Road to the University of Oslo

The University of Oslo (Norwegian: Universitetet i Oslo), formerly The Royal Frederick University (Norwegian: Det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet), is the oldest and largest university in Norway, located in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university is recognized as one of Northern Europe’s most prestigious universities. The Academic Ranking of World Universities has ranked it the 67th best university in the world.
The university has approximately 27,700 students and employs around 6,000 people. Its faculties include Theology, Law, Medicine, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Dentistry, and Education. The university’s old campus, strongly influenced by Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s neoclassical style, is located in the centre of Oslo near the National Theatre, the Royal Palace and the Parliament. The old campus was then occupied by the Faculty of Law and most of the other faculties have been transferred to the Blindern campus in the suburban West End, erected in the 1930s. The Faculty of Medicine is split between several university hospitals in the Oslo area.
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 referred to as “The Royal Frederick’s” (Det Kgl. Frederiks) prior to the name change.
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. Since 2003, the Abel Prize is awarded in the university’s atrium.
As a classical university with a broad range of academic disciplines, UiO has top research communities in most areas. Moreover, UiO currently has 8 National Centres of Excellence and a strategic focus on interdisciplinary research in the field of energy and life sciences in particular. As a broadly based, non-profit research university, UiO has access to good public funding schemes. Lab and office facilities, libraries and technical support are at the high end.
UiO offers more than 800 courses in English at all levels, around 40 Master’s degree programmes taught entirely in English and several PhD programmes. UiO focuses on research-based education and attracts highly qualified students from all over the country.
UiO attracts students and researchers from all over the world. As of 2012, 13 percent of the student population is from foreign countries. 17.5 percent of the academic staff and 26 percent of the PhD candidates are from abroad.

Admission
All Bachelor programmes at the University of Oslo are taught in Norwegian. UiO offers more than 40 Master’s degree programmes taught in English. The international Master’s degree admission takes place once a year with studies starting in August. For Bangladeshi students Higher Secondary Certificate plus four years university education and applicable English proficiency tests are required for Master’s degree admission.
In order to qualify for admission to a PhD programme at UiO, you normally need a five-year undergraduate and postgraduate degree, i.e. a Master’s degree or the equivalent; however, the individual faculties can also approve other educational backgrounds as the basis for admission. The faculties may make additional requirements leading to admission.

Fess and Living Expenses
Like all public institutions of higher education in Norway, the university does not charge tuition fees. However, a small fee of NOK 550 (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 NOK 100[5] (roughly US$17) for full-time students and NOK 50 (roughly US$8.50) for part-time students. Lastly a voluntary sum of NOK 30 (roughly US$5) is donated to SAIH (Studentenes og Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond).
As a student at the University of Oslo you will be living in a city that has all the benefits of a capital while never being more than a 15-minutes bus ride from the sea or the forests. Whether culture or nature, arts or sports is your scene!. But do not forget that Oslo is an expensive city and it takes a while getting used to the high cost of living.  As a student you will need a minimum of approximately NOK 10 000 per month in order to cover basic expenses. To meet your living expenses you can obtain a work permit to work 20 hours pr week, and full-time work during the holidays. Please be aware that it can be difficult to obtain a part time job in order to supplement your budget. There are a limited amount of jobs available for students without knowledge of Norwegian

The Quota Scheme
The Norwegian Quota Scheme is a funding scheme offered by the Norwegian Government to students from developing countries in the South and countries in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and in Central Asia.
The main objective of the Quota Scheme is to contribute to capacity building through education that will benefit the home country of the students when they return home.
Quota funding covers student housing and basic living expenses for one person during the study period. The funding is given as part loan/part grant by the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund.
After completing the programmed and returning to the student’s home country, the loan part is converted to a scholarship. If residence is taken in Norway within ten years after termination of studies, the scholarship is converted back to a loan and must be repaid.
Quota applicants may apply for selected Master’s degree and PhD programmes. Only applicants from institutions with which the University of Oslo has a formal cooperation agreement are eligible to apply. Preference is given to applicants who are linked to active and ongoing formalized cooperation/projects within the specific subject area.

For further information about the University of Oslo you can visit: http://www.uio.no/english