Type of course

Admission requirements

Requirement for admission is minimum bachelor degree (or a higher degree) on university or college level within biomedical sciences or biology

Recommended prerequisites are course in statistics and knowledge of literature search using internet and library.

Those who will work exclusively with fish or decapods are referred to the UiT course in Aquatic Animal Welfare (BIO-3503).

Course fee and tuition fee:

The course fee is NOK 6000.

NOTE: Persons that are not registered as students at UiT, need to pay the student tuition fee (semester fee) separately in order to have the ECTS registered.

Application web site: EVUweb

Application deadline: 25.09.2023

Course content

The course in experimental animal science for researchers is required according to regulatory demands for personnel that will plan and/or conduct animal experiments. The course follows the requirements in the Norwegian Regulation on Animal Experiment, § 24 and Annex E, Points 1-11. The course also fulfil the requirements for Core Modules and Function Specific Modules for function A and B in the Education and Training Framework published by the European Commission.

The course consists of theoretical and practical training. The theoretical course consists of a 2-day general part (core modules) and a 3-day special part covering wildlife species/fieldwork specific modules.

The course deals with wild mammals and birds (not fish). Those who will work exclusively with fish or decapoda are referred to the UiT course in Aquatic Animal Welfare (BIO-3503).

Academic content theoretical training:

General part (Core Module)

• Legislation
• Alternatives to the use of animals in research and training
• Planning and quality control of animal experiments
• Pain and stress physiology in animals
• Severity classification and effect of different procedures in animals
• Administrative procedures: Application process, reporting and evaluation
• Ethics, public attitudes
• Predictive value of animal studies

Fieldwork/wildlife module (terrestrial and marine wild mammals and birds)

• Challenges of field experiments
• Fieldwork specific legislation and regulations
• Implementation of the 3Rs in wildlife studies
• Guidelines and internet resources for field experiments
• Statistical design of field experiments
• Application process and reporting
• Pain and stress physiology of wildlife
• Diseases and zoonoses of wildlife
• Sedation, immobilization and anaesthesia
• Species-specific capture, tagging and sampling techniques
• Reporting field studies in the scientific literature
• Communication to society and press media

Academic content practical training

Handling, care, supervision and relevant experimental techniques in relevant species tailored to the students skills and needs.

Objectives of the course

The main aim of the course is to ensure ethical and humane use of experimental animals and collection of informative, objective and reproducible research data from animal experiments.

After having completed the course, the candidate should:

• have detailed knowledge of the legislation regulating the use of experimental animals in Norway
• have detailed knowledge of the official authorities and management of research animals, including application process, reporting and inspections
• know the potential alternatives and supplements to animal experiments which exist
• have an attitude towards the use of animals in research that reflects The 3 Rs: Replace, Reduce and Refine, with focus on animal welfare and scientific quality for animal experiments
• understand the general principles for planning animal experiments, including quality control, choice of animal model, experimental design and statistics
• understand the significance of the intrinsic and external factors influencing an experimental animal and how these may influence the outcome of the experiment, an know to plan and execute an animal experiment in order control and standardize these factors as much as possible
• understand the most important principles for choosing methods of handling and treating experimental animals
• understand the principles behind anaesthesia, analgesia, humane endpoints and euthanasia
• know the potential health hazards related to animal experiments, and how to minimize these hazards
• be able to evaluate a scientific article on animal experiments with emphasis on how the animals are described and used and be able to use guidelines for good reporting of animal experiments
• be able to perform humane handling, caring and supervision of research animals and master relevant experimental techniques in relevant species

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

Learning methods include self-studies of e-learning material, e-lectures, online group work and individual written assignments. The course consists of totally 80 hours, including 35 hours of lectures/group work, 24 hours of self-tuition (individual assignment and exam) and 21 hours of practical training under supervision of a qualified person.

The theoretical training consists of self studies of e-learning material and online lectures/group work given intensively during one week, followed by practical training. The theoretical training consists of a general part (2 days) and special part (3 days). The special part is on fieldwork/wildlife.