Master thesis in Psychology

Through the thesis, the student shall demonstrate the ability to treat a defined theme in a professional, ethical and precise manner, within a limited time frame. The student shall acquire an awareness and understanding of research ethics and current issues within the research field. In the presented written work, the students shall therefore be able to:

• Describe and summarize a specific topic within cognitive neuroscience.
• Formulate clear and concise research questions and hypotheses.
• Evaluate the applicability of the chosen design, methods and analysis, and discuss their choices.
• Argue for different interpretations of research results and their implications for theories within cognitive neuroscience.
• Present conclusions of the conducted research based on scientific criteria.

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

The teaching has the form of individual or collective supervision. All students must have a supervisor with sufficient scientific competence. The students are themselves responsible for finding a supervisor. A supervision agreement shall be signed by both parties, and must be submitted to the course administrators in due time.

A project plan is set up by the student and agreed upon by the supervisor. The supervisor is also to register the master's project with the required documentation in ForskPro

The supervision agreement, as well as further information regarding the thesis format and supervision, is available on the page concerning requirements.

The students’ written thesis will be assessed, and an oral defence of the thesis will be conducted.

The final grade will reflect the concurrent evaluation of the presentation and the written work.

Before submitting the master thesis, the student must have completed the following mandatory activities:

• Obligatory activity 1: Handing in supervision agreement within 1 September
• Obligatory activity 2: Set up a project plan and have it approved by supervisor within 15th of September

Formal requirements

The scope of the thesis is described on the page Master Thesis in Psychology: Guidelines and Requirements.

Handing in the master thesis

The submission deadline is by medio May or October (one semester late). The thesis must be uploaded in Inspera within the deadline.

Is the thesis work delayed and you need to ask for an extension?

You may apply for an extended submission deadline on the basis of illness (or other valid reasons) that takes place shortly before the submission deadline, or you may apply for a postponed submission to the following semester. Please use this form to apply for an extension or postponement.

The master’s thesis must be your own, independent work. You must formulate and write the text yourself, and it must reflect your own reflections and your understanding of the material. When using AI, you must account for and be transparent about this use. If AI tools have been used in other ways in the work, for example to improve language, you must disclose this and specify how they were used in an appendix to the thesis.

For further guidelines, please visit this page.

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

The students’ written thesis will be assessed, and a public presentation/defense of the thesis examiner(s) and supervisor(s) will be conducted. The grade given on the thesis is based on a complete evaluation of the presentation, the written work, as well as the practical conduct of the student.