Higher education institutions may only admit students to a doctoral program if they can be offered supervision, acceptable study conditions and have study funding. The institution is thus obliged to ensure that the doctoral student has the conditions to pursue their doctoral studies. Despite this, the doctoral student's conditions and opportunities are greatly affected by how the studies are financed, how the supervision works and what the individual study plan looks like.
Employment at the institution
The conditions for doctoral students employed by Swedish higher education institutions are regulated by the Higher Education Ordinance and the collective agreement Villkorsavtal-T
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As a general rule, employment as a doctoral student must be full-time, but may be at least half-time. The employment may consist of a maximum of four years of full-time studies over an eight-year period. However, the period of employment may be extended in the event of leave of absence due to illness, parental leave, leave for service in the armed forces or for positions of trust in trade unions and student organizations.
A person employed as a doctoral student shall primarily devote themselves to their own research education. However, the university has the right to request that a doctoral student work on so-called departmental duties up to 20 percent of full-time. According to practice, those who have departmental duties have their employment extended to a corresponding degree. Departmental employment can include work on other people's research, on administration or on teaching.
Salaries are determined by local collective agreements, which often apply a so-called doctoral ladder with tariff salaries linked to years of service. Salary from doctoral studies:
- is taxed as a salary and is the basis for employer contributions,
- is pensionable,
- is eligible for the social security system
- qualifies for earnings-related unemployment benefits, and
- entitles you to annual leave.
Funding from scholarships
If the doctoral studies are financed by scholarships, the doctoral student is considered as a student. The institution cannot therefore require the person to work on departmental duties or teaching. If teaching is considered a pedagogical element of the program, it can still be included in the doctoral student's individual study plan. In that case, it must be credit-bearing, supervisor-led and of limited scope.
For doctoral students admitted after July 1, 2018, the university is obliged to employ scholarship-funded doctoral students when three years remain of the education. Exceptions to the obligation to employ the doctoral student exist, however, for certain scholarships funded by aid and capacity building programs and for scholarships funded by the European Union.
Income in the form of scholarships:
- is not taxed and does not form the basis for employer contributions
- does not qualify for a pension (the pension is approximately 2.5% lower for each year of scholarship)
- do not give access to the social security system, which means that only a basic allowance is paid by the Social Security Agency in case of sickness or parental leave if the specific institution has not taken out a private insurance policy for the fellow
- does not qualify for income-related benefits from the unemployment insurance fund. However, the studies can be counted as skippable time in case you qualified for unemployment benefits through previous earnings, and
- does not entitle you to statutory holidays. Instead, leave can be taken by agreement between the doctoral student, the supervisor and the institution.
Industrial doctoral student in a private company
An industrial doctoral student is employed by an organization outside the academy and, within the framework of this employment, has the opportunity to undertake research training at a university or college. The industrial doctoral student's terms of employment are regulated with the employer, while the regulations of the Higher Education Ordinance are applied in the parts relating to doctoral education.
According to the collective agreement between Naturvetarna and Innovation and Chemical Employers (IKEM), it is possible to employ an admitted doctoral student at a company covered by the agreement to undertake doctoral studies. The employment is similar to an industrial doctoral student, with the difference that the doctoral student has the opportunity to perform tasks within the framework of their doctoral studies at the company.
Your doctoral studies
The university is responsible for appointing at least two supervisors for each doctoral student, one of whom is appointed as the main supervisor and one or more as assistant supervisors. The single most important factor for successful doctoral education is that the doctoral student receives sufficient supervision and that the cooperation between the doctoral student and the supervisors works well.
The doctoral student has the right to change supervisors at his/her own request, which may be necessary, for example, if the doctoral student's research has changed direction or if the cooperation is not working. The department is obliged to help find a suitable new supervisor.
Individual study plan
Each doctoral student must have an individual study plan. It is the responsibility of the institution to ensure that the doctoral student has a study plan, but it should be drawn up by the supervisor and the doctoral student.
The study plan must, among other things, describe the doctoral student's and the faculty board's respective commitments. This means that the study plan prescribes both rights and obligations for the doctoral student. It is therefore important that it is followed up regularly and that it is adjusted if the research has not been able to be conducted according to what is stated in the plan. This may be the case if, for example, the doctoral student has had to work more departmental duties than planned, has been ill or has been on parental leave.
If a doctoral student does not fulfill his or her commitments under the individual study plan, the university has the option of withdrawing the right to supervision and access to the university's premises. Such a decision is unusual and can only be taken by the Rector. Before a decision is made, the doctoral student and the supervisor have the right to be heard. The decision can be appealed to the Higher Education Appeals Board.
The withdrawal of resources for a doctoral student does not mean that the doctoral student is deregistered from the doctoral program. The doctoral student still has the right to present and defend his or her thesis, even though this may only be a theoretical possibility.
Postdoctoral fellow
After a successful thesis defense, there is the possibility of continued academic merit through a fixed-term postdoctoral position. Here, too, your conditions are affected by the funding of the position.
Employee within the academy
There is a special collective agreement that applies to people employed as postdocs. As a general rule, employment under the agreement is limited to a maximum of two years and must be applied for within three years of the doctoral thesis.
The postdoc must primarily devote himself/herself to research, which means that other tasks may amount to a maximum of 20 percent of working hours. It is common to combine employment under the postdoctoral agreement with a general fixed-term contract.
Employment in private companies
Companies bound by a collective agreement with the Employers' Association for Innovation and Chemistry have the option of employing a postdoctoral researcher on a fixed-term contract which, as a general rule, is limited to one year. The postdoctoral researcher then has the opportunity to perform tasks for merit as a researcher at this employer.
Funding with a scholarship
Postdoctoral work can also be financed by a grant. If the research is conducted at a foreign university, this is the main rule. However, Swedish universities and university colleges sometimes employ and send researchers to carry out a postdoctoral stay abroad, and postdocs are employed by foreign universities.
If the work is financed by grants, the postdoctoral researcher is not covered by the social security system, including the social insurance and pension system. The same rules as for doctoral students with scholarships apply here.
As for doctoral students, a postdoctoral fellowship counts as studies and can therefore constitute skippable time at Akademikernas a-kassa. However, it is worth noting that a maximum of five years can be skipped when determining the working conditions of the unemployment insurance fund. If you have previously worked as a grant-funded doctoral student, for example, there is a risk of exceeding the maximum limit.
Postdoc abroad
If you are planning to do a postdoc abroad, we recommend that you contact Försäkringskassan
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