Foto: Eivind Senneset, UiB
The admission numbers for our master’s and 5-year integrated master’s are now ready. For Fish Health and Aquaculture, all places are filled and that is very good. These two study programs have at least two applicants per study place and that forms a good starting point. For the master’s in molecular biology, we accept slightly fewer students than we have places for, but for the master’s in biology we accept just over half. This is not good, but we think the main reason is that in 2019 we only took filled half of the available places in the biology bachelor’s programme, due to the introduction of the R2 maths requirement that year (the requirement was removed the following year). Since we largely recruit students from our own bachelor’s, we think this may be a temporary effect. Furthermore, we see that many of our bachelor’s students in both biology and molecular biology are delayed, perhaps due to corona reasons, and that this provides grounds for fewer students being eligible to apply for our master’s studies. I think this will change quickly in the next two years and that we will soon be back to the good numbers of applicants we had in previous years.
The semester is already well underway. I myself had the pleasure of visiting the field course in BIO102 at Østerbø earlier this week. It is quite clear that field courses are important for the students’ learning and academic motivation. In addition, the social component is extremely important. Field courses and cruises contribute significantly to the quality of our education and we must prioritize this highly in the coming years. Thank you to all the course managers, assistants and study administrators who contribute towards our field courses and trips.
We will organize an islet cleaning day September 14. This is really great that we do, both for the external and internal environment. See info in this issue of BIOnytt, and sign up. I am really exited.
We are working to establish a PhD/post doc network to strengthen the academic-social environment at BIO. We start with a kick-off party on 22 September here at Marineholmen. I encourage all PhDs and post docs to sign up. This is important and good, and I look forward to meeting everyone. See more info in this issue of BIOnytt.
Then I wish you all a splendid weekend.
Hilsen Ørjan