Requirements for the title of Docent at the Faculty of Social Science

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TITLE OF DOCENT AT THE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES: SUMMARY

For those applying for docentship

1. Research expertise

To be granted the title of docent, you must have produced high-quality research equivalent in terms of quantity to at least an additional thesis over and above your doctoral thesis. A large quantity cannot compensate for low quality. The quality requirement also means that you need to exhibit increasing independence in your scholarly work over time, and that you have contributed to international scholarly discussion by publishing in international journals or with international publishers. The account of your scholarly activities should clarify how you consider that you meet the research expertise requirements.

2. You must be affiliated with the faculty by

• having defended a doctoral thesis in a social sciences research subject at Uppsala University or
• being employed at a social sciences department at Uppsala University or
• being engaged in long-lasting research collaboration with a social sciences department at Uppsala University.

3. You must show that you have sufficient teaching expertise. The requirements are:

• At least 400 hours of academic teaching work (including at least 100 group contact hours). The term ‘group contact hours’ here means lectures, lessons and seminars.
• A director of studies must certify the number of hours, the level and that the teaching has been of an acceptable quality.
• In addition, you must have taken a supervisor training course and have engaged in supervision (at least 200 hours) or the equivalent, and submit certification of this.[1]

4. Application for docentship

If you wish to be granted the title of docent, you should first raise the matter informally with the heads of research at the relevant department at Uppsala University. If these consultations result in the advice not to apply, experience shows that the most appropriate course of action is to postpone an application. Advice against applying, however, does not prevent application.

An application for docentship is made electronically via the University’s recruitment system.

Application procedure:

• Send an email to samfak@samfak.uu.se stating that you intend to apply to be granted the title of docent. In the email, state the research subject in which you wish to be granted the title of docent.
• Within a couple of working days, a link to the recruitment system will be sent to the email address you have given, with information about how long the link is valid. The link is personal and the application must be submitted via this link.

The application must contain:

1. A CV, including a list of scholarly publications.
2. A brief account of your scholarly activities (max 3 pages), explaining how you meet the requirements of:
   1. scope and quality
   2. independent scholarly progress
   3. international contributions
3. A selection of a maximum of 10 scholarly publications, including your doctoral thesis, that you adduce in support of your application.
4. Clarification of the division of responsibility for works of which the applicant is not sole author.[2]
5. Clarification of any overlaps between different works adduced.
6. A brief account of your teaching activities (max 1 page), explaining how you meet the established requirements.
7. A copy of your doctoral degree certificate.
8. A copy of a certificate from the director of studies (see above under the heading Teaching expertise).
9. Certificates of employment relevant to meeting the teaching expertise requirements.
10. Scholarly works adduced are to be submitted electronically via the recruitment system. Applicants should send scholarly works that are not available in digital form directly to the external expert when the applicant has been informed who has been appointed as external expert.

Information for the department concerned

When an application has been received, it will be forwarded to the department concerned, which is requested to propose an external expert by email to samfak@samfak.uu.se. The external expert must:

• be free of conflicts of interest;
• have a good knowledge of the qualifications required for the title of docent so as to be able to assess the applicant’s research expertise;
• be a professor at another higher education institution. An external expert from a non-Nordic country should only be engaged in exceptional cases;
• have accepted the role before the proposal is presented.

The proposal sent to the Docentship Committee must

• contain brief reasons for the proposal, including a statement that the proposed person is free of conflicts of interest;
• contain an account of the processing of the matter at the department.

The fact that the department makes a proposal means that the department’s assessment is that the applicant can be of use to research and education in the subject. This potential use could, for example, be that the docent can be engaged as a supervisor in doctoral education, as an external reviewer at the defence of a doctoral thesis or as a member of an examining committee at the defence of a doctoral thesis.

Information for the Docentship Committee

The Docentship Committee checks that the requirements of affiliation and teaching expertise are fulfilled and appoints an external expert. In general, the Docentship Committee’s decision on external expert is based on the proposal for external expert from the department concerned. Generally, the Docentship Committee only convenes during the semester.

When the external expert’s opinion has been received, the Docentship Committee takes a position on the applicant’s research expertise. In the event of doubt, a decision on the matter is postponed to enable additional information to be obtained. The head(s) of research at the department can also, if deemed appropriate, be given the right to attend and to speak at the meeting when the Committee discusses the matter concerned.

Since 1 January 2000, decisions on granting the title of docent have been taken by the Docentship Committee by delegation from the Faculty Board. When a decision to grant the title of docent has been taken, a certificate of docentship (in Swedish and English) is issued and sent to the applicant with an excerpt from the minutes and a copy of the external expert’s opinion. Information for the external expert

The external expert only assesses the applicant’s research expertise and is expected to make an independent evaluation of the works adduced. The opinion should be about 4 pages long (1,600 words) and conclude with a clear standpoint. The external expert is also encouraged to indicate potential for future development in the applicant’s scholarly activities.

The external expert must assess whether:

• the scope and substance of the scholarly production at the time of application is equivalent to at least a thesis in over and above the doctoral thesis. The different publishing traditions of the disciplines should be taken into account here;
• the works over and above the doctoral thesis are of good quality and have an originality that shows progression in both depth and breadth in terms of theory, empirical contribution and/or method;
• in general, publication in international peer-reviewed journals or with international publishers with peer-review procedures is expected;
• independence can be demonstrated by the ability of the applicant to formulate and solve research problems and by documenting a command of the subject area.

The opinion should be uploaded in the matter via the University’s recruitment system and sent by email as a PDF file to samfak@samfak.uu.se

[1] The requirement for supervisor training and experience of supervision applies to applications submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences from 31 August 2023 onwards.

[2] Applicants are strongly recommended to attach certificates clearly indicating the division of responsibility, signed by all authors. For a description of what qualifies as co-authorship, please refer to the Vancouver rules.