Guide for research practice courses at NMBU

Conducting the FORSK course

• The student's and the main supervisor's responsibilities in the FORSK course

  During the project and course period, the supervisor(s) will follow up on the student's work and provide the student with necessary support and feedback.

  The student's responsibilities

  It is not only the supervisors who are responsible for ensuring that the FORSK course is carried out in such a way that the student achieves the described learning outcomes. The student also has an independent responsibility to follow up on the research practice contract (FORSK contract). This responsibility includes, among other things:

  (The list is not exhaustive.)

  • Participating in the drafting of the FORSK contract and submitting it for approval.
  • Participating in the research project in the manner instructed by the main supervisor, within the framework of the FORSK contract and the course description.
  • Carrying out agreed learning activities/tasks.
  • Keeping a simple time sheet – for all time spent and all activities/tasks – so that both the student and the supervisor(s) can monitor the workload.
  • Notifying the supervisor(s) – as soon as possible – of any problems/obstacles that arise during the course period. The student may also raise questions with a student advisor.
  • Receiving training and supervision, and providing feedback to the supervisor(s) if the student is uncertain about what is expected of the student or what the student is supposed to do.
  • Familiarising themselves with the rules and procedures for the learning activities/tasks in which the student will be involved. Please see also the information below on health, environment and safety.
  • Familiarising themselves with the following regulations:
    NMBU’s guide for FORSK courses (this web page)
    Rules for correct referencing and citation of sources
    Guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) at NMBU
  • Since the activities included in a FORSK course may vary in nature, take place in a range of locations, and occur outside regular teaching periods/hours, all students are advised to familiarise themselves with insurance arrangements for students and to take out private insurance.

  The main supervisor's responsibilities

  (The list is not exhaustive.)

  • Ensure a good correlation between the learning activities and the form of assessment (the report), and adjust the required workload to the number of credits selected in the FORSK contract.
  • Consider and decide which research tasks and activities should be included in the FORSK course.
  • Explain the methods used and provide training in the practical tasks and activities the student will participate in with others or carry out independently.
  • Provide the student with academic supervision during the completion of the FORSK course, including planning the use of time and giving feedback on the student’s work.
  • Inform the student about relevant HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) rules for laboratory/workshop/fieldwork. The student also has an independent responsibility to familiarise themselves with the rules and procedures for activities in which they will participate.
  • Consider, and if necessary guide the student in, research ethics issues.

  The obligations of the supervisor(s) cease upon the expiry of the FORSK contract.

• HSE and insurance - most important for practical work / field work domestic or abroad

  The student must familiarise themselves with an follow the rules and procedures for the learning activities/tasks they will participate in if the FORSK course involves the use of NMBU's facilities, instruments, and equipment. Both students and supervisors are obligated to follow NMBU's HSE regulations, please see the HSE guidelines.

  Health, safety and environment

  Students who perform practical work as part of the teaching are covered by the protective provisions of the Working Environment Act (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 18, and 19, except section 19-2). Students are then considered as employees.

  If the FORSK course involves laboratory or workshop activities, the student is required to familiarise themselves with and follow NMBU's guidelines and procedures for laboratory safety and work in workshops. Before starting, the student should be offered and participate in basic HSE training.

  If the FORSK course involves field work in Norway or abroad, the student and their supervisors are obligated to familiarise themselves with and follow the “Guidelines for health, safety, and the environment relating to field work, field courses, and excursions” .

  Insurance

  Since the activities included in a FORSK course may vary in nature, take place in a range of locations, and occur outside regular teaching periods/hours, all students are advised to familiarise themselves with insurance arrangements for students and to take out private insurance.

  All students conducting field work (domestic and abroad) are responsible for securing insurance coverage which can be used in the case of accidents in the period of field work, and for ensuring vaccination and visas (if necessary). Please see more information on insurance and vaccinations for field work in the guidelines.

• Processing of personal data

  Work that involves the collection, registration, processing, or storage of personal data must be handled in accordance with data protection regulations.

  If the project work includes the handling of personal data, the student is obliged to process personal data in the FORSK course correctly.

• What if results with commercial value are generated?

  How to identify results with commercial value?

  “Results with commercial value” in research projects refer to knowledge, inventions, or methods that have commercial potential and can be sold or exploited in a market.

  Although it is not very likely, both the student and the main supervisor should still be aware of the possibility that the project work may generate results with commercial value. If the student and/or main supervisor believe this might be the case, please feel free to contact Ard Innovation AS to discuss the matter.

  Reporting results with commercial value

  The student is expected to report any results that may have commercial value to Ard Innovation AS without delay and no later than 30 days before the planned public disclosure of the results.

  The main supervisor is obliged to report any results generated by the student that may have commercial value to Ard Innovation AS without delay and no later than 30 days before the planned public disclosure.

• Disclosure of information/results from the project

  No work or results from the project may be used, shared, or presented outside the research project without the explicit approval of the main supervisor.

• Some information about co-authorship and publication

  NMBU can never assume the student's ownership rights to traditional non-fiction works, created by the student alone or together with others. A bachelor's or master's thesis is considered a traditional non-fiction work. The FORSK course is not supposed to lead to a degree thesis, and is therefore not included in this context.

  Nevertheless, it is possible that the research activities the student participate in, in one or another way will be included in written material the main supervisor, and possibly others, wish to publish via popular science or scientific channels.

  If research work that is included in the FORSK course is considered for publication via popular science or scientific channels, the main supervisor has the main responsibility to ensure that:

  • Individual responsibilities are clarified as early as possible in the process and jointly among all involved.
  • Students (or staff) who have contributed significantly to the work are included as co-authors.

  The student should be aware that there is absolutely no automatic right to be included as a co-author in a manuscript for a scientific article even if the student has contributed somewhat to a research project. However, the student may request information and dialogue about the distribution of responsibilities and the topic of co-authorship!

  NMBU follows the Vancouver Convention guidelines for co-authorship, with four main criteria that must all be met for authorship to be legitimate:

  • the researcher must have contributed substantially to the idea and design or data collection or analysis of data; and
  • the researcher must have contributed to the preparation of the manuscript or critical revision of the intellectual content of the publication; and
  • the researcher must have approved the final version before publication; and
  • the researcher must be able to vouch for and be held responsible for the work in its entirety (although not necessarily all technical details) unless otherwise specified.

  Please also note the following important principles:

  1. Everyone who has made significant contributions to the project should be given the opportunity to participate in the further work leading up to publication.

  2. Researchers are responsible for ensuring the rights of co-authors when students, PhD candidates and younger researchers are involved, due to asymmetric power relationship.

  3. It is not sufficient to simply contribute with data collection, supervision or funding to be listed as a co-author. Other contributors should be credited or thanked in footnotes, a preface, or an endnote. All forms of so-called honorary authorship are unacceptable.

  Please find more information here about the rights, obligations, and dilemmas associated with co-authorship and publishing (text in Norwegian).