What does doctoral studies mean?

According to the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 1, Section 4, a doctoral student is "en student som är antagen till och bedriver utbildning på forskarnivå”.

This means that a doctoral student is first and foremost a student who should primarily devote himself or herself to his or her own education, and a certain degree of activity is required in order to be considered as "conducting" doctoral studies. This activity must be reported each semester by the department in the study documentation system Uppdok.

Individual study plan

An individual study plan shall be drawn up for each doctoral student. The plan shall include the university's and the doctoral student's commitments and a timetable for the doctoral student's education. The plan shall be established by the head of department, after consultation with the doctoral student and his/her supervisor.

Guidelines for Doctoral Studies at Uppsala University

The net period of study for a doctoral degree shall be a maximum of four years and for a licentiate degree a maximum of two years. The autumn semester covers the period July-December and the spring semester the period January-June. If you study full-time, this means an activity level of 100 per cent, which corresponds to an average of 40 hours per week during a calendar half-year.

Working and employment conditions

Working and employment conditions for doctoral students.

The activity of doctoral students

The degree of activity can vary over time for various reasons, but it is important that the doctoral student knows what is being reported, as the degree of activity forms the basis for the assessment of certain working and employment conditions. One example is the right to use the occupational health service. The reporting of activity applies to all doctoral students regardless of the form of funding.

Forms of funding

Doctoral students may have different forms of funding for their education. In the same way as for activities, the department must report in Uppdok what form of funding each doctoral student has. This should be done every semester.

Doctoral student employment - the total period of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to doctoral level education, full-time for four years. An employed doctoral student has the same conditions as other professional groups at the university and is also covered by local collective agreements, such as the pay scale for doctoral students.

Scholarships - are not employment and a scholarship holder is not covered by the university's terms of employment.

Faculty work

It is common for doctoral students to be offered some form of faculty duties, such as administration or teaching, alongside their doctoral programme. Employed doctoral students may only perform faculty duties corresponding to 20 per cent of a full-time position. If a doctoral student also has faculty duties, the net study time shall be extended accordingly.