Structure and Credit Framework

 
The Svartárkot Centre offers courses intended mainly for graduates, although undergraduates may be admitted at the discretion of the course supervisor concerned.

Each course is evaluated at 10 ECTS credits, which means that a student will typically spend 250-300 hours on academic work. In the case of undergraduates, they are themselves responsible for ensuring that their course is evaluated at this level by their university or college.

Stucture

Unless otherwise indicated, basic course structure is as below.

(A) Communication between students and supervisors commences one month before the beginning of the location session, during which time students will read and work on a short assignment. Student work during this time should be equivalent to about 2-3 weeks (80-120 hours).

(B) The dates given for each course refer to the Location Session, which lasts for 9 days on location in Iceland. This is an intensive work period where students are expected to put in the equivalent of about 80 hours of work which is typically divided as follows.

1) Lectures: 27 hours
2) Discussions: 13 hours
3) Field-trips: 20 hours
4) Student work: 20 hours

(C) After returning home students will spend about 2-3 weeks (80-120 hours) on preparing a term paper.

Grading

The final grade is normally made up of three elements.

20%: Assignment handed in at the beginning of the location session.
20%: Student performance during the location session according to supervisor’s evaluation.
60%: Student term paper.

The final grade is given in whole numbers on a scale of 0-10 in which the minimum grade required to pass is 5.

Courses are supervised by the Reykjavik Academy and accredited by the University of Akureyri or another established academic institution.