Become a doctoral student
Here you will find all the information you need to apply for doctoral studies, and general information about what it means to be a doctoral student at the University of Gävle.
What is postgraduate education?
The program lasts either two or four years and leads to two different degrees: a licentiate degree (120 credits) and a doctoral degree (240 credits).
The program consists of courses and a thesis, as well as participation in seminars and presentation of your ongoing research, both internally and externally. You are also encouraged to participate in international contexts, for example by presenting your research at a conference. The final goal of the program is to complete and publicly defend your thesis at a public defense.
Here you can see the doctoral student's time, from admission to defense, in an overall process description docx, 31.3 kB.
The process is based on you being a full-time doctoral student. If you also teach or are a student/doctoral representative during your studies, you will have the corresponding time extended.
The time as a doctoral student
Doctoral students are admitted to a doctoral program with a general study plan (ASP). The ASP states what the doctoral student must achieve in order to finally be able to apply for a degree.
In order for the University to admit doctoral students, the University must be able to secure funding for the program. At the University, this is normally done through two types of funding: through doctoral employment or through collaboration with industry, municipality or region.
In addition, each doctoral student must have an individual study plan (ISP), in which the doctoral student, together with the supervisors, plans the period of study, in the form of courses and seminars, and research projects. The ISP is followed up annually by the doctoral student and the supervisors and is decided by the Academic Board. The general and individual study plans complement each other.
During the program, the doctoral student has at least two supervisors who guide the doctoral student through the program and the current research. One of these has the role of principal supervisor and the other(s) of assistant supervisor. A practice and a benchmark at the University is that the supervision comprises two hours/week, in total from all supervisors.
At the University, the doctoral student presents his/her ongoing studies and research projects at three quality assurance seminars (start, mid-term and final seminars). The last two are also review sessions where a specially appointed reviewer scrutinizes the work and provides feedback. The way these seminars are carried out may differ slightly depending on the final goal, the licentiate or doctoral degree.
Competence
In order to be admitted to doctoral studies, the candidate must meet the requirements for general entry requirements. In some cases, special entry requirements may also be set for a specific third-cycle subject. The requirements can be found in the general study plan for the subject.
General entry requirements for third-cycle education are those who, according to the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7, Section 39, have
- completed a second-cycle degree,
- completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at second-cycle level, or
- in some other way within or outside the country acquired essentially equivalent knowledge.
The university may grant an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant if there are special reasons.
Crediting
In some cases, it is possible to have previous courses and knowledge credited. The doctoral student must apply for credit transfer themselves. A credit transfer is a decision regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance. It means that one of the credit requirements in the general study plan is replaced by something done before admission to the doctoral program or by courses taken outside HiG.
More information about credit transfer at the University of Gävle can be found here
Student finance
At the University, doctoral students normally receive their study funding through two types of financing: through doctoral employment or through collaboration with industry, municipality or region. In addition, doctoral students can finance their education through scholarships. Rules for scholarships as a form of funding can be found in the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5. 4 § and 4a §.
Most doctoral students at HiG are employed by the University in connection with admission to doctoral studies. Initially, a doctoral student's employment is for one year and then the employment is extended for a maximum of two years at a time.
Doctoral students have the same rights as other employees at the University.
When a doctoral position is available, it is advertised under vacant positions
It is also possible to be admitted to doctoral studies as an externally funded doctoral student. The University of Gävle has a relatively large proportion of doctoral students who have their employment in industry, municipality or region. We call this a collaborative doctoral student or an industrial doctoral student, depending on which sector it concerns.
The doctoral student then conducts education within the framework of their position with their employer, which means that the employer must be able to ensure that you can devote a certain percentage of your position to conducting doctoral education.
In order to be admitted as a doctoral student, the employer and the University of Gävle must sign an agreement. Externally funded doctoral students also need to apply for doctoral education in the way and within the time specified by the university.
National Handbook for doctoral students
For more information on what it is like to be a doctoral student in Sweden, read more in the handbook of the Swedish Students' Union External link..
Laws, ordinances, regulations and internal rules
Doctoral education is regulated by laws and ordinances as well as the University's internal regulations and other rules. As a government authority, the University is obliged to comply with the provisions of the Higher Education Act and the Higher Education Ordinance.
The laws and regulations that govern doctoral education
The laws and regulations that govern doctoral education include
- Higher Education Act (1992:1434) External link.
- Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100) External link.
- Student Union Ordinance (2009:769) External link.
In addition, there are also local rules and internal support material, including
Kontaktpersoner
Vacant postgraduate positions
Vacant postgraduate positions are advertised on the University's job vacancies page. Vacancies may be advertised throughout the year.
Sidan uppdaterades 2025-12-03