Psychology - master

The master's program is based on three main parts that are designed to help students develop professionally (via courses and the master's thesis), vocationally (via vocational teaching and work requirements related to the courses Psy-3000 and Psy-3900) and career-wise (via a collaboration with the UiT Career Center).

The program consists of a master's thesis (60 ECTS) and courses (60 ECTS).The masters thesis forms the core of the program and is supplemented by two mandatory courses in the first semester and four elective courses in the first three semesters.

In the first semester, there is a mandatory introductory course (Psy-3000 Research Proseminar) that provides details of the areas of psychology in which the Department can offer supervision, and of ongoing research programs to which students can link their own research. The other mandatory course is in statistics (Sta-3300 Applied Statistics 2), provided by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. It gives a basic introduction to statistics, hypothesis testing, and regression and variance analysis.

The elective courses may be taken in the Department of Psychology or other departments. The aim of these courses is to provide a solid foundation either for the student’s work on the masters thesis or as a suitable complement to the student’s portfolio of subject areas. The subjects offered enable specialization in e.g. biological, cognitive, educational, social or developmental psychology or health psychology.

The Careers Center contributes to the program in various ways, such as the “Arbeidslivsdagene” career days (every autumn), general career guidance (2nd semester), a course in CV writing and job searching (3rd semester) and a course in interview training (4th semester).

The study environment stands out by being small and active where the opportunities for students and supervisors are arranged for close and good collaboration. The academic environment also persists after the study period. Graduated students are invited back to the department every year. Together, the graduates are updated on what is happening at the program and the master's students learn from the work experiences of their predecessors.

The department also has a Student Research Programme in Psychology, offering a unique opportunity to motivated psychology students to spend an additional year within the program that is exclusively dedicated to a specific research topic. The aim of the Student Research Programme is to train students in conducting research, which can serve as basis for continuation to a PhD fellowship. Training within the Student Research Programme will be accepted as part of a PhD programme at the Faculty. Therefore, a completed Student Research Programme in Psychology can shorten PhD fellowships by up to two years.

In psychology, we study human and animal behavior and experiences and seek to explain these scientifically. Psychology covers a wide range of topics; examples are the neurochemistry of a single cell, people’s thoughts and consciousness, the theory of decision making in organizations, and the development of cultures and civilizations. The field of psychology is therefore continually evolving and includes interesting interdisciplinary approaches.

In the Department of Psychology, we use basic and applied research, particularly within the fields of expertise of our staff, to produce competent researchers with good communication skills and knowledge of how to make further progress in the fields represented by the Department.

The masters program thus builds on the broad foundation of the bachelors degree by delving more deeply into traditions, new ideas, methods and analytical tools in psychology, paving the way for students to conduct and communicate independent research.

This presupposes that students master basic skills in information retrieval, reading and interpretation of scientific literature, and understanding of simple research designs and statistical methods, and are also able to present sound arguments in writing using relevant conventions (such as the APA format) and communicate scientific knowledge in writing, orally and visually. Students must be able to work independently, under supervision and in collaboration with others.

Upon completion of the masters degree in psychology, students are expected to be ambassadors for the field of psychology, pursue interesting questions in the field with professional and personal integrity, and communicate results to both professionals and the general public. Students are expected to have a collegial attitude towards the Department, fellow students and others working in the field, and think and act strategically in relation to their career development.

The teaching is given in the form of lectures, seminars, tutorials and lab activities / fieldwork with continuous evaluation.

Each individual course is assessed on the basis of separate exams. The individual course plan defines what kind of assessment is applicable. As a general rule, grades will be determined according to scale A-E (F). Please also refer to the UiT examination regulations (Forskrift for eksamener ved Universitetet i Tromsø).

The exam can be, for example, a written exam, home exam, master's thesis.

In addition to the exam, a course may also contain mandatory work requirements. The individual course description defines the content of the work requirements. Examples of mandatory course requirements are compulsory attendance at classes and lab sessions, written work and group work. Some classes are mandatory, either in terms of attendance or particular course requirements. The course coordinator or course teacher assesses mandatory requirements as approved/not approved. The mandatory course requirements must be approved before the final examination of the course can be taken. If they are not approved, the student may not be allowed to sit the examination and the course must generally be re-taken.

There is an orientation week at the beginning of the program and attendance is compulsory.

All courses are taught in English, but the written assignments and exams may also be answered in Norwegian, Danish or Swedish.

There are good job prospects after graduation. The masters degree qualifies students for PhD programs and other research in psychology. The program prepares students for jobs in research, consultancy, preventive health care, teaching and other jobs where information literacy, critical thinking, communication skills and the ability to work independently are important qualifications. The program is relevant to a variety of jobs in public administration, public health care and education, as well as in the private sector. The masters degree qualifies graduates for teaching positions in upper secondary school if supplemented with the one-year practical teacher education program. The teacher education program at UiT requires students to have 60 ECTS in a field other than psychology, such as science, social science, a foreign language, etc.

More information about career opportunities is also available on the website of the Norwegian Society for Psychological Science (www.psykologisk.no).

On successful completion of the degree programme, students may be qualified for admission to a PhD programme in a number of academic areas at UiT the Arctic University of Norway or elsewhere.