A PhD education in Norway is normed to three years. PhD fellows are often employed for another (fourth) year, in which case 25% of the work of the PhD fellow will be obligatory work for the department (pliktarbeid).
At the Department of Chemistry, this obligatory work is usually in the form of teaching, but there is several exceptions to this rule. The department tries to arrange the obligatory work such that there are no duties in the semester of the PhD defence. In addition, the department aims to give all PhD fellows the same amount of duties.
Research stays abroad should preferably be planned in a semester without teaching. If this is not possible, contact the Head of Department (instituttsleder) and the Head of Administration (kontorsjef) in good time before a planned stay abroad: April 1 at the latest for a stay abroad in autumn and November 1 at the latest for a stay abroad in spring.
The university offers a course “Teaching in higher education” for PhD fellows. The course is given in autumn in norwegian and in spring in english. The Department of Chemistry recommends participation in this course to all PhD fellows with teaching duties. The hours spent on the course are counted as part of the obligatory work for the department and documented by a course certificate. The course certificate can also be used as documentation when applying to an academic position in Norway or abroad.
