Academic Writing Programplan

Publication in international journals has become increasingly imperative for academics worldwide. Scholarly success is often measured in terms of publication in high ranking, international ¿ i.e. English language ¿ peer-reviewed journals. At the same time, the internationalisation agendas of higher education institutions ¿ in Norway and around the world ¿ place an emphasis on collaboration and initiatives across international borders. The ability to communicate in English is central to successful involvement in such work.

This course sets out to equip PhD candidates and faculty members at OsloMet with the writing tools needed to meet these challenges.

The course will focus on familiarising participants with the academic writing conventions, as well as addressing the most common problem areas confronting Norwegians when writing academic English. This is a practical course in which participants¿ own writing is a key element. Time will be spent discussing participants¿ texts as well as the principles of academic writing.

The course provides participants with the opportunity to practice academic English and develop competence in working with English academic texts.

The course also contributes to the wider university college milieu by developing a forum for work-in-progress discussions and facilitating participation in international fora as well as internal internationalisation projects. Furthermore, the course enables academic/research contact across faculty lines.

The target group for this course is PhD candidates and researchers among the academic staff at OsloMet, who are actively engaged in writing articles, papers or dissertations in English.

• A completed Master¿s Degree.
• Employment at OsloMet.

Admission of PhD candidates and academic staff employed at other higher educational institutions and/or research institutions in Norway can be considered subject to the available places on the course.

Admission of internal and external candidates is based on individual application approved by the applicant¿s Head of Studies or Head of Division.

Participants should be reasonably fluent in written and oral English and familiar with academic conventions and requirements.

Ranking

• PhD candidates and academic staff at OsloMet.
• PhD candidates and academic staff employed at other higher education and/or research institutions in Norway.

After completion of the course, the student will have acquired the following learning outcomes, defined as knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The candidate has in-depth knowledge of:

• the writing conventions and rhetorical patterns needed for international publication in their field
• revision, editing and development strategies needed for international publication
• principles of applied textual analysis for writing development

Skills

The candidate can:

• formulate academic texts in English intended for international publication
• transform awareness of textual features into specific writing strategies
• analyse and describe trends and features of their field¿s academic English

General competence

The candidate can:

• can identify and establish connections between writing practices, writing conventions and research traditions in their fields
• discuss and give feedback on a range of academic texts and issues
• can reflect on and document their current practices and how these can be developed

Se emneplan for beskrivelse av studiet.

The course is held each semester.

• The course language is English throughout.
• The course will include task-based teaching, focusing on problems typical for Norwegian writers of academic English.
• In each session the group will work on two draft documents submitted by participants. The group works together on improvements.
• The rest of the session will focus on analytical and short writing and thinking tasks, aimed at rooting writing conventions in participants¿ disciplinary knowledge

Participants are expected to work on their papers between sessions, assimilating into their own work topics raised during class.

Participants will be responsible for distributing their manuscripts to the group at least a week before the session dealing with their work.

The Master's program in Applied Computer and Information Technology (ACIT) offers an expert-level education in the design, development, use and maintenance of computer technology, electronics and software in areas that have become of great importance for modern societies. We live in a world with computing devices both surrounding us and, in some cases, even working inside us. Technology is a part of how we entertain ourselves, communicate, govern and heal. Services that span the world open up for individuals to interact across the globe.

Yet with technology comes new challenges. The application of computers and electronics in our society offers progress for many, but it may also close the doors for people with impairments. We can communicate across the globe, but our communication can be intercepted and used against us. Our data can be used to get new insight about our behavior, but the analysis is complex and requires ethical considerations whether the search for new knowledge is indeed with the right intentions. Artificial Intelligence offers to relieve many mundane tasks to robots, but consequences are potentially wide and may trigger deep changes in our civilization.

The Faculty of Technology, Art and Design at The Oslo Metropolitan University believes that solving these challenges requires a broad and multidisciplinary approach. Solutions for the public should be viewed as an artefact beyond a singular discipline, like Computer Science or Electrical Engineering. It needs to be a combination of expert knowledge and interdisciplinary thinking. Our researchers know from their own experience, that in the real world, engineers sit alongside mathematicians, programmers, economists, sociologists, physicists, designers and statisticians, just to name a few, to work on self-driving cars, computer games, medical devices, climate change and so on. As technologists we can become the enablers of others. We can let teachers teach in novel ways. We can let children with disabilities partake in activities previously denied to them and we can let doctors perform surgery on patients that are miles away. Moreover, we become inventors and transformers as we understand what others need and have the expertise to know what is possible, or should be possible. This makes our field incredibly meaningful and important.   This program offers a range of specializations stemming from the overlap of three fields of research: Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematical Modelling. The uniqueness of ACIT is that it offers a closer connection between all three fields and showcase how they are part of the same technological fabric of today's digital society. Thus, ACIT recognizes that candidates will have a better foundation for solving tomorrows challenges if a broader perspective is available to them. The aim is not, however, to create generalists, but to create experts in their own field who are also able to see the broad picture of how technology impacts society. These individuals contribute not only through providing deep knowledge and expert skills from a relevant field, but at the same time are able to partake constructively as members of interdisciplinary teams. The program is designed to allow the student to select an area of specialization but also requires them to become familiar with a second area of their choice. In addition, the student will be trained specifically in the role as the expert member of a team.

Each field of specialization represents an area where the application of software, data, computers and electronics has become necessary for modern society yet challenging to do in practice. These areas are still wide enough to allow for life-long careers as technology progresses. In addition, a Master's degree in science requires each candidate to have training in scientific thinking and research, enabling our candidates to pursue careers as scholars in academia as well as industry researchers, leading the way for new discoveries and scientific progress.

ACIT Specialization areas

Our program offers several areas of specialization. Each area connects the student to an active research group at the faculty. When applying for the program, the applicant needs to select what area of specialization to join. Please note, that the areas have different prerequisites for acceptance. Once the student is accepted, the student will also have to become familiar with one of the other fields as part of their education. This can be chosen later and more information is found below in the program plan.

ACIT: Universal Design of ICT

With our emerging digital society, it is becoming essential that all electronic information and services should be accessible for all, regardless of devices, situations, and abilities. As progress moves us forward, no-one should be left behind. This poses a great challenge on ICT infrastructure and services in our society. Our world requires competent ICT professionals who can create universally accessible user interfaces that work for all. This specialization offers a unique opportunity to become that professional.

ACIT: Cloud-based Services and Operations

Today's services need to be designed for thousands; even millions of users and require infrastructures and architectural designs beyond common webservers and databases. This specialization area focuses on the practice of designing, developing and running massive-scale services and delivering software faster and with higher quality than before. We embrace the DevOps philosophy, in that developers should be better trained in automation and deployment and operations should build mechanisms for developers to thrive. It is highly relevant for anyone who wants a career as a software developer. The specialization covers both infrastructure management and agile software delivery and automated testing and deployment, creating candidates with a practical competence in the entire cloud stack from the servers and clouds and all the way to the running service.

ACIT: Data Science 

The wealth of data produced by us and the things around us offer new knowledge that can be useful for both business and government. It can assist in public transport, health care as well as provide tailored marked solutions. With all the data available to us, however, a special expertise is needed to organize and harness it so that useful knowledge can be extracted. This area offers a deep-dive into the storage and analysis of Big Data from a practical perspective. Data Science involves programming, use of advanced tools and infrastructures and statistics.

ACIT: Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing

Application of mathematics to describe our world is a central element of many areas of our every-day life. Physics, economics and meteorology are examples of disciplines where mathematicians work side-by-side with specialists to convert real phenomena into equations. When these equations are translated into program code to be executed in potentially massive computing clusters, simulations are generated that may be used for e.g. weather or economy forecasting. This area is characterized by development of mathematical models, application of sophisticated methods for analyzing and simulating the models as well as use of tools, programming and computational infrastructures. Students of this specialization can expect to learn how their competence can be utilized in practice by the industry.  

ACIT: Applied Artificial Intelligence

Recent discoveries in artificial intelligence have enabled computers and machines to perform many cognitive tasks better than humans, from self-driving cars to diagnosing diseases in seconds. The application of artificial intelligence methods is revolutionizing the way we work and live. This specialization involves learning how complex systems are designed and used to make autonomous decisions. The students will have access to different types of robotics and intelligent systems that can be used to test their work. This area involves programming, robotics and mathematics.

ACIT: Robotics and Control

Robotics and Intelligent Systems are steadily revolutionizing almost every aspect of our every-day life. From self-driving cars, autonomous ships, fully automated factories and drones that can deliver groceries. It is a field with tremendous expected growth and demand for skilled multidisciplinary professionals in the convergence of electrical, mechanical and software engineering. This specialization provides a hands-on approach to the analysis, design, and control of robotic and autonomous systems.

ACIT: Biomedical Engineering

The need for innovation in the field of biomedical engineering has never been so important as now. Neither has it ever been given so much attention from governments, organizations providing health care and the media. It is evident that to provide world class health care, the need for technology that helps efficiency and accuracy is essential. This specialization will prepare the students for a professional career in companies related to new and existing health products. The students gain an interdisciplinary background but with a focus in electrical engineering and instrumentation.

Programme objectives

This program offers a practical-minded, profession-oriented specialization, extending a bachelors in technology, computer and software engineering, electrical engineering and mathematics. Our goal is to educate and train candidates so as to make them fit to address the challenges of both professional life and scholarly enquiry within their specialization as well as being a productive member of interdisciplinary teams.

Graduates from this program will:

• understand the role of their specialization in organizations and society
• possess deep technical skills from their own specialization that can be applied in a variety of real-life scenarios
• understand how their specialization is part of a wider fabric of skills necessary to solve tomorrows challenges
• have a professional and ethical attitude towards their role in the workplace
• display creative thinking in real-life situations, leaning both on theoretical knowledge and on pragmatism
• plan and execute their work in a structured and independent manner, be it as professionals or as researchers in their field

Course Code: AWC6000.

Individual oral exam consists of a 15 minute presentation, containing a visual element (e.g. a PowerPoint or Prezi), describing how the participant¿s article has developed over the course and how they expect it to develop subsequently, followed by a 15 minute discussion with the examiners, testing the reasoning behind the participant¿s writing decisions, their understanding of concepts covered, and their ability to further develop the text.

The exam will be assessed by two internal examiners.

Grading scale

Pass/Fail.

New/postponed exam

In case of failing the exam or in case of valid absence at the time of the exam, the student is entitled to make a renewed attempt. The re-examination will be arranged in the same manner as the regular exam. The students are themselves responsible for registering for the re-examination within given deadlines.

The program offers career-defining specializations that are closely tied with the industry. Focus is on building practical skills combined with scientific craftsmanship. Graduates from this program are attractive candidates for public and private sectors as well as non-profit organizations. Our target audience are individuals with a bachelor's degree who are interested in an expert role as well as the option to pursue an academic career either directly or later.

The different specializations together provide for a wide field of recruitment and is therefore relevant for bachelor graduates from many engineering backgrounds as well as traditional natural sciences. Students from fields within IT, such as human-computer interaction, web- development or applied computer technology will also find suitable specializations here.

Please consider the admission requirements for a detailed list.