University of Oslo

The University of Oslo (Universitetet i Oslo, in Latin Universitas Osloensis) was founded in 1811 as Universitas Regia Fredericiana (the Royal Frederick University, norwegian Det Kgl. Frederiks Universitet), modelled after the recently established University of Berlin. The university currently has about 32,000 students and employs about 4600 people. It is the largest, most prestigious and oldest university in Norway, situated in the country's capital city.

The university has faculties of Theology, Law, Medicine, Humanities, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Dentistry, Social Sciences and Education. The Faculty of Law is still located at the old campus on Karl Johans gate (Oslo's central pedestrian street), near the National Theatre, the Royal Palace, the Supreme Court and the Parliament, while most of the other faculties are located at a modern campus area called Blindern, erected from the 1930's. The current head (2002 - 2005) of the University is Arild Underdal, professor of political science.

The reason the university was established as late as 1811, is that Norway and Denmark prior to 1814 were in a personal union (see Denmark-Norway), with Copenhagen being the common capital. Thus, the Norwegian students in previous times attended the University of Copenhagen. Even after 1814 there have traditionally been very close academic ties between Norway and Denmark, and the countries have used the same grade system.

Units

Central campus of the university, where today only the faculty of law is located. These buildings were inspired by the famous buildings of Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin.

File:UiO-MainLibrary.jpg

The new library building at the Blindern campus, houses the Library of Arts and Social Sciences.

Faculty of Law

• Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL)
• Department of Criminology and the Sociology of Law
• Department of Private Law
• Department of Public and International Law
• Section for Information Technology and Administrative Systems (SITAS)
• Nordic Institute of Maritime Law
• Centre for European Law
• Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

Faculty of Medicine

• Institute of Basic Medical Sciences
• Institute of General Practice and Community Medicine
• Institute of Psychiatry
• Psychosocial Centre for refugees
• Institute of Health Management and Health Economics
• Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences
• Faculty Division Aker University Hospital
• Faculty Division Akershus University Hospital
• Faculty Division Rikshospitalet
• Faculty Division Ullevaal University Hospital
• Faculty Division The Norwegian Radium Hospital
• The Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience

Faculty of Humanities

• Department of Archaeology, Conservation and Historical Studies
• Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages
• Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas
• Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages
• Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies
• Department of Media and Communication
• Department of Musicology
• Unit for Digital Documentation
• The Ibsen Centre
• Centre for Viking and Medieval Studies
• The Norwegian Institute in St. Petersburg
• The Norwegian Institute in Rome
• Norwegian Centre for Research Cooperation with France

Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

• Department of Biology
• Department of Molecular Biosciences
• School of Pharmacy
• Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics
• Department of Physics
• Department of Informatics
• Department of Geosciences
• Department of Biochemistry
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Mathematics
• Physics of Geological Processes
• Centre of Mathematics and Applications
• Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis
• Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology

Faculty of Dentistry

• Department of Oral Biology
• Institute of Clinical Dentistry

Faculty of Social Sciences

• Department of Sociology and Human Geography
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Psychology
• Department of Social Anthropology
• Department of Economics
• Centre for technology, innovation and culture

Faculty of Education

• Department of Teacher Education and School Development
• Department of Special Needs Education
• Institute for Educational Research
• The Autism Unit
• Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in New Media and Communication Technology

University Library

• Library of Medicine and Health Sciences
• Library of Arts and Social Sciences
• Faculty of Law Library
• Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Library

Units directly under The Senate

• The Biotechnology Centre of Oslo
• Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research
• Centre for Development and the Environment
• International Summer School

Museums

Museum of Cultural History

• University Museum of National Antiquities
• Collection of Coins and Medals
• Ethnographic Museum
• The Viking Ship Museum

Natural History Museum

• Mineralological-geological Museum
• Paleontological Museum
• Zoological Museum
• Botanical Garden
• Botanical Museum

People

Nobel laureates

Four researchers at the University of Oslo have been rewarded with Nobel prizes:

• Ragnar Frisch - 1969 - Economics
• Odd Hassel - 1969 - Chemistry
• Ivar Giæver - 1973 - Physics
• Trygve Haavelmo - 1989 - Economics

Natural sciences and mathematics

• Atle Selberg (b. 1917), mathematician (dr. philos. 1943)

Student life

As Norway is largely a social democratic society, the university charges only a minor tuition of 100 NOK (primarily a copy fee). However, students are also required to pay a fee to the students welfare organization Studentsamskipnaden i Oslo, which use the money for student benefits such as subsidized kindergartens, a student newspaper, athletic programmes, psychology service, student canteens, student housing and so on. This fee is now at 410 NOK (approx. 65 USD) per semester. The student newspaper is Universitas (Circulation: 17,000). There has been some discussion on whether to introduce real school payment; especially some conservatives want to make the University of Oslo more into an elite university, and believe higher tuitions would contribute in selecting the best students and that the payment would give the university opportunities for even better education. Still, the University of Oslo is already one of the best universities in Scandinavia and the leading Norwegian university. Its faculty of humanities has been ranked as one of the best in Europe.

External links

• The University of Oslo website
  • A brief history in English of the University of Oslo
• The Foundation for Student Life in Oslo (Studentsamskipnaden)
• Universitas (student newspaper)
  • Universitas in English