The Research School on Peace and Conflict is an academic consortium that provides courses and skills training for doctoral students. A forum for discussion of the most advanced issues in peace and conflict research, the Research School is based in downtown Oslo at the headquarters of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
The Research School on Peace and Conflict was established in 2011 as a joint initiative of the University of Oslo, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and PRIO. In 2013 the Research School acquired status as a National Research School with funding from the Research Council of Norway which lasted until 2021. In 2015, the Research School entered a formal agreement with the University of Uppsala to enable jointly organized courses and reciprocal course offerings.
The Research School’s doctoral level courses are attended by graduate students from universities in Norway and abroad. Admittance to individual courses (whether for credit or on an auditing basis) takes place through open calls.
The Research School does not itself grant PhD degrees. There are no fees for attendance in courses.
Courses
The Research School offers intensive courses for PhD students from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Courses are intensive and are normally taught over a period of 3-5 days. Courses focus either on methodology (quantitative, qualitative, fieldwork), or topical issues in peace and conflict research. Some Research School courses are taught regularly, while others are offered only once. New courses are regularly announced. For a full list of courses that have been organized by the Research School see the field on Courses and Seminars.
Admittance to courses (whether for credit or auditing) is based on prior application, with deadlines stated in the course announcement (typically published on the Research School web site 3 months in advance of the course).
Courses may be audited or taken for credit. To earn credit, in addition to course attendance, a paper of about 15 pages must be submitted on a topic agreed upon in advance with the professor leading the course. Papers are graded on a pass/fail basis and include a written assessment by one of the course instructors. Upon successful completion of each course, official confirmation is sent to the student.
The courses are free of charge, but students will have to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.
ECTS
A set number of ECTS credits are assigned – based on guidelines from the University of Oslo – for each Research School course. (The European Transfer and Accumulation System is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students in higher education across the European Union and other collaborating European countries.) However, as universities apply different criteria for the conferral of ECTS, students should consult with their university department prior to enrolling in a course to ascertain whether the course in question will be accepted as part of their doctoral program, and how many ECTS they will be granted. Each student’s host university has the final say in the conferral of ECTS.