Master's program in biology

Programme
N2BIO
2 years
120 credits (ECTS)

Read more about Biology, Master's Programme at gu.se.

Here you will find information about the structure of the program and which courses you can take, who to contact if you have questions about your education, and what you need to consider before the thesis during your final year.

How is the program structured?

When studying the Master's program in biology, you have considerable freedom to choose which courses you want to include in your degree. To facilitate your selection process, we have created different profiles where we recommend which courses you should take depending on the area in which you want to do your thesis.

If you need more assistance in planning your education, you are welcome to contact the study advisors.

When do I need to apply for courses and how do I know which ones I can choose?

Before each semester, you must apply for the courses you want to take through www.antagning.se. The only exception is if you are doing a degree project that spans two semesters, in which case you will automatically remain registered for the course in the following semester.

On the More about Master in biology page, we have presented most of the in-depth courses in biology. To obtain a Master's degree in biology, you must have completed at least 60 credits in biology, of which at least 30 must be in the form of an advanced level thesis. Additionally, a total of at least 90 credits must be at the advanced level. However, there is room to supplement your education with courses in other relevant subjects.

You can find the complete course offerings for the University of Gothenburg under Find courses. You can sort them by subject, level, and semester, among other criteria.

The final application deadline is around October 15th for the spring semester and April 15th for the fall semester. If you have missed the application deadline, you may still be able to make a late application, but please note that this does not apply to all courses, and the chances of being admitted to popular courses decrease.

Who decides on the program?

The Master's program in biology is run by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BioEnv) in collaboration with Department of Marine Sciences. You may also take courses offered by the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology (KMB). All three departments are primarily located at Natrium (Medicinaregatan 7b).

The biology program board is responsible for coordinating all biology programs. It is led by the program board chair, who is also the director of studies at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. The board includes additional teachers from the three departments and at least one student representative.

Who should I contact?

If you have specific questions about our various courses and educational programs, please contact our study counselors or study administrators first. You can find the contact information at Service and support/Study counselling.

If you have more general questions about the education at the department, contact the education director (deputy head of department with responsibility for undergraduate education) or the program board chair. Contact information for staff at BioEnv (especially under Educational matters).

Contact information for those responsible at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, as well as the Department of Marine Sciences, can be found on their respective external websites.

Time for the thesis - what do I need to consider?

What is meant by a thesis?

The thesis is an independent project carried out within the framework of one of our degree project courses, aimed at providing you with in-depth knowledge in one of the research areas of biology and preparing you for work or further studies. Assessment is based on a written report as well as an oral presentation of your results. In addition, a number of lectures and seminars are included.

General information about theses in biology and environmental sciences and what to consider when looking for suitable projects can be found under Degree project (go to Your studies/Exams). There you can also find lists with current projects.

Also, see course-specific information on open course pages in Canvas (go to Search courses and search for BIO7).

You need to find a supervisor and project yourself

All projects must have a supervisor. Typically, you will work in one of our research groups, where your project will be an important part of advancing research. This means you cannot expect to have the freedom to come up with your own project.

Every semester, we offer a variety of exciting and current projects, ranging from studies at the cellular and molecular level to integrative physiology, phylogenetic analysis, ecology, and conservation biology, focusing on animals, fungi, microorganisms, or plants. You are expected to have contacted potential supervisors within the university well before the course starts.

You may also find projects outside of the biology departments, for example, at companies or authorities. In that case, the project must first be approved by the course leader/examiner, and you must also have an internal supervisor affiliated with the university.

What is required to start a thesis in biology?

To undertake a project course, you must have completed at least one advanced course in biology/molecular biology of (at least) 15 credits, in a relevant subject area. In addition, you must have applied for and been admitted to a degree course.

Which degree project course should I apply for?

The following courses are offered by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences:

The following course is offered by Department of Marine Sciences:

  • Marine ecology
    (BIO765=30 credits, BIO766=45 credits & BIO767=60 credits)
    Course contact: ??

Which course you should chose mainly depends of the subject of your project. Hence you should find out which projects are offered at the different departments before applying. If you have your main supervisor at the Department of Marine Sciences we recommend that you apply for the course Marine ecology.

You apply for the course via antagning.se. Note that only the 30 credit courses (course codes ending with 5) are searchable; an extension to 45 or 60 credits can be made at the start of the course after  agreement with the supervisor and course coordinator. In most cases we recommend that you do a 60 credits project.

The degree courses normally starts at the start of each semester, that is in September and January, but after agreement with the supervisor and course coordinator you can also start in March, June or November. There is no web registration for these courses, that is  you will be registered at the start of the course.