About
This is a guide for those who are pursuing a doctoral degree in Sweden, as well as for those who are considering such a degree. If you are pursuing, or considering, a Licentiate rather than a doctoral degree, this guide also addresses you.
If you are not enrolled at a Swedish university, but here as a visiting doctoral student, your conditions may be significantly different , and we recommend that you reach out to the support structures at both your home and your host university for advice and information.
There are three parts to this website: a section about the admission process, a practical handbook which contains tips and tricks for doctoral students (with a lot of information that is particularly useful if you are new to Sweden), and an overview of the legislation relevant for doctoral students enrolled at a Swedish university.
The section about the admission process describes admission to doctoral studies at Swedish universities and university colleges. Fundamental concepts about doctoral education in Sweden are also described here, such as the distinction between enrollment, financing, and resources. If you are considering pursuing a doctoral education within the Swedish higher education system, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with this process.
The handbook part contains practical information, both about the doctoral degree as a research education, (covering topics such as supervision, the Individual Study Plan (ISP), courses etc.), and about practical aspects of life as a doctoral student, (covering topics such as health insurance, moving to Sweden etc).
The overview of rules and legislation summarizes some of the legislation relevant to doctoral students in Sweden, and some of the most important rights you have as a doctoral student enrolled at a Swedish university.
This website is intended for all doctoral students enrolled in Sweden, and as such much of the practical information is very general. For more specific information about your conditions, you can ask the HR department at your university, your student union, the Ombudperson for doctoral students at your university, or your trade union. If you have questions about your education, you should as a general rule contact the student union. For questions about working conditions, you should as a general rule contact HR or your trade union. If you are not sure if something pertains to education or work, you should contact both the student union and the trade union. The Ombudperson for doctoral students deals in general with supporting and guiding doctoral students who feel that the University or the university’s officials have acted in violation of their rights, while the HR department can help with navigating practical problems and questions. If you are uncertain whom to ask for help or information you should reach out to any part of this support network and ask to be redirected in the appropriate direction.
This webpage is entirely in English, however it can be useful to know the Swedish equivalent of a certain word. For this reason we have included the Swedish equivalent of the most important English terms, directly following the term in brackets in italics. But for a more comprehensive list we refer to the following resource from the Swedish Council of Higher Education, a Swedish-English dictionary of academic terms: