Become a doctoral student
On this page you will find information about what is required to apply for a doctoral programme and general information about what being a doctoral student involves.
About third-cycle studies
Your time as a doctoral student at MDU can be portrayed roughly speaking in the process description that you can read here:
The process is based on you studying full-time. If you also teach or are a doctoral student representative, you are allowed to have the corresponding time extended.
What does doctoral (third-cycle) education entail?
Studies at the doctoral level are the highest in Sweden's education system and may lead to two different degrees: a Degree of Licentiate (120 higher education credits) and a Degree of Doctor (240 higher education credits).
A doctoral education consists of an educational component and a research component that runs parallel. The educational component consists of courses and the research component consists of a thesis project within the chosen research subject.
Doctoral education also includes participating in seminars and presenting your ongoing research, internally and externally. You are also encouraged to participate in international contexts, for example by participating in conferences and presenting your research. The final goal of the education is to complete and publicly defend a doctoral thesis or a licentiate thesis.
General information about your time as a doctoral student
All doctoral students are admitted to a general syllabus. The general syllabus contains the milestones of what you must achieve to finally apply for a degree. For example, it contains the number of credits you must study and in which areas the courses should be taken, read more here. External link.
All doctoral students must also have an individual study plan. Here you can plan your education and your research project, and it must be followed up annually by you and your supervisors and then be decided on by the University, read more here. External link. The general syllabus and the individual study plan complement one another. You can find your individual study plan in Ladok for students, please see here. External link.
As a doctoral student, you must have at least two supervisors who will guide you through your education and research. One of them has the role of principal supervisor. You are entitled to 100 hours of supervision a year during full-time study. Read more here
You must present your ongoing studies and research project in at least two review sessions (regarding a Degree of Doctor) known as sub-goals. These may be called different things (seminar or proposal) and the number of seminars/review sessions can be different depending on the third-cycle subject area. Ahead of the final year, there are some things to consider, read more here for a timeline and a checklist. External link.
Even if you receive a salary as a doctoral student, you will still undergo an education. This means that you are entitled to a Mecenat card. Doctoral students employed at MDU will get a salary according to the salary scale for doctoral students.
Third-cycle studies are the highest in Sweden's education system and can lead to two different degrees: a licentiate degree (120 credits) and a doctoral degree (240 credits).
A doctoral programme consists of an educational component and a research component that run in parallel. The educational component consists of courses and the research part consists of a thesis project on the chosen research subject.
Third-cycle studies also includes participating in seminars and presenting your ongoing research, both internally and externally. You are also encouraged to participate in international contexts, for example by attending conferences and presenting your research. The goal of the programme is to finalise and publicly defend a doctoral thesis or a licentiate thesis.
Qualifications for third-cycle studies
To be eligible for doctoral studies, you must meet the general entry requirements. There may also be specific entry requirements for a specific third-cycle subject. The requirements can be found in the general syllabus for the subject.
You meet the general entry requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if you have
- been awarded a second-cycle qualification,
- satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or
- acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.
The higher education institution may permit an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant, if there are special grounds.
Job opportunities
Vacancies leading to a doctoral studentship are advertised throughout the year.
Funding
In order for the university to be able to admit a doctoral student to a doctoral programme, the university must be able to secure the financing of the education. At Mälardalen University, this is mainly done through two types of funding - either through doctoral studentships or through collaboration with industry, municipalities or regions.
Doctoral studentship
The majority of doctoral students at Mälardalen University are employed by the university in connection with admission to doctoral education. A doctoral studentship is initially for one year and can be gradually extended by a maximum of two years at a time.
As a doctoral student, you are covered by the same rights as other employees at the University.
When a vacant doctoral studentship becomes available, it will be advertised on the Universiy's website for Job opportunities.
Externally funded doctoral student
It is also possible to be admitted to a doctoral programme as an externally funded doctoral student. Mälardalen University has a relatively large proportion of doctoral students who are employed in industry, municipalities or regions.
A doctoral student who is externally funded is employed by an employer other than Mälardalen University and conducts the studies within the framework of that employment. As a doctoral student, you will conduct your doctoral education at a rate of at least 50 per cent, which means that your employer must ensure that you can devote at least 50 per cent of your position to your doctoral education.
In order to be admitted as a doctoral student, your employer and Mälardalen University must sign an agreement.
Even as an externally funded doctoral student, you need to apply for doctoral studies in the manner and within the time specified by the university in the admission regulations for third cycle studies.
Third-cycle subjects
At Mälardaken University, doctoral education is conducted in 14 third-cycle subjects. The third-cycle subjects are distributed among the University's four Schools.
Here you can read more about the university's doctoral subjects
Here you can read more about doctoral education at each School.
Residence permit
Doctoral students who come from a third country need to apply for a residence permit in order to be able to conduct third-cycle studies in Sweden. This gives you the right to live and work in Sweden.
You first need to be admitted to a doctoral programme in order to apply for a residence permit. The application is made to the Swedish Migration Agency.
Support for your research
As a doctoral student at Mälardalen University, you have the opportunity to receive support from various parts of the University´s Administration and Service Division. For example, you can get support from:
University Library
The University Library offers doctoral students seminars and credit-bearing courses that support the acquisition of knowledge and skills in, for example, information retrieval, database management, selecting journals, creating data management plans, etc.
It is also the University Library that supports doctoral students in the preparation of their doctoral thesis for printing, and publication.
The Division for Research, Collaboration and Innovation Support
The Division for Research, Collaboration and Innovation Support works university-wide offering advice on research, research funding, collaboration, application, and idea and business development.
The Division provides support in
- Applications for external research funding.
- Collaboration with industry and the public sector.
- Dissemination of research results.
- Commercialisation and business start-up.
Higher Education Teaching and Learning
Mälardalen University strive to develop Higher Education Teaching and Learning at an operational level and help teachers and students to develop their skills and to create meeting places to promote the development of learning environments in collaboration with others.
The Division of Communications
Mälardalens Univeristy's research leads to necessary knowledge and development to solve problems in society. We need to highlight this, and you as a doctoral student and researcher are the real expert and the person who is best suited to talk and explain about your project.
The Division of Communications can support you as a doctoral student together with the Division of Research, Collaboration and Innovation Support to both disseminate and communicate your results and what you are researching.
National handbook for Doctoral Studies
Here you can read more about what it's like to be a doctoral student from the Swedish National Doctoral Student Union. The handbook is in English.
Laws, rules and ordinances
Third-cycle studies are regulated by laws, rules and ordinances. This means that the University is obliged, as a public authority, to comply with what has been decided in the Higher Education Act and the Higher Education Ordinance.
The laws and ordinances that govern all doctoral education are:
- Higher Education Act (1992:1434)
- Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100)
In addition to these, there are also specific rules at Mälardalen University:
- Admission regulations for third-cycle studies
- Regulations and guidelines for third-cycle studies
- University-wide administrative procedures
- School or subject-specific guidelines