ILN4900 – Project Semester for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies

Course content

The Project Term for Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies (30 ECTS) may be undertaken as the third semester in a 2-year masters’ degree in most of the masters’ programmes at the Institute of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies; Viking and Medieval Studies, Linguistics, Multilingualism, Ibsen Studies and Scandinavian Studies.

In the project term, you will intern at a workplace relevant to your field of study. Relevant employers are for example an institution, a company, or a non-profit organisation in Norway or another Nordic nation with operations related to your field of study.

The course is meant to give you relevant work experience within your academic specialty. During the project term, you must also complete a project, relevant to both your field of study and the dealings and needs of the institution where you intern. The topic/theme must be decided in collaboration between the internship employer, the student and the academic supervisor.

Learning outcome

After finishing the course, the student shall:

• be able to work independently with a project, where the topic/theme is decided in collaboration between the internship employer, the student and the supervisor at the University of Oslo.
• be able to work in a team at a place of work relevant to your studies.
• be able to plan, execute and report a professional project.
• have an increased awareness of their own competence, in particular in relation to the connect between theory and practice.
• be able to evaluate feedback and comments from their employer and their academic supervisor, and conclude in accordance with these comments.
• have a solid base of experience for their masters’ thesis process.

Admission to the course

Only students admitted to the masters’ programmes in Viking and Medieval Studies, Linguistics, Multilingualism, Ibsen Studies and Scandinavian Studies may apply to be accepted to this course.

Students are not able to sign up for this course on their own, and are required to contact the course study advisor for guidance and evaluation of admittance.

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

The student must themselves contact, and secure, an internship position to be admitted to the course. 

The institute will be able to offer suggestions for internship providers, and produce a custom letter of introductions and a copy of the internship agreement. When contacting possible internship-providers it is recommended to attach these documents, along with your CV and application letter. 

Following this, the student must apply their study program for approval of the internship-offer, by contacting the course student advisor. 

A prerequisite for approval of the internship-offer and admittance to the course is that the work tasks given the student are academically relevant. The internship-provider must also provide a contact person to follow up the student during the internship. 

Deadlines and further procedure: 

• The internship position must be agreed upon before the end of the spring semester for interning the following autumn, and vice versa for the autumn semester. 

For students interested in interning at a foreign service mission through the Faculty of Humanities agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: :

• Application deadline is the 1st of October for internships during the spring semester, and the 1st of March for internships during the fall semester. The student must fill out a form and attach an application letter (approx. 1 A4 page). A CV and transcript of grades must be attached and emailed the course study consultant in .pdf-format. Students offered a placement with the a foreign mission/embassy will be contacted directly by the internship provider. 

Tips for a good application: 

•  CV og søknad (in Norwegian)

Formal prerequisite knowledge

For admission to this course you must have completed courses equivalent to 60 ECTS within the two first semesters of the masters programmes mentioned above.

The course is obligatory for further admission to the 30 ECTS master-thesis course in your study programme.

Overlapping courses

• 30 credits overlap with NOR4900 – Nordisk prosjektsemester (discontinued).

Teaching

The course does not have typical lessons.

The institute will provide the student an academic supervisor. The student is offered 7,5 hours of academic supervision, during the internship period.

Throughout the semester, the internship will consist of a normal 5-day work week, where 3,5 - 4 days are used for regular assignments for the employer, and the rest of the time is used for the project for the term.

Examination

The form of assessment in this course is a project term paper. 

The project term paper is a portfolio(/mappe-eksamen) of a total of 15-20 pages (à 2300 characters without spaces), to be submitted in Inspera. At a set date, the paper must be uploaded into Inspera.

The portfolio must have three main parts;

1. A description (of approx. 1- 2 pages) detailing the undertakings at the place of internship, and describing the planned work tasks for the student and the theme for the project as it was at the start of the internship.
2. The main part (the core) of the portfolio consists of one or more texts. This text/ these texts must be prepared as a part of, or as a project of, the internship project. The text(s) must exhibit and analyze the results from the student's project, in accordance with academic standards.
3. A closing account of 1-2 pages where the student describe and evaluate the work tasks that has been done with regards to the original plan, and the course learning outcomes. The relevance of the work tasks must also be evaluated. 

The student, the employer and the academic supervisor must, in cooperation, decide on a theme for the students project.

The University has the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the papers’ theme and academic supervision during the project term.

Language of examination

You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.

Resit an examination

Students whose project term paper is not accepted, will be given an opportunity to rework their project term paper within one month after publication of the grades, on the condition that the formal requirements are fulfilled in the version submitted originally. If illness or another valid reason for an extension occurs, please contact the study consultant.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.