Program Overview

Program Description

The Professional Study in Psychology at UiT The Arctic University of Norway provides a comprehensive introduction to psychology as both an academic field and a profession. The program prepares students to work in a field that is undergoing significant changes and requires continuous updating of knowledge.

Admission Requirements

• General study competence or real competence
• Real competence applicants must document knowledge in mathematics, English, Norwegian, and natural sciences equivalent to the requirements included in general study competence.
• The application deadline for real competence applicants is March 1st.
• Number of study places: 58
• Point limits: Point limits for admission in the fall of 2025:
  • Ordinary quota: 65.6
  • First-degree quota: 56.2
• Quotas: Male applicants receive an additional point.
  • Northern Norway quota: 60% of study places, with two of these places reserved for applicants with Sami language competence.
• Police certificate: Applicants admitted to the professional study in psychology must present a police certificate at the start of the study.

What Will You Learn?

The program provides knowledge about psychology, including normal psychology and deviant development and behavior, research methods, communication, and relational competence.

Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes that candidates should have achieved after completing the education are regulated in the Regulations on national guidelines for psychological education. Some of the overarching and central learning outcomes for the professional study in psychology at UiT include:

Knowledge:

• The candidate has advanced theoretical, empirical, and applied knowledge within biological psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology.
• The candidate has advanced knowledge of how biological, psychological, social, socio-economic, cultural, community, and physical factors interact to impede and promote human health, education, work participation, and living conditions.
• The candidate has in-depth knowledge of risk and protective factors related to the development of mental disorders and how these factors operate throughout life.

Skills:

• The candidate can analyze and relate critically to contemporary psychological theories, discourses, and practices, and place them in a historical and scientific theoretical context.
• The candidate can, under guidance, plan, conduct, and present the results of an independent, limited research project in accordance with current research ethical guidelines.

Competence:

• The candidate can apply relevant research literature in theoretical, empirical, and practical contexts, and use their information and research competence to update themselves professionally.
• The candidate can communicate respectfully with regard to other people's integrity, dignity, and autonomy in their professional practice and adapt communication based on, among other things, situation, age, gender, and linguistic and cultural background.

Job Prospects

The career opportunities for newly graduated psychologists are good. The need for psychological competence is increasing in several fields, and future job opportunities are positive. Traditionally, psychologists have worked in mental health care with responsibility for assessment and treatment of patients with mental disorders.

Gradsnavn

Candidatus psychologiae (cand.psychol.)

Access to Further Studies

The study qualifies for admission to doctoral programs, including UiT's doctoral program in health sciences. You can also become a psychologist specialist in one or more fields. The Norwegian Psychological Association manages the specialist training in:

• Adult psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Psychological work with substance abuse and addiction problems
• Community psychology
• Geropsychology
• Family psychology
• Rehabilitation
• Child and adolescent psychology
• Psychology with psychotherapy
• Work psychology
• Organizational psychology

Specialist training takes five years.

Program Structure

The structure of the study includes various courses that can be taken in this program.

Study Plan

The study plan for the Professional Study in Psychology from the fall of 2025 includes a detailed outline of the courses and requirements for each semester.

Language of Instruction

The language of instruction is usually Norwegian, but most subjects will have elements of curriculum and/or instruction in English. Some subjects are offered entirely in English, with English titles and subject descriptions. Exams can be submitted in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language, or English.

Teaching and Assessment

The study program uses several different learning activities and teaching methods, depending on the subject's content and learning objectives. These include lectures, seminars, colloquium groups, skill training, and simulation, guidance, and digital teaching methods.

Practice

A central goal of the professional education in psychology is strong integration of practical psychological work. The education offers varied practice that provides experience with interaction with people of different ages and in different contexts.

Exchange

The Department of Psychology supports and facilitates student exchange and has agreements with several foreign universities. Due to practice and other conditions in the study course, it is usually the fifth and/or sixth semester that is suitable for exchange. Foreign studies must be approved by the department in advance, and applications are submitted to the international coordinator at the Department of Psychology.

Destinations for Studies Abroad

• Maastricht University, Netherlands
• University of Constance, Germany
• University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Utrecht University, Netherlands
• University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia