PhD students

PhD students

On this page you can read about:
Overview of the programmes
General study syllabus
Individual study plan
Entry requirements
Application
Annual follow-up 
Reporting activity level

Read more about:
Supervision
Mid-way seminars
Licentiate seminars
Doctoral thesis defence

Guidelines for third-cycle (doctoral) education

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. 

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.

Entry requirements

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

1. Meets the general and specific entry requirements that the higher education institution may have laid down, and
2. 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:

1. Has been awarded a Master’s qualification
2. Has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded at Master’s level, or
3. 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:

1. English level 6
2. 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 (the KUF). It is the prospective student who must complete the application with the support of the supervisor.

Apply for admission to research training

Admission routine:

1. The supervisors write the research plan that must be attached to the application.
2. The student is accepted with a preliminary individual study plan.
3. Once the PhD student has been accepted, the supervisor and the PhD student revise the project plan jointly.
4. The revised individual study plan is sent to the KUF via the e-form on the same website where the application was made.
5. When the admission decision has been expedited, a link for revision will be available ("Revise").
6. The revision must be made within 6 months of admission.
7. The individual study plan is then determined by the KUF.

The reason for this 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 (the 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 the 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 the KUF.

Meeting times in the disciplinary domain calendar

Annual follow-up

The individual study plan must be followed up annually and revised if necessary. The PhD student and the principal supervisor, in consultation with other supervisors and the examiner, conduct the annual follow-up.

The report from the annual follow-up must include how the work on the thesis and the implementation of theoretical elements in the programme are progressing in relation to the individual study plan. The documentation must be registered at the department.

Major changes to the plan must be reported to the KUF. Use a special form for changes concerning supervisors and examiners. If the research plan or the timetable for the thesis work changes significantly, the revision must be made in the electronic system. The Chair of the KUF decides on a new study plan after revision.

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 48.

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.

Please note if the audit link is not visible or the principal supervisor or Head of Department has changed since admission, it is not possible to audit the ISP via the system. In this case, use the form “Revision of Individual Study Plan (ISP)”.

Revise individual study plan

For PhD students who do not have a revised ISP with a clearly indicated activity, the activity in question can be shown in the ISP under the headings “Time plan for entire graduate programme” or possibly “Planned employment for entire project”.

Content owner: kuf@uadm.uu.se 12 juni 2023