BIOS9226 – Natural History Collections – Diversity in time and space
Course content
The course will introduce students to cutting-edge collection management and collection-based research. We will explore the history of Natural History Collections in general and that of the Natural History Museum in Oslo in particular, as well as historic and current use of collections. You will explore critical questions in conservation management, collecting traditions, changing views on collecting and current use of collections. Students will gain hands-on experience with research specimens and the metadata associated with them, in addition to learning about international and national legislations that applies to Natural History Collections.
Learning outcome
After completing the course, you will:
- Learn how to effectively present scientific research. As part of the course students will attend a training course in scientific communication, attend scientific talks that they must critically review a subset of, and give formal presentations on their own research at an NHM-wide organized symposium organized specifically for students and non-permanent research staff.
- Learn how to extract relevant information from research not directly in the student’s own research field. By attending a variety of different seminars and scientific talks, students will be introduced to research not directly in their field, and be challenged to think about how these research talks/scientific papers may have direct/indirect applications in their own research, either through the methods/theories introduced, or even whether the systems/scientific questions presented may also be interesting in their own line of research.
- Have experience in leading scientific events. By organizing seminars with the support of other PIs at NHM, the students will gain experience in leading scientific paper discussions.??
- Learn efficient and critical scientific reading. Learn to read scientific papers for their stated hypotheses, whether the methods chosen are appropriate for exploring these hypotheses, and critically analyze the data interpretations and conclusions drawn from these.
- Understand why and how 'collection profiling' can be used as a tool in collection management.
- Independently be able to implement and evaluate adaptations to a new collection.
Admission to the course
PhD candidates from the University of Oslo should apply for classes and register for examinations through?Studentweb.
If a course has limited intake capacity, priority will be given to PhD candidates who follow an individual education plan where this particular course is included. Some national researchers’ schools may have specific rules for ranking applicants for courses with limited intake capacity.
PhD candidates who have been admitted to another higher education institution must?apply for a position as a visiting student?within a given deadline.
The courses BIOS9226 and BIOS5226 have joint admission. Applicants are ranked by the following criteria:
1. PhD students and master students at the MN faculty who have the course as part of the approved curriculum. Students at NHM and IBV will have priority.
2. Other PhD students and visiting PhD students.
3. Students with admission to single courses on master’s level and exchange students
Applicants are ranked by credits in each group; all applicants within 1st rank before applicants in 2nd etc. If admission is limited to a fixed number of participants, admission will be decided by drawing lots for students who are ranked equally
Recommended previous knowledge
Recommend one or more systematic courses in biology and mineralogy.
Teaching
- Lectures at the Natural History Museum (Campus T?yen and ?kern)
- Practical training in how the different collections are organized?(compulsory).
- Internship 10 working days in one collection (compulsory)
- Personal 2 day practice in collection management?(compulsory).
- Conduct a collection profiling of a collection/sub-collection, write a report on this (compulsory)
Examination
- Final oral exam counts for 100%.
Practice and mandatory report from internship, must be approved and completed before the student can attend the exam.
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
Oral examination in Norwegian or English.
Grading scale
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.
Resit an examination
This course offers both postponed and resit of examination. Read more:
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.