Agreement for Master’s Degree Programs Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry University of Bergen Program of study: Student’s name: Starting date:
Part I: General regulations Signed by: student and head of program committee
Part II: Supervision contract Signed by: student, head of the relevant department and the student’s supervisor
Part III: Milestone Plan (planned progression of study) Signed by: Student, student’s supervisor and head of program committee Part I, II and III signed in one copy.
Part I General regulations 1. Contracting parties The agreement is entered into between student and the program committe for , Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, in accordance with the ”Common regulations/Fellesreglement for all study programs at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry” § 6a. The agreement must be entered into at the beginning of the master’s program. This is a condition for keeping your place in the relevant study program. 2. Aims and conditions The Master’s degree program aims at giving an introduction to research work carried out within a predetermined period of time. The purpose of the agreement is to clarify duties and rights throughout the course of the master’s degree program. The admission of the student into the program of study is a condition for entering into the agreement. The agreement is to be entered into at the beginning of the semester. This is a condition for keeping your place in the relevant study program. 3. Contract period The agreement is valid for the nominal length of the study, that is 4 semesters for full time students and 2 semesters for students on the Integrated master’s degree program in Pharmacy, and 6 semesters for students on the Master’s degree program in Pharmacy for pharmacy technicians. A part-time program of study may be agreed upon, involving a corresponding extension of the period of originally agreed upon. The total length of the period may however not exceed a period corresponding to 50 percent of studies per semester throughout the course, i.e. eight semesters.
2 4. Changes in agreement The term of the agreement may only be extended if applied for and a prerequisite is that a mutually binding completion plan has been made. The completion plan must exist at the latest one month before the end of the nominal length of study. The application will be treated by the program committee and is only granted based on valid grounds laid down in the Common regulations for all study programs at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, §6a. Any changes in the agreement regarding fulltime/part time studies will be treated by the program committee. 5. Leave of absence from Master’s program/postponed commencement of study The student may apply for a leave of absence from the Master’s degree program. The application will be treated by the program committee. Leaves of absence may be granted on the basis of “Common regulations for all study programs at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry” § 10. Leaves of absence are not included in the study period. 6. Research ethics and use of sources The student is obliged to obey the research ethical principles applying to the relevant field of study. These are above all laid down in the Research ethical guidelines for medical and health related research, given by the National research ethical committee for medical and health related studies, in addition to other guidelines where these might be useful. The student is obliged to be familiar with the rules applying to different types of written works regarding the reference of sources (for more information, see UiB webpage “Use of sources in written works at the University of Bergen”). The academic environment is obliged to provide the supervision that is required in order to learn appropriate research ethics and use of sources. Plagiarism in connection with written assignments or in master’s theses might be considered as cheating according to the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges and might lead to an annulment of examination results, failing the assignment or possibly an exclusion from the program of study and an expulsion from the University. 7. Semester registration The student must make sure to register each semester and pay the semester fee, the exception being possible leaves of absence. Fulltime/part time studies shall be registered in accordance with the agreement made. Possible changes in fulltime/part time studies must be agreed upon prior to making any changes regarding the registration. A lack of registration might lead to an annulment of the agreement.
8. Signatures The agreement entered into applies to □ fulltime study □ part time study ___% , and applies to the following period ……semester 20…… - ……semester 20…….
Bergen, date......................
...................................................... student
...................................................... head of program committee
3 9. Changes in agreement The following changes have been made in accordance with point 4. Changes regarding fulltime/part time studies. From □ fulltime □ part time ___ % to _____________ Changes in period of agreement to ____________________________________ Bergen, date ......................
...................................................... student
...................................................... head of program committee
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Part II Supervision contract 1. Contracting parties Part II is entered upon between student and head of department where main supervisor works. Student’s supervisors are to sign part II as well. In case of more than one supervisor, a clear distribution of responsibility must be clarified. Depending on whether there is one main supervisor and co-supervisors or two supervisors with equal status, the responsibility for supervision is divided 25/75 or 50/50. The general rule is that one student has no more than two supervisors. 2. Place of study The department responsible for the student’s supervision (the student’s workplace in case of more than one involved department) will make sure that the student has access to an office/study hall, laboratory in addition to providing the student with other necessary infra structure during the contract period. 3. Scope and nature of supervision Master students at the faculty are entitled to a minimum of 40 hours of supervision either individually or in groups throughout the period of study. Students following the Integrated Master’s program in Pharmacy might demand a minimum of 30 hours of supervision whereas students of Manual Theraphy get a minimum of 20 hours of supervision. The supervisor(s) is to give advice on the formulation of and the narrowing down of the thesis’ topic and problem for discussion, literature, contents related to the field of study, work plan, Health, Safety and Environment regulations and a plan of progression. The supervisor(s) is obliged to accept and discuss drafts of the thesis with the student. This will normally find place by means of a meeting, but alternative arrangements are accepted. Supervision takes place on demand and shall be scheduled evenly throughout the agreed period. Supervisor(s) shall keep a record of the supervision in order to monitor the progress in the candidate’s work and assess this in relation to the work plan. Students are obliged to keep the supervisor(s) informed about their work. This also applies to practical conditions that are important to the progress of the master’s degree project. The relationship between student and supervisor must be in accordance with the ethical guidelines for the relationship between student and supervisor at the University of Bergen (Rule collection for the UiB”, chapter 4.4.1): 1. The senate emphasizes the significance of ensuring good cooperative relations between supervisor and student and wish to prevent that students and employees are subjected to sexual harassment. 2. Supervisor and student shall respect each other’s personal integrity and not act in a way that might be interpreted as offensive. 3. Supervisor is ultimately responsible for providing the necessary professional distance in connection with supervision and teaching. 4. In case of the emergence of a sexual relationship between supervisor and student, the formal supervision shall cease. 5. The student has the right to change supervisor in case of involuntary sexual attention. 6. In case of sexual harassment/involuntary sexual attention, the student shall have the opportunity to consult a specific designated authority. One alternative is an equal opportunities counselor
5 7. The senate presupposes that the standard agreements for supervision at master- or ph. d. level are supplemented by the principles referred to above. These are included in information materials aimed at students and are included in further work for the improvement of the quality of all aspects of student life. 4. Changes in supervision There is reason to evaluate the change in supervision if the development of the relationship between the student and the supervisor conflicts with the ethical guidelines for supervision (cf. 3) or in case of a lack of fulfillment of the parties’ obligations towards one another. Both supervisor(s) and student might request a change of or an annulment of the supervision contract. Student and supervisor are mutually obligated to keep the other party informed in case of difficulties regarding the fulfillment of the agreement. Principles regarding follow-up and distribution of responsibility: a) Program committee in cooperation with supervising department If one of the parties finds that the agreement is not fulfilled in a satisfactory manner, the program committee must be notified. The committee and the involved parties – including head of supervising department – will evaluate whether the supervising relationship will continue or cease. The supervising department is obligated as far as possible to provide the student with a new supervisor if the program committee finds this advisable. b) Expectations regarding supervisors Both appointed co-supervisors and main supervisor are responsible to contribute to finding an alternative solution. c) Program committee in cooperation with administrative department If neither of the parties are capable of maintaining the agreement, the department in charge of the administration of the master program in cooperation with the program committee is responsible for appointing a new supervisor.
Any personal antagonism arising between the student and supervisor is to be dealt with by the head of the program committee or the study counselor for the relevant program. The student may not hold supervisor, department, program committee or the university responsible for the results of his/her education. 5. Publication of results from master’s thesis Supervisor is entitled to publish results from master’s thesis in cooperation with student. The student shall normally be credited as first author if the publication includes results from the master’s thesis exclusively. If the student has not published his/her data within a time frame of three years, the student is no longer in charge of his/her data material. If the publication includes results from one or several master’s theses or from other research, the student(s) should normally have the status of co-author(s). 6. Rights regarding data material This agreement might include precisions of rights, possibly limited to external data material that has been made available to the students, in the form of attachments. The departments’ regulations regarding the submission of own or borrowed data material according to relevant regulations might also be included in this point.
6 7. Signatures Student (capital letters)
Date of birth
Place and date
Signature
Student workplace (fc. point 2., part II – where student undertakes his/her daily work)
Head of department at student’s workplace (capital letters)
Place and date
Signature
Supervisor (capital letters)
Supervisor (capital letters)
Employer
Employer
Contact information
Contact information
Responsible for part of the supervision (%)
Responsible for part of the supervision (%)
Place and date
Place and date
Signature
Signature
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Part III Milestone Plan (planned progression of study) 1. Contracting parties Part III of the agreement is entered into by student and supervisor(s) and must be approved by the head of the program committee. 2. Follow-up connected to supervision A work plan must be submitted 2 times throughout the second year of study: 1 October and 1 February. This applies to both student and supervisor. During the course of the work with the master’s thesis the students must hold two presentations (progress). Supervisors are expected to be present during these presentations. 3. Work title and/or short description of the aim of the master’s thesis:
4. Time frame Studies up until the completion of the master’s degree is based on ……... % study effort. Is the student so far on schedule with the studies based on planned study effort? Yes No
If no, please specify: ………………………….
Submission of master’s thesis: 1 June, 20.........
Elective courses (in consultation with supervisor) Course code
Name of course
ECTS
Semester
NB! Courses not listed as electives in the study plan must be approved by the program committee.
5. Signatures
Bergen, date ......................
...................................................... student
...................................................... supervisor
...................................................... supervisor Work plan for master’s thesis is hereby approved: Bergen, ............................................................................................................................................................................................ date head of program committee
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Attachment to agreement for master’s degree program The different points in this attachment concern the appointment of an exam committee, exam administration and distribution of resultat funds. 1. Exam commission/recruitment of examiners Department in charge of supervision/supervisor is responsible for the recruitment of an external examiner. At the beginning of each semester where a master’s degree exam is expected to be held, the study administration at the relevant study program will contact the cooperating departments in order to receive an updated list of possible external examiners for the evaluation of master’s theses and exams. The list must contain name, address, social security number and bank account number for the payment of examiner’s fee. In case of a need to appoint new examiners, the study administration responsible for the relevant study program will take care of this, at the relevant department’s request. 2. Concluding exam administration Study administration responsible for the relevant study program is to ensure all exam administration for final master’s degree exams. Final master’s degree exam is to be organized and executed according to internal routines at the relevant department. This also applies in cases where the master’s degree project is carried out at an external institution. 3. Distribution of result funds Result funds are distributed 25/75 between respectively the department in charge of administrering the study program and the department in charge of supervising the student. The result funds for departments in charge of supervising are to be distributed according to what is agreed upon in point 7 in the supervision agreement. The result funds are transferred directly from the faculty to the departments. The department in charge of administering the master’s degree program is responsible for reporting the distribution of these resources to the faculty. Each individual department might confirm the arrangement of the advancing of resources to their research groups/employees. 4. Preservation of master’s program agreement The master’s program agreement is to be kept at the department responsible for administering the master’s degree program. The student and the supervising department should be given copies of the agreement.
