Type of course

Only students on the Master's degree program in Molecular Sciences are eligible for this course. It is not available to any other category of students as a singular or elective course.

Application for approval must be submitted to the Program Board within a deadline, which is normally 1st of September in the autumn semester and 1st of February in the spring semester. Students apply by handing in a supervision contract (veiledningskontrakt for mastergradsoppgave) along with a project description. Students must register to the exam as for ordinary courses.

Course content

A research project on a chosen topic within one of the relevant disciplines of Molecular Sciences, among those offered at the Department of Chemistry. The project is, dependent on topic, an experimental or a theoretical study, research work equivalent to a one- year full time work. The student is, under supervision, expected to plan the project, bring forward hypotheses, and test them with relevant methods for the topic chosen.

The project study shall result in a Master´s degree thesis including a theoretical background for the study, description of the methods used, and a presentation and discussions of the results obtained in a scientific way where relevant literature in the field is used.

Objectives of the course

Knowledge - The candidate:

• has a solid basis in physics and chemistry in general, and in photonics and nanotechnology in particular
• has advanced knowledge of theory and methods on the topic of the master thesis
• can apply knowledge on new areas of research within photonics and nanotechnology
• has good knowledge of scientific method and knows how to conduct a research project

Skills - The candidate:

• can use scientific equipment, programming tools, advanced software and numerical models
• can evaluate and analyse output from measurements and numerical models in a critical manner
• can work independently with problem solving following scientific method
• can evaluate and analyse published theories, methods and experiments in the relevant literature

General competences - The candidate:

• displays good communication skills, oral and written, in the presentation of scientific work for both the general public and for the specialists in the field
• has good working habits and follows the code of ethics in scientific work
• can produce a well-structured presentation of an extensive independent scientific work
• can carry out an independent, limited research or development project under supervision in photonics and nanotechnology
• can contribute to new thinking and innovation processes in the field

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods