teaching portfolio here. 

When renewing a secondary part-time appointment, you must be able to present documentation that you meet the requirements for educational competence in line with the requirements for the position in which you have been appointed. See separate sections for the requirements for associate professor, professor and lecturer /university lecturer(universitetslektor), respectively.

If you have followed the Programme for University Pedagogy at UiB, they must issue confirmation of completed university teaching programme.

If you have taken courses offered by other units (Center for Medical Education, other institutions/associations in their entirety or in combination with UPED courses), you must send a request to be assessed to your own department. Use this form – it creates an application for assessment that is approved by your department.

If you have not completed university pedagogical training equivalent to 200 hours, you must make a plan for which courses you want to take and initiate a dialogue with the head of department about how the requirement can be met.

If you have a secondary part-time appointment which includes requirements for educational competence, and you have not met the requirements within the time stated in the contract (or no later than 4 years from when the contract was signed), you cannot normally get a new postponement of the requirements.  Therefore, you cannot be offered a new secondary part-time appointment contract.

Note: It is a good idea to start planning how the claim can be met well before your secondary part-time appointment expires.

At UiB, educational competence is normally achieved by completing a programme for university pedagogy (UPED). Read more here: https://www.uib.no/uniped.

The Centre for Medical Education offers a variety of courses that can fully or partially replace UPED's courses. The prerequisite is that the total scope of university pedagogical training corresponds to 200 hours or 8 credits, and that the pedagogical competence has a certain breadth. See the section above on "What is educational competence?".

A number of other universities and university colleges offer digital course modules that are open to everyone (e.g. HVL). In addition, many international associations have their own courses in pedagogy that can replace or supplement UiB's programme. Contact the Centre for Medical Education if you have any questions about this.

Teaching volume cannot automatically replace university pedagogical education. If you believe you fulfill the requirements for educational competence and should be exempted from the 200-hour requirement (the university pedagogy programme), you can apply for exemption by contacting UPED.

It is important that you start early collecting documentation of activities, courses, and work that help to build your educational competence. It is advised that you create a draft for a teaching portfolio and make it a habit to update it annually (as you would otherwise update your research CV).

Yes, the Centre for Medical Education offers guidance upon request. Also, we recommend that you use your colleagues for support, as discussion partners, and to provide feedback on drafts for your teaching portfolio.

This depends on the type of position you hold:

1. If you apply for an advertised position or apply for promotion, the appointed expert committee will assess whether you are qualified in accordance with the requirements of the regulations and the faculty regulations.
2. If you are appointed as an associate professor or full professor and the committee concluded that you do not fulfill the requirements for educational competence, the head of department will follow up on you, request a plan for your training and ensure that you fulfill the requirements within 2 years (if you are employed in a primary position) or within 4 years (if you are employed in a secondary appointment). When you have taken the necessary courses, you must apply to your own department for approval, using a designated form.
3. If you are employed in a secondary appointment and need to document educational competence before renewing a fixed-term contract, you apply to your own department for approval using this form.

As a member of an expert committee, you are obliged to assess whether the applicant meets both the scientific and pedagogical competence requirements as these are stated in the national regulations and operationalized at the Faculty of Medicine. The main rule is that the same requirements apply for all employment percentages.

The committee must do an explicit assessment of the applicant's educational competence based on the documentation provided in the teaching portfolio. If the committee assesses that the applicant does not meet the requirements, the report must describe the scope of what remains and in what volume. If the applicant has not submitted a pedagogical portfolio as part of the application, the application is considered incomplete.

• For applicants for the position of associate professor: If the applicant cannot document sufficient educational competence at the time of application, the assessment committee must describe the scope of what remains and in what volume. The applicant will then be obliged to meet the requirements within 2 years from the date of employment.

• For applicants for an advertised position as full professor: As a general rule, the applicant must document basic educational competence (the 200-hour requirement) as well as the four additional requirements for full professor in order to be considered qualified as a professor. Contact the Center for Medical Education or UPED for detailed information if you are wondering which courses can count towards the 200-hour requirement. Some of the requirements involve that the applicant demonstrates, through descriptions, reflection and discussions, how he/she has worked to develop and improve his/her own teaching and supervision over time. The development should be driven by a focus on the students' learning outcomes. Applicants may be considered qualified for the position without the requirements being met. If the applicant cannot document sufficient educational competence at the time of application, the assessment committee must describe the scope of what remains and in what volume. If the person in question is offered the position, his/her employment contract will include a condition that the claim is fulfilled within 2 years. If the applicant has previously held a position as an associate professor or full professor and has not used that time to acquire educational competence in line with the terms of the contract, the applicant must provide a reasonable justification for why this has not been done. The inability to meet contractual terms in previous employment relationships should be considered as part of the overall assessment of the applicant’s suitability for the job.

For applicants who have previously held a secondary appointment as an associate professor and are applying for a secondary appointment as full professor, the qualification requirements apply as in the case of promotion to professor.

• For applicants for promotion to professor: The application must include a teaching portfolio with relevant attachments. In order to be considered qualified as a professor, the applicant must document basic educational competence (the 200-hour requirement) as well as fulfilment of the four additional requirements for professor. Contact the Centre for Medical Education or UPED for detailed information on which courses may count towards the 200-hour requirement. Some of the additional requirements involve that the applicant demonstrates, through descriptions, reflection and discussions, how he/she has worked to develop and improve his/her own teaching and supervision over time. The development should be driven by a focus on the students' learning outcomes. There is no opportunity for a 2-year postponement to meet the requirement in the event of promotion.