university of oslo

Last Updated on December 16, 2022

The University of Oslo (NorwegianUniversitetet i OsloLatinUniversitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in OsloNorway. It is the oldest university in Norway. The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked it the 58th best university in the world and the third best in the Nordic countries.[3] In 2016, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings listed the university at 63rd, making it the highest ranked Norwegian university.[4]

Until 1 January 2016 it was the largest Norwegian institution of higher education in terms of size, now surpassed only by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.[5] The university has approximately 27,700 students and employs around 6,000 people.[6] Its faculties include (Lutheran) theology (with the Lutheran Church of Norway having been Norway’s state church since 1536), law, medicine, humanities, mathematics, natural sciencessocial sciencesdentistry, and education. The university’s original neoclassical campus is located in the centre of Oslo; it is currently occupied by the Faculty of Law. Most of the university’s other faculties are located at the newer Blindern campus in the suburban West End. The Faculty of Medicine is split between several university hospitals in the Oslo area. The university also includes some formally independent, affiliated institutes such as the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO), NKVTS and the Frisch Centre.

The university was founded in 1811 and was modeled after the University of Copenhagen and the recently established University of Berlin. It was originally named for King Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway, and received its current name in 1939. The university is informally also known as Universitetet (“the university”), having been the only university in Norway, until 1946 and was commonly termed “The Royal Frederick’s” (Det Kgl. Frederiks), before the name change.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in the university’s Atrium, from 1947 to 1989 and will be so again in 2020, making it the only university in the world to be involved in awarding a Nobel Prize.[7] Since 2003, the Abel Prize is awarded in the Atrium. Five researchers affiliated with the university have been Nobel laureates[8] and three have been Turing Award winners.

Courses offered in English

The first number of the course number code corresponds to the level of the course: 0 = introductory courses, 1-3 = bachelor level, 4-5 = master level, 9 = PhD level.  Read more about courses.

Find a course

Search in coursesSearch

Search by course code to find course descriptions, reading lists and lecture times.

Selected courses

Courses by topic

Dentistry

Education

Humanities

Law

Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Medicine

Social Sciences

Theology and Religion
 

Other areas

All courses sorted by level

Application and admission to master’s degree programmes

The individual programme web pages hold information on the admission requirements and how to apply for admission to the programmes. Find your study programme

Application deadlines

Applicants residing in Norway and Nordic citizens

Study programmes starting in August:

  • The application portal opens 1 February.
  • 1 March is the deadline if you qualify for an early result or if you are applying for Helseadministrasjon or European Master in Health Economics and Management.
  • The application deadline is 15 April for all other programmes.
  • You will receive your application results on 8 July.

We will conduct supplementary admission rounds in July and August for programmes that have available places. You will receive an email if you receive an offer in one of the supplementary admission rounds. 

Note that if you did not apply for admission by 15 April, it is not possible to receive an offer in one of the supplementary admission rounds. 

Please also note that if you are offered admission to a programme or study option with a higher priority in the supplementary admission round, you will automatically lose the place that you accepted in the main admissions round.

Study programmes starting in January:

  • The application portal opens 15 September.
  • The application deadline is 15 October.
  • You will receive your application results within 16 December.

Applicants from outside EU/EEA and Switzerland

Admission is once a year. You can apply for up to two programmes or study options.

  • The application portal opens 15 October.
  • The application deadline is 15 November.
  • Studies start in August.
  • You will receive your application results within 1 April.

Applicants from EU/EEA and Swiss citizens

Study programmes starting in January:

  • The application portal opens 15 September.
  • The application deadline is 15 October.
  • You will receive your application results on 16 December.

Study programmes starting in August:

  • The application portal opens 1 February.
  • The application deadline is 1 March.
  • You will receive your application results on 29 April.

Study programmes in English

Select subject

Select level

Found 82 studies

Programmes that no longer admit students

Other units

The University of Oslo has several units which are not part of one of the faculties, including some interdisciplinary research centres, research centres abroad, the scientific museums, and libraries:

Research centres and other special units[edit]

  • The Biotechnology Centre of Oslo
  • Centre for Gender Research
  • Norwegian Institute in Rome (wholly owned by the university)
  • Barony Rosendal (wholly owned by the university)
  • Molecular Life Science
  • International Summer School

Stairs leading from Faculty of Law‘s Domus Media to University Square on Karl Johan’s Street

Affiliated institutes[edit]

Affiliated institutes are independent institutes that have a formal cooperation agreement with and close ties to the University of Oslo. Most of them were established by the University of Oslo, but have been organised as entities formally separate from the university for various reasons.

Library[edit]

Former University Library reading roomMain article: University of Oslo Library

  • Library of Medicine and Health Sciences
  • Library of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Law Library
  • Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Library

Museums[edit]

Natural historyMain article: Naturhistorisk museum (Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo)

  • Mineralogical-geological Museum
  • Paleontological Museum
  • Zoological Museum
  • Botanical Garden
  • Botanical Museum

Cultural historyMain article: Museum of Cultural History, Oslo

  • Historical Museum
  • Collection of Coins and Medals
  • Ethnographic Museum
  • Viking Ship Museum

Notable people

Fridtjof Nansen was Professor of Zoology and Rector-elect, and was also known as an explorer, humanitarian and recipient of the Nobel Peace PrizeJohan Galtung, the founder of peace and conflict studies, held the world’s first chair in that discipline at the University of Oslo 1969–1977See also: List of University of Oslo people

The University of Oslo has a long list of notable academics and alumni, spanning the fields of scholarship covered by the university. The university is home to five Nobel Prize winners and is institutionally tied to some of the most prestigious prizes in the world. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in the university’s atrium between 1947 and 1989, thus making it the only university to host a Nobel Prize ceremony.[12] Since 2003, the Abel Prize is awarded in the university’s atrium.

In July 2015, the University received intense criticism for allowing Anders Behring Breivik to be admitted to study for a 3-year baccalaureate degree in political science (including courses on democracyhuman rights, and respect for minorities). He is the perpetrator of the 22 July, 2011 Norway attacks, Norway’s worst incident of violence since World War II; he received 21 years in prison (he can be paroled after 10 years; but he can be confined after the 21 years are up, allowable for five years at a time, if he is viewed as still dangerous, resulting in an actual life sentence). The Rector said they were obliged to follow the regulations, which allowed it because his grades were good enough. It will be done in solitary confinement, with guards delivering his assignments and the finished work and the grades.[13] In October 2018, it was reported that course materials were being provided to Breivik by a prison officer and that he had no contact with students or academics or access to the internet.[14]

Academics

Some of the notable academics of the university are:

Alumni[edit]

Rectors

Main article: List of rectors of the University of Oslo

Seal

An older version of The university seal

The seal of the University of Oslo features Apollo with the Lyre, and dates from 1835. The seal has been redesigned several times, most recently in 2009.

Fees

Like all public institutions of higher education in Norway, the university does not charge tuition fees. However, a small fee of 600 kr (roughly US$70) per term goes to the student welfare organisation Foundation for Student Life in Oslo, to subsidise kindergartens, health services, housing and cultural initiatives, the weekly newspaper Universitas and the radio station Radio Nova.

In addition the students are charged a copy and paper fee of 200 kr[15] (roughly US$25) for full-time students and 100 kr (roughly US$12) for part-time students. Lastly a voluntary sum of 40 kr (roughly US$5) is donated to SAIH (Studentenes og Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond).

Rankings

University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[16]60 (2020)
QS World[17]113 (2021)
THE World[18]127 (2021)

In 2018, Shanghai Jiao Tong University‘s Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked UiO 59th worldwide and the best in Norway,[19] while the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked UiO 121th.[20] The 2018 rankings of the QS World University Rankings[21] ranked UiO 119th worldwide,[22] and the 2015 Webometrics Ranking of World Universities ranked UiO 68th worldwide.[23]

The 2015 rankings of the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), which “publishes the only global university ranking that measures the quality of education and training of students as well as the prestige of the faculty members and the quality of their research without relying on surveys and university data submissions”,[24] ranked UiO 99th worldwide.[25]

International cooperation

The University of Oslo administers the Henrik Steffens Professorship at the Humboldt University of Berlin jointly with the Humboldt University. The professorship was established and is funded by the Norwegian government.[26]

The University participates to several of the experiments in the CERN research programme.

About the author

Study on Scholarship Today -- Check your eligibility for up to 100% scholarship.