PhD students
Guidelines for third-cycle (doctoral) education
Read more here:
Supervision
Mid-way seminar
Licentiate seminar
Doctoral thesis defence
On this page you can read about:
Overview of the programmes
General study syllabus
Individual study plan
Annual follow-up
Reporting activity level
Admission
Application
Overview of the programmes
General study syllabus
For each subject in which doctoral-level education is offered, a general study syllabus is required. A general study syllabus should indicate the following: the main content of the study programme, specific entry requirements and any other regulations required.
General study syllabus – Pharmaceutical Sciences
General study syllabus – Medical Sciences
Individual study plan
An individual study plan is to be drawn up for each PhD student. This plan should contain the undertakings made by the PhD student and the higher education institution and a timetable for the PhD student’s study programme. The plan should be adopted after consultation with the PhD student and his or her supervisors. The individual study plan should be reviewed regularly and amended by the higher education institution to the extent required after consultation with the PhD student and his or her supervisors.
At Uppsala University, individual study plans should contain information regarding
- intended degree;
- timetable for the PhD student’s programme;
- funding plan for the entire period of the programme;
- planned courses, teaching, basic training in teaching and learning and/or other departmental work;
- organisation of supervision; and
- special conditions applicable to the studies.
Since 2021-01-01 there is a new routine at admission regarding the individual study plan. Read more under Application.
Annual follow-up
The individual study plan should be followed up annually and revised where necessary. The annual follow-up is conducted by the PhD student and principal supervisor in consultation with other supervisors and examiners.
The report produced by the annual follow-up should detail how the work on the thesis and implementation of theoretical aspects of the programme are progressing in relation to the individual study plan.
If major changes are made to the plan, these should be reported to the Research Training Committee (KUF) on a special form. Such changes could include a change in supervisor, addition or removal of a supervisor, significant alterations to a research plan or significant changes to the thesis timetable. Decisions about a new study plan following a revision are taken by the Chair of the KUF.
Reporting activity level
PhD student activity must be reported in Ladok every calendar half-year.
A statement of current and planned activity must be included in the Individual Study Plan (ISP). This is done by including a timetable with a statement of activity in the research plan that is part of the ISP.
It is the responsibility of the principal supervisor to ensure that the ISP is up to date, but only the PhD student can revise their ISP in the system. The principal supervisor and the Head of Department (or a person appointed by the Head of Department) then approve the revision.
The departments’ postgraduate administration reports activity in Ladok based on the activity indicated in the ISP. If the activity changes, the ISP must be revised.
The revision is done in the electronic ISP system. The planned activity should be indicated as a percentage for each calendar half-year. The design of the timetable can be done in different ways according to the procedures of each department. It is essential that the current activity for the given calendar half-year, and the planned activity, can be easily identified.
Here is an example of how this might look. Note that the sum of the number of net months of postgraduate study in the plan should always be at least 48.
| Starting date: 1 February 2023 | |||
| Year 1, first half of 2023 | 5 months | 80% | 4 net months |
| Year 1, second half of 2023 | 6 months | 80% | 4.8 net months |
| Year 2, first half of 2024 | 6 months | 50% | 3 net months |
| ... | |||
| Year 5, first half of 2028 | 1 month | 100% | 1 net month |
| End date: 31 January 2028 | |||
| 48 net months |
To access the revision function, go to the start page of the electronic ISP, where you will find the PhD student’s ISP under the heading "Your issues".
There are three links next to the ISP:
- View
- Download
- Revise or Edit
Click on “Revise” or “Edit” to open the revision function. You can then upload a new research plan containing the current activity level percentage.
Note. If the audit link is not visible or if the principal supervisor or Head of Department has changed since admission, it is not possible to audit the ISP via the system. Please use the form “Revision of Individual Study Plan” on Forms and Templates.
For all PhD students who do not have a revised ISP with a clearly indicated activity level, the current activity level can be shown in the ISP under the headings “Time plan for entire graduate programme” and possibly “Planned employment for entire project”.
Admission
Admission and entry requirements for a PhD student are principally regulated by the Higher Education Ordinance.
The requirements for admission to doctoral-level education are that the applicant
- Meets the general and specific entry requirements that the higher education institution may have laid down, and
- Is considered in other respects to have the ability required to benefit from the study programme
A person meets the general entry requirements for doctoral-level education if he or she:
- Has been awarded a Master’s qualification
- Has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded at Master’s level, or
- Has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad
The specific entry requirements for doctoral education in medical sciences and pharmaceutical sciences within the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy are:
- English level 6
- Courses in areas relevant to the subject
Application
Applications for admission to research training are sent via an electronic form to the Research Training Committee (KUF). The e-form is available on the website for forms. It is the prospective student who must complete the application with the support of the supervisor.
From January 2021, a new routine applies for admission:
- The supervisors write the research plan that must be attached to the application.
- The student is accepted with a preliminary individual study plan.
- Once the PhD student has been accepted, the supervisor and the PhD student revise the project plan jointly.
- The revised individual study plan is sent to KUF via the e-form on the same website where the application was made.
- When the admission decision has been expedited, a link for revision will be available ("Revise").
- The revision must be made within 6 months of admission.
- The individual study plan is then determined by KUF.
The reason for the new routine is that the prospective student is not allowed to be involved in the research, and therefore neither in writing the research plan, until after admission.
For the application to be processed in the Research Training Committee, the form must be filled out correctly. The form also forms the basis of the individual study plan. In addition to the information that must be included in the individual study plan, the application must also include information on:
- Reference to the advertising of the research training position
- Supporting statement, if the position has not been advertised
- Evidence of qualifiaciton
- Research plan
- Testimonial from employer/head of operations if the programme is being undertaken within the framework of employment outside the university
The application must be received by the Research Training Committee (KUF) 12 days before their meeting. The department meetings are adjusted to the KUF meetings. Therefore, check the meeting dates on the department’s website to make sure that the application arrives on time.
- Dates for KUF’s meetings can be found in the disciplinary domain calendar, under ”områdesgemensamma nämnder och kommittéer”.
- Please note that each department has its own research training group (FUG) that reviews all PhD applications before they are submitted to KUF.