Teaching and learning is organized through courses and projects; the two types of elements have equal weight in the programme.
The courses have relatively small classes with lectures, discussions in class, problem solving activities and laboratory/computer exercises. Project work takes place in small groups with study of the literature, laboratory work and discussions in the group with and without a supervisor.

Project work

In a project you are supposed to dive into a particular problem of your choice with certain limitations. 

At the beginning of each semester a ”project market” is arranged where project groups of 3-5 students at are formed. The project market is organized by a coordinating supervisor and a student member of the study board. The projects can be literature study, bioinformatics analyses or laboratory experiments. An experimental project will usually be tightly related to the research of the supervisor, while the topics/problems for the other kinds of projects have a wider range. The project work results in a project report that forms the basis for the oral project exam.

Course work 

Bachelor studies i Molecular Biology

Most courses in the 2012 study programme will have 6 hrs of teaching per week, during a 7 week period, either organized with 2 hrs sessions 3 times a week or one 2 hrs session and one 4 hrs session. Each week the teaching will be a mix of lectures, discussions in the class, and work on problem solving and data analysis. These courses will be evaluated by a written exam graded by the 7-point grading scale. The experimental course will have about 70 hrs of laboratory work during a 4 week period at the beginning of the semester and is evaluated pass/fail based on attendance and reports.

The courses in the old study programme are typically organized with two 3 hrs sessions a week, in the morning or in the afternoon. Each session is a mix of lectures, discussions in the class, and work on problem solving and data analysis. Some sessions take place in the laboratory and last longer, an entire afternoon or an entire day. For the laboratory experiments, you work in groups of 2 (3) students and you write reports on the data from the experimental work. The courses are evaluated by 4 hrs written exams.

Master programme in Molecular Biology

The master studies contain a number of specialized courses with different teaching and evaluation types. There are some traditional lecture courses based on a text book. These courses are evaluated by a written exam graded by the 7-point grading scale. There are intensive laboratory courses where you plan and perform experiments from given problems, materials and standard recipes and where the evaluation (pass/fail) is based on attendance, oral presentations and written reports. The bioinformatics courses are a mixture of lectures and computer exercises and evaluation (pass/fail) is based on in-class presentations, home solving of problems and a mini-project. Yet other courses are seminar type courses based on research papers, where part of the class teaching is based on student presentations of subjects and the evaluation is pass/fail based on attendance and your presentations.