Previous PhD student of the month

October 2024: Sanna Mossberg

First up is Sanna Mossberg, a PhD student in family law.

Sanna has also included a gender perspective in her thesis. Does the neutral legislation hit women harder? How is the family and children viewed? Are there other family law values that get overshadowed in the application?

Another thing Sanna is happy about is the opportunity to include some Icelandic material in her study:

-One common argument for changing rules is Nordic legal equality. I've looked at situations where that argument is strong and Iceland is rarely included. There is no material in Swedish based on Icelandic law, but I have received help from Gunnar.

Gunnar Páll Baldvinsson, a doctoral student in tax law, has helped Sanna find and translate material from Iceland.

-It's definitely not a comparative study I'm doing, so it doesn't have to be exhaustive. But I'm happy to have Iceland included, even if in the end it may only be one or two pages in the thesis, and that Gunnar helped me. Any errors and shortcomings are my own...

Gunnar's generous contribution leads us to talk about the doctoral student community at Juridicum. Sanna emphasises how important she thinks it is to be at work, talking about her project, even with doctoral students outside her own subject.

-That's my best tip, to be active in the doctoral student community, even if you are not part of the doctoral student council. Go to seminars, talk to your doctoral colleagues. It's a lonely job, but it's also easy to make contact. Reach out to people, everyone wants to help!

The final work is intense for Sanna. She still struggles with a sense of uncertainty. We talk about how the feeling of insecurity often remains, but changes over time.

-In the beginning it was more: ‘Can I even handle this? Who am I to sit down with these texts? I don't know anything...'. Now I feel I know nothing at a higher level, and I know it will be a book!

We talk about how this is an experience shared by many PhD students and that you have to learn to live with the uncertainty. Everyone has imposter syndrome. You think you're alone in that feeling, but everyone feels the same way.

-The research successes,’ says Sanna, ‘when you've found something that's good - ride that wave. Even if it turns out later that it wasn't so good, you have gained energy from it.

Energy is my next question to Sanna. What does she do to get energy?

-Sometimes I've needed to take a day, a mental health day, and just do things that make me feel good and recharge. Otherwise nothing gets done. Going out in the woods with the dog, going for a walk and clearing my head.

The dog Plato (the smartest in the Mossberg family according to Sanna), has been vital. Both as a walking companion, but he also fulfils a function when he sleeps - then he emits a calm that is relaxing. The interest in animals and animal care remains and gives Sanna a reason to relax, and disconnect from property law and family law for a while.

On the way from the interview to a lecture, we continue talking and Sanna remembers one more thing that she thinks is important to try to keep in mind as a PhD student:

-It's an education! It will not, and does not have to, be the best thing you have ever written. You learn as you go along as a PhD student.

Thank you Sanna, for sharing your thoughts. I wish you all the best with the family and creditors, and the final push for the defence.

Fågelsången, 2024-09-16

Rebecca Söderström

November 2024: Francesco Pipicella

Francesco Pipicella, doctoral candidate in constitutional law, is presented in the November portrait.

Out of the master’s paper, Francesco formed an application for doctoral positions. It was hard, however, to find suitable positions to apply for.

- It seemed that my project had too much business for positions in human rights law, and too much human rights law for business law positions!

This cross-disciplinary perspective seems to engage Francesco very much, and we talk about how perfect it is for him to be part of the Department of Law as well as the Business Studies Department.

- When Martin (Berglund, former Director of Research) called me and let me know I got the joint research position in Uppsala I was super, super happy. I directly accepted, even though I was completely ignorant about Uppsala and actually had to check on the map where it was.

Last September, he arrived and started as a doctoral candidate in constitutional law. The work ahead is going to be finalized in a compilation thesis. Francesco has already worked on a first article which he aims to submit by the end of the year. He has also taken research courses, done some teaching and presented his research at an internal conference at Ekonomikum. A lot, it seems, in only one year. I ask him if he has not heard of the well-established principle among doctoral candidates of “warming up the chair” the first year.

- Well, I feel that I have had a lot of time thinking about the project, reading and interacting with people. I feel that it is now at the second year that I actually can start to work. I think you need that first year, though, even if you can’t present anything concrete. I am more relaxed now to talk about my topic.

Talking about talking… How has Uppsala and Sweden treated him, I wonder? Swedes are known for some things, and extensive talking to strangers is not one of them.

- Yeah, there is this stereotype in Italy about Swedes, but I have only experienced friendly people. May be sometimes people are a little shy, but once you start to talk everyone is nice and you also adapt to speaking English everywhere.

- I won the lottery. I really like Uppsala, I can see my future here. My dream would be to get a stable job in academia.

Thank you, Francesco, for sharing a coffee and your experiences from your first year in Uppsala. Best of luck for the years ahead!

Fågelsången, 2024-10-17

Rebecca Söderström

December 2024: Matilda Hopfgarten

- I can't think of a better job than being able to spend my days doing what I find most interesting.

We're talking about the two-year text and the mid-term seminar, where Matilda presented her text to researchers in public law at Juridicum, among others. Matilda thinks it went well to hand in her text and to present it.

- The mid-seminar was great fun! After sitting and writing for yourself for so long, it is a privilege to discuss the text with others and get comments. I took away many things and a positive feeling.

The two-year review is now complete and Matilda is happy with the situation she is in now, in the middle of her doctoral studies.

- Even though there is still a lot of work to do, it's nice to have reached a stage where I have a better idea of what I want to do with the project, and how my own research relates to previous and other ongoing research.

Regarding tips for doctoral students who are at the beginning of their doctoral studies, Matilda addresses the advice that is usually given to start writing early.

- Of course it is important to get started with writing, but I think it is also important to take time in the beginning to familiarise yourself with what it is like to work in the academic environment - to teach, to participate in seminars and courses, to read and think and let the project grow. And this includes seriously considering questions about what legal research is and how one's own views on such issues should be reflected in the project, which then also falls into place more and more when you start writing. I think it has been particularly valuable to discuss theory and method with doctoral students across subject boundaries. This is one of the reasons why the introductory course for doctoral students is so good, and also the general doctoral seminars that the doctoral students themselves organise.

Now it's back to writing for Matilda.

- Yes, I'm excited about writing the next chapter. Right now I have neither teaching nor courses, so I have to take the opportunity to produce text.

Thank you, Matilda, for the coffee break and good luck with the text production and the second half!

Fågelsången, 2024-11-15

Rebecca Söderström

January 2025: Karwan Osmani

Meet the doctoral candidates at the Law Faculty in a series of interviews. January's PhD student is Karwan Osmani.

Another difficulty may be economic and philosophical theories, which Karwan uses in his research. But a legal scholar cannot reasonably be expected to understand long harangues with formulas?

- You need to have an understanding of the theories, but you don't need to understand everything. It is important to have a distance, to delimit, to remove. In the demarcations, something happens!

Here we come to the importance of what you do not write. Removing things in the text, daring to cut. Then something happens in the presentation. Karwan goes on to talk about how he works with language. Language, and the humanistic side of law, has been his approach to the thesis project, not the technical legal analysis.

- ‘I like the “doing” and the writing. When you focus on the process and the craft, that's when it becomes enjoyable. I would rather read a text that is boring in content but brilliant in language than the other way round.

Karwan writes in English and I wonder if he feels a distance to the language.

- I think I am doing well with English. The non-fiction I use in my research is in English and I read a lot of fiction in English. I am showering in the language!

In the future, Karwan wants to continue in academia to write more books and teach, or he might consider working for a government agency.

- Or I will walk around town with a sign and talk to myself without anyone listening... That's my worst-case scenario, which I often feel is more likely than becoming a scientist who writes things that people want to read.

We have a good laugh at the thought of Karwan on the town, but the feeling is universal for many postgraduates. You oscillate between calm and... less calm. The loneliness of being a doctoral student can also be negative. Karwan emphasises the importance of creating a more constructive and inclusive culture within the academy, especially as doctoral students are often lonely in their specific subject. I ask about contacts in other faculties and we talk about how to build your own network as a PhD student. Karwan is in contact with political scientists who are working on the same type of issues as him, even if the starting points and methods differ.

The next step is to finalise the two-year text and then Karwan's two-year examination. Before the coffee is over, I ask what Karwan does in his spare time.

- I spend time with my lovely girlfriend. And I try to get away to swim a few times a week; it turns out that exercise helps you to let things go.

Thank you, Karwan, for a great chat and an insight into your life as a PhD student. Good luck with Waldron and Nozick and the years ahead!

Fågelsången, 2024-11-11

Rebecca Söderström

March 2025: Johan Hagelin

- I wanted to gain a broader perspective on the work I was doing and was starting to feel a bit weary of consultancy, so I decided to apply for the doctoral program in Uppsala. You could say the research topic found me, rather than the other way around, through my experiences working in Tokyo and Amsterdam. Transfer pricing is an international, underexplored, and incredibly dynamic area of research.

We discuss transfer pricing as a research topic, which involves how the profits and losses of multinational corporations are treated for tax purposes. For instance, where should profits be taxed when a company operates in multiple countries? This ties into a larger question of how tax bases should be allocated across countries, raising concerns about tax fairness, double taxation, and tax avoidance.

International transfer pricing guidelines, which have been in place for many years and are applied globally, are of significant importance. In my thesis, I examine the historical evolution of the interpretation of the standard that forms the foundation of these guidelines, as well as its resilience in the face of changing economic and societal conditions. One notable change is digitalisation. Nowadays, companies can provide services and goods entirely through digital means to markets in other countries, without having a physical presence there. The effect of digitalisation on the interpretation of the standard is one of the key research questions in my study.

Johan is midway through his doctoral studies and feels that time is passing quickly, especially since the birth of his daughter two years ago. Despite the busyness of family life, he values the flexibility to occasionally slow his work pace to stay in sync with his family’s needs. He also enjoys the opportunity to engage in various other projects, particularly within international networks. One such network, MIRAI, connects researchers from universities in Sweden and Japan, fostering conferences and collaborations on interdisciplinary projects related to sustainability and innovation. Another network, SKERIC, enables similar partnerships with Korean researchers. Additionally, Johan serves as a doctoral student representative on the University Board at Uppsala University and works as an editor for Svensk Skattetidning, a Swedish tax journal.

Our conversation shifts back to Japan and his international interests. I ask how he managed to return there, now with his family, as part of his doctoral program.

- I reached out to tax law professors at a few different universities. Having lived in Japan before probably helped, as I could include some typical greetings, but mostly it was a matter of cold calling, which eventually paid off. A very welcoming professor at Kobe University invited me to attend his seminars.

I ask if his international interest will lead him to go abroad after completing his doctorate.

- I’m happy to be based in Uppsala and to continue a career with an international focus. There are many ways to go abroad—taking a sabbatical at a foreign university, traveling, or inviting researchers here. That’s the kind of life I want to create, one where I can combine work, travel, and family.

Thank you, Johan, for a nice coffee and for sharing your international research trip with me. I wish you good luck with the rest of your doctoral programme!

Rebecca Söderström

Fågelsången, 21 February 2025

April 2025: Sara Hovi

We agree that the final sprint is probably an inaccurate view of the last phase when a thesis is about to be completed. Since it is a longer period of this ‘intensive work,’ it is not an option to shut yourself away, work 18 hours a day and not see family and friends, says Sara.

“But it’s actually also a fun period. So many concrete things happen in the text; you see it grow. It’s like Tetris: you move different parts of the text around and see how the whole thing improves. I feel that I have much greater control over the text than before; it doesn’t control me.”

We talk a lot about how your approach to the text and material changes during your time as a doctoral student. At the beginning, and during much of the thesis work, you don't know what to do with the material. A lot of text is produced in periods, but it is difficult to see the big picture. It is easy to be thrown off course when you discover new things or receive comments on your text from other researchers' perspectives. Once you have been working for a while, you can relate to different research paths and perspectives, and they can be more easily incorporated into your own understanding.

- Now I can make a note when I receive a comment on the text or find new leads. I might add it as a footnote or as a comment to myself, and then I continue writing based on my chosen boundaries and perspective. I feel that I can stay on course, even if it has turned out a little differently from what I had in mind at the beginning. Sometimes, a side track can become the main track. One challenge has definitely been that, as a researcher, you have to be open to other people's input, while at the same time forming your own opinion about the project.

Sara describes a map in her head; she knows where she is going. It is interesting to talk about her time as a doctoral student and the different phases. Sara believes it is important to accept that the focus varies from one period to another.

“It’s not the same thing for five years. There have to be different focuses during different periods.”

I ask Sara to look back on her early days as a doctoral student. What was it like when she started what is now almost a finished book?

I was fortunate; when I was accepted, there were four other doctoral students in tort law. It was truly a vibrant doctoral environment. In previous years, many doctoral students had been accepted in civil law in general. This has been very significant for me. Everyone has moments of doubt, and that's when the social and collegial aspects are so important, being able to talk to other researchers and move forward in your thinking and work. That's why I think it's good for doctoral students to have the opportunity to take courses fairly early on in their doctoral studies, in order to develop closer relationships with other doctoral students. Then you have someone with whom you dare to share your “unfinished” texts, for example.

Back to the ongoing final writing work. The long-distance race. Does Sara have any great tips?

Yes, I got a great tip from a colleague. Weekly schedule! I decided that I would spend a maximum of two weeks on each chapter, then I would have to move on regardless of whether I had finished as planned or not. When two weeks have passed, I note down what I haven't managed to do, but I move on to the next chapter. I think it can sometimes be good to adopt an arbitrary rule like that, a rule that you can't break, and use it to move forward. A few pages of text every day adds up to a lot of work, even if the pages need editing and more work later on.

Sara looks back on several positive experiences during her doctoral studies. After considerable administrative difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic, she and a fellow doctoral student managed to go on a rewarding five-month guest research visit to Harvard. She had a constructive final seminar last autumn, where some of the “ghosts” she had been carrying around with her regarding her thesis disappeared. And the doctoral environment she has been part of, where several doctoral students have become close friends.

After her defence, Sara hopes to continue researching, preferably as a postdoc in a larger project. Or work more editorially with other people's texts, even if such positions may not really exist at the moment. But Sara likes working with texts, enjoys stylistic work and has good experience of editorial work both at a journal and with an anthology.

Looking ahead, not only is a book nearing completion, but a baby is also expected this summer.

I'm working against the clock. It's tough, but also fun. I've reached the point where I realise and accept that I won't have time to do everything I had planned, but now it's just a matter of getting it done.

Thank you, Sara, for many thought-provoking reflections and good luck for the rest of the long-distance race!

Rebecca Söderström

Fågelsången 19 mars, 2025

August 2025: Svea Andersson

Svea explains her project and the (to me) completely unfamiliar legal issues in an incredibly clear and engaging way.

So it’s a matter of sustainability—a sustainable space environment. And that brings environmental law into the picture. But Svea believes that intergenerational justice is a more functional concept to start from, compared to, for example, sustainable development, which is charged in a different way. Are there rules, conventions, case law about space?, I wonder.

-There are five conventions that form the basis of international space legislation. In addition to the space-specific regulations, general public international law also applies. On top of that, there are voluntary, more detailed guidelines and codes of conduct.

I ask how she ended up in space law.

-Yes, that’s a good question. I’m not a space nerd at all! I don’t even like sci-fi… But it started with a ‘WHAT?!’ moment during an advanced course in international law—this field called space law exists, and it’s covered in just 1.5 pages in the textbook. Then I wrote my thesis on space law. I stayed on in Leiden, where I’d been on exchange. Leiden University has a space law center with an incredible library. And from there, the interest grew.

Space law is undeniably a niche field, and even though Svea doesn’t seem to be part of any space nerd clubs in her spare time, I wonder if there are any fellow space law PhD students in Sweden? Or researchers for that matter.

-There’s one person with a PhD in Lund, and two recently graduated Danish colleagues that I’ve been in close contact with—one in Copenhagen and one at the University of Southern Denmark. At our faculty, Katrin Nyman Metcalf defended a dissertation titled Activities in Space – Appropriation or Use? back in 1999. But otherwise, there aren’t many people specifically in space law—YET.

Orbits, space tech, extraterrestrial matters… Does Svea need to understand the technology behind it all, and space itself, in order to work in the field?

-What I need to understand is how human activity impacts the space environment, especially when behavior causes harm. I don’t need to understand everything about how space itself works or the technology. But of course, take for example a collision between two satellites—you need to understand how space debris can remain in orbit for decades and what consequences that might have.

Svea has about 1.5 years left until her defense. When she started her PhD position in the fall of 2020, the situation wasn’t exactly ideal.

-I spent that whole fall at home trying to ‘do some research’, kind of. It felt like a slow start and a wasted half-year, and I felt stressed about it. But I’ve tried not to cry over spilled milk—these things also take time.

Svea recently returned from parental leave and describes life right now as wonderful. Parenthood brings balance, efficiency in time planning, and breaks from writing.

-When I get home, I’m busy trying to stop my daughter from eating all the sand! That’s great for letting go of all thoughts and not ruminating 24/7. Things take the time they take now.

Svea also runs, preferably long-distance. After a good run, everything feels manageable and enjoyable again, she says. A lot gets solved while running.

Courses and teaching are now completed, and a writing period lies ahead. During good writing periods, when there’s flow, Svea feels she definitely wants to pursue a research career. On other days, those dreams aren’t as clear. But Svea believes she will continue researching space law in some way even after her PhD. And that makes her, perhaps, the best kind of space nerd, I think—dedicated to her field, and able to engage even a tired civil law scholar (yours truly) in the universe of space law.

Thank you for the chat, Svea, and good luck with the final part of your doctoral studies and your dissertation—I look forward to reading it!

Fågelsången, June 3, 2025
Rebecca Söderström

November 2025: Erik Grahn

-But I hope we manage to have a few meetings each year—it’s fun to meet in person, and it’s been a while since I was in the UK. British work culture is also interesting. I’ve already noticed some differences regarding workplace environment. There are many online courses you have to take—for example, about how to lift a box properly—but also courses on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

These values take us back to Erik’s dissertation. What conclusions has he drawn—are there any clear takeaways?

-The focus of my dissertation is on the performance of the employment contract. One of the more striking conclusions is that, in case law, employees tend to be more successful in freedom of expression cases than when they invoke freedom of religion. This probably has to do with the perception that freedom of expression plays a societal role and therefore carries more weight, whereas freedom of religion is seen more as a private matter.

Erik has also analyzed the argumentative styles of the Swedish Labour Court (AD) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), showing in his dissertation that the two bodies approach problems differently. The ECtHR starts from society’s interests and considers to what extent society can tolerate individual rights. The AD, by contrast, solves issues based on interpretations of the employment contract—focusing on how the contract can and should be fulfilled, also taking labor law regulations into account.

-I’ve also included an analysis of two actual conflicts between the European Convention and Swedish law that cannot be resolved through interpretation. That’s one contribution of the dissertation. Regarding the ECtHR’s rulings—which are often very long and sometimes quite dry—my dissertation adds value through close readings.

How does he feel about the upcoming defense?

-You get practice taking criticism throughout your PhD journey. The final seminar was a lot of fun, but there were many comments—it was a bit of a mixed bag. I felt encouraged by the reviewers; they had interesting viewpoints that I’ve tried to incorporate as much as possible. But I don’t agree with everything.

-One thing you always hear is: ‘Why didn’t you cover this?’ But you can’t cover everything. However, you do need to justify your choices—why you included some philosophers and not others, for instance.

We stay with the philosophers for a while. Choosing theoretical frameworks for a research project can be difficult—how do you navigate different scientific perspectives, methods, and approaches? It's easy for choices to appear as ideological positions.

-I’ve tried to prevent the dissertation from being perceived as taking a particular position, and I’ve consciously included both Marxist and conservative thinkers. I think it’s possible to avoid being boxed in. I haven’t included theorists who work on a meta level, because I don’t think they add much—they just create new categories and concepts, whereas my project is about the normative: how to weigh competing interests in different situations.

-I like that it’s normative—not just technical legal interpretation. I’ve allowed political theory to influence the work, and let things flow a bit.

We talk about the idea of research as a chain letter—that a dissertation doesn’t have to encapsulate everything, but is rather a puzzle piece in the larger body of knowledge, a link in the long scientific chain. Others build on your work, and you keep developing your ideas. Erik wants to continue doing exactly that.

-Right now, I definitely want to stay in research. I’m not tired of the subject, even though I’m very tired of the text. But it’s partly a matter of luck—whether positions are advertised. Micke (Mikael Hansson, Associate Professor of Civil Law and Erik’s principal supervisor) has encouraged me to apply for funding, so I’m working on that now.

Erik previously worked as a legal advisor at the student union at Stockholm University, then as a legal counsel at the Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film (formerly Teaterförbundet), and after that as a litigation lawyer for 7.5 years at LO-TCO Rättsskydd. The latter is a labor law firm owned by the unions, where Erik handled court cases, mostly representing plaintiffs. I ask if he misses litigation.

-Yes, I do miss oral hearings, the adrenaline rush, having to think on your feet, react to the opposing party, and act quickly. That job also meant traveling around Sweden and meeting all kinds of people—from sales managers in Helsingborg to security guards in Flen… I miss that, too. Now it’s just texts, books, and rulings—not as many human encounters in the same way.

It was actually during his time at LO-TCO that Erik seriously began considering academic research. Norstedts Juridik asked for a book on privacy protection in the workplace, and Erik and a colleague agreed to write it.

-I had been eyeing academia for several years, considering doctoral studies, but it wasn’t until I wrote the book that I felt I might actually be capable of writing a dissertation—and then I applied.

I ask Erik how he’s managed to make doctoral life work well.

-I have a family, and that takes a lot of time. But I think it’s good to have a family when you're a doctoral student—it forces you to set boundaries. You can’t work all evening. My daughter and I do karate together—that’s really fun. I also play music and enjoy video games in the evening when my brain is too tired for anything else.

Another tool Erik relies on during stressful periods is exercise.

-Lots of PhD students say this—exercise is important. I agree and train a lot. The more I have to do, the more I train!

Finally, I ask if Erik has any advice for those in the thick of their PhD journey, now that he’s nearing the end of his own.

-A good idea is to let the material guide you. Don’t just theorize without a solid grasp of the sources. It’s better to read sources and theorize at the same time. Read sources, write at the same time—then the structure of your dissertation starts to take shape. Don’t obsess over the perfect outline—just write. And set limits on how much you work.

With these wise words, I thank Erik for a pleasant conversation and promise to treat him to a fika in the future—maybe even a saffron bun at Fågelsången once the dissertation is defended.

Rebecca Söderström
Gula Rummet, September 30, 2025