Supervision of masters thesis
As a general rule, the scope of the advisory relationship should encompass 12 meetings, beginning with the initial meeting in the student’s second semester and ending with preparing for the thesis defense. Experience shows that meetings between the advisor and the student are more effective when both agree beforehand on the subject of the meeting and the issues/questions to be discussed. In the final writing phase, the subject will usually be drafts of sections of the thesis, which should be submitted to the advisor in advance of meetings. Supervision is primarily given by GLOBE faculty, however, in certain cases, particularly for methodological reasons, the Head of Teaching may consider the use of external supervisor(s).
Ethical implications in research
If your fieldwork materials are subject to a concession (i.e., contain personally identifiable data or sensitive information), you must supply a copy of your agreement with the Norwegian Social Sciences Data Services (SIKT) as an appendix in your thesis.
If you, through interviews, questionnaires, observations, or other means, are gathering, registering, processing, or storing information about individuals (i.e. personal data), then your project is likely to be subject to Notification to Norwegian Social Science Data Services (SIKT). This means that you are obligated to fill out a notification form (meldeskjema) and submit it to the Data Protection Official for Research. Even if the final thesis contains no personal data, the project may still be subject to notification if you process personal data while working on the project. Discuss this with your supervisor. Submit your notification to SIKT as soon as possible, and prior to your fieldwork.
More info about SIKT and the notification form here
If your research handles sensitive information, you may need to follow special regulations. The Faculty of Humanities has a useful E-learning course about data protection 2.0 in Canvas. The course takes 2-3 hours, and we strongly recommend that you take it if your research handles sensitive information or personal data! If you believe your research may have ethical implications, ask your advisor to help you understand the regulations and to fill out the necessary forms for restricting the Master's thesis. Restriction of the master's thesis usually means blocking access to both the digital and printed versions of the thesis.
Fieldwork and financial support
All students should fill in a declaration of personal information for students doing fieldwork abroad. This is due to security precautions so that UiO will be able to assist you in case of emergency.
Declaration regarding fieldwork abroad (DECC)
GLOBE offers up to 10 000 NOK in travel support for master fieldwork or participation in conferences directly relevant to your thesis topic, which will be reimbursed to your bank account after the completion of the trip. In order to be reimbursed, you will have to fill out an expense claim application in DFØ's Pay Me system together with original receipts (and boarding passes etc) for all the expenses you want covered.
If you include "electronic" receipts (i.e. an email receipt for your plane ticket), these have to be accompanied by a screenshot of your bank statement, showing that the amount in question has been charged to your account (unless the last four digits of your payment card are included in the receipt, in that case, the bank statement is not necessary). The screenshot will have to show both your name and the amount in question.
Please note that UiO can only reimburse you for expenses you have paid for yourself, and the reimbursement can be made to your bank account only. If you do not have a Norwegian bank account, you will also have to fill out your bank account information in the "Payments Abroad" form.
For questions, reach out to Terje Røysum or studentinfo@globe.uio.no.
Norwegian students may also apply for financial support from Lånekassen. You apply online through "Mine sider", but should attach the "D-skjema" which is available on Lånekassens website
You may also apply for support from UiO: Energy and Environment in their Grant Call for international mobility and collaboration.
IT Services
Save, save, save! Always save and take backups of your files and recordings. We recommend downloading Office 365 and saving your files or backups in OneDrive.
NVivo is a software that allows you to code text, sound, images, and video. NVivo can also be used for transcribing.
EndNote is a reference tool most students find useful. The Library organize courses, there are online tutorials and a UiO EndNote Facebook Group.
AI use
You must familiarise yourself with UiO's general guidelines for how to use AI as a student and the legal guidelines for the use of AI at UiO. For the Master's thesis, GLOBE only permits use of the tools available from the UiO platform with UIO login, to avoid sharing data, sensitive information and copyrighted material in external AI tools. Do note that language models such as ChatGPT cannot be cited. Always use original sources.
The use of generative AI must follow the same principle as for academia in general: You are the author of your Master’s thesis and must be able to defend the full content, from cover to cover, including all text and images. AI can support, but never replace, your understanding, knowledge, and skills. Your Master’s thesis must be your own work and demonstrate your knowledge, which will be tested in your oral defence.
To ensure that AI is only used as support and not as replacement for your own work, students must clearly indicate when and how AI is used when developing the Master’s thesis. Hence, it is obligatory to fill out and submit a declaration of AI use as an appendix to the Master’s Thesis at GLOBE. The declaration can be found here.
Writing the thesis
These are the formal requirements for the layout of the DECC master’s thesis at GLOBE.
- from autumn 2025: 24000-36000 words (front matter, appendix, and bibliography not included)
- until summer -25: Number of pages: 90 -130 (front matter, appendix, and bibliography not included)
- Line spacing: 1.5
- Font size: 12 points
- Margin: approx. 2.5 cm
- Page numbering: bottom centre (top centre if many footnotes)
You should use Roman numerals for the pages preceding your introduction (I, II, III, IV, etc), and ordinary page numbers (1, 2, 3) for the main bulk of your thesis. - Font style: Times New Roman
GLOBE suggest you use this template for your inner front page.
Make sure that you have followed the guidelines above, as well as the formal guidelines from Search and Write.
The guidelines from the service Search & Write describe the formal requirements for a master's thesis, what elements are to be included, tips on how to work with styles and headlines, etc. When writing large documents, it is helpful to use styles. Styles help with the layout of the document and form the basis for the automatic generation of a table of contents.
If you want to see how previous students have formatted their theses, the research archive NVA is the place to go.
Submission deadline 2026
- 19th May, 15:00. We will do our utmost to arrange for your oral exam in June or early July.
- 13 November, 15.00. We will do our utmost to arrange for your oral exam in December or early January.
Delay
If you are delayed in your studies and you are unable to complete and submit the master’s thesis within the deadline, you may apply for an extra semester and, if needed, a final semester.
The deadlines are:
- 1. June for applying for an extra and final semester in the autumn semester.
- 1. December for applying for an extra and final semester in the spring semester.
For more information and the application form, visit this link.
NB! For international students, specific conditions may apply.
Illness
If you are unable to meet the deadline because of illness, you may apply for a postponed deadline based on valid documentation from a health practitioner. If this applies to you, please send us an additional email at studentinfo@globe.uio.no ASAP.
Submission checklist
| Check | To do |
|---|---|
| Make sure that you have followed the guidelines of a GLOBE thesis above. GLOBE suggests you use this template for your inner front page | |
| Fill out and add the declaration of AI use to the appendix section of your thesis. | |
| Check that you’re not missing any references in your list of references. | |
| Update your table of contents. | |
| Save the finished thesis as a PDF file (How to make a pdf. file). | |
| Print out the thesis in PDF if you want to revise that everything looks fine. | |
Write a summary of the thesis (maximum 1 page), and prepare a few keywords that describe it. The keywords will be searchable in NVA (the digital archive) when the thesis is published and will make it easier for others to find your thesis. For inspiration, check out previous master's theses from GLOBE. | |
| Fill in the Form for submission of Master´s Thesis. Without the form, we are not able to issue the diploma. | |
| Submit your thesis to the NVA – Norwegian Research Information Repository through Inspera (info about submitting to NVA). | |
| Send a PDF of your thesis to annelsa@uio.no | |
Order 4-10 prints of your master's thesis on the Graphic center's website (GLOBE needs 4 copies, and cover the cost up to 10 copies if you want some for yourself). On the website, choose the product "UiO orders" and then 'Students/PhD candidates', and follow the instructions.
Information you need for ordering the prints:
| |
| Finalize your project in SIKT |
Oral exam
When the thesis is submitted, a committee will be appointed to examine the thesis. You will be informed by email of the date for the exam and the members of the Committee. The Committee will consist of one internal and one external examiner. The Committee may ask the supervisor beforehand whether they wish to provide the Committe relevant information on the candidate or the research conducted, but the supervisor does not participate in the exam or as part of the Committee.
The oral exam will take place at GLOBE. At the agreed-upon time for the exam, the two examiners meet briefly to discuss the written thesis. The quality is assessed and the examiners agree on a provisional grade. After the committee’s initial discussion, the candidate is called in and examined. The student should be prepared to answer questions about the thesis content and preparation. The exam will normally take 45-60 minutes. The examination is conducted in English. The quality of the candidate’s performance in the exam contributes to the final grade for the thesis.
After the exam is completed, the Committee will determine a grade for the thesis, which will be given to the student at the end of the session. You will also receive a written explanation of the grade that has been awarded. You should familiarize yourself with the assessment guide for SUM4091. It is based on UiO grading system's general, qualitative descriptions of the criteria used in the assessment of examinations, but in more detail.
You can appeal against your grade or any formal errors relating to the examination. Please see the information website on explanations and appeals.
The final Master's Diploma will be issued digitally in Studentweb and the Diploma Registry. More info here NB: For international students, the Diploma will also be sent to the address you have registered in StudentWeb, so make sure it's updated!