Last open call: 12 PhD student projects in WIFORCE Research School

Background

Sweden is a country where forests have been and still are of great importance. The use and utilization of the forest is an issue where the balance between forest production and the environment is in focus. Biodiversity and the role of forests in climate change are now key social issues that require more knowledge. In order to both sustainably use and safeguard forest biodiversity, a coherent basic science research program is needed that addresses large and complex issues and develops new analytical tools. It is against this background and in line with SLU:s investment in Future Sustainable Forest Management that the WIFORCE Research School was established with a focus on the future sustainable use of forests. The WIFORCE Research School is part of the Wallenberg Initiatives in Forest Research (WIFORCE) at SLU and will be coordinated and integrated appropriately within SLU with the Research School SILVA at the Faculty of Forestry.

Unique opportunities for PhD students

The Research School aims to provide doctoral students with the necessary basic scientific knowledge to be able to analyze, develop and actively contribute to research on the future sustainable use of forests.

The Research School includes both university-based and industry and collaboration-based doctoral students funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, as well as the opportunity for other doctoral students to participate in courses and activities without having direct funding from the program. Through teaching by leading researchers in each field, the doctoral students get both a solid scientific foundation and cutting-edge knowledge. The Research School also aims to familiarize doctoral students with Swedish forestry and form a strong, professional and international network in both academia and industry.

A strong professional network

The WIFORCE Research School creates opportunities for doctoral students to achieve international research excellence with forestry relevance. Through a purposeful education program with adapted courses, international exchanges and study visits to Swedish companies, a strong transdisciplinary and international professional network of doctoral students, senior researchers and representatives from the forestry arena is formed. SLU and the programs within WIFORCE continuously organize various events with representatives from academia and society, which provides further opportunities for networking.

Eligible doctoral projects

In this call, up to 12 PhD student projects for PhD students with employment at SLU can be granted. For each PhD project the Research School finances the doctoral student´s salary costs (salary & 52.5% LKP & 25% surcharge indirect cost/facility cost) for 48 months according to the SLU doctoral student salary agreement. Each PhD project also includes 250 000 SEK in running costs. The department is responsible for part of the project’s co-financing, how much depends on the Vice-Chancellors’s decision on tripart co-financing.

Scientific definition

Doctoral projects can be applied for basic natural science projects where the links to abiotic and biotic limitations, conditions and consequences of forest management in Sweden's forests are investigated.

- The main applicant must be employed at the Faculty of Forestry and

• be eligible to be Main supervisor to a PhD student or
• apply without being a docent and 1) already have applied to become a docent or 2) intend to apply to become a docent no later than September 2026 (see instructions below)

- The application will be assessed based on:

• The originality and scientific quality of the project
• The supervisor’s basic scientific competence
• Competence and suitability of the supervisor for the supervisory task
• The feasibility of the project
• The project's relevance to the goals of the Research School

- Applicants may only be the main applicant on one application

- The main applicant may not have previously been granted a WIFORCE project for a PhD student employed at SLU

- The application must be electronically signed in Edusign by the head of the main applicant's department

- Incomplete applications will not be assessed

- Received applications will be evaluated and prioritized and awarded by the steering group based on a predetermined grading template, see section 6 below

The application should be written in English to allow for external review and should include: 

- Project description (maximum five A4 pages excluding references, 11 font Times New Roman):

• Scientific justification and objectives of the project
• Methodology
• Preliminary and previous results relevant to the doctoral project
• Justification of the suitability of the project for doctoral studies

-  Justification of the relevance of the proposed project to the field of future sustainable use of forests and safeguarding of forest biodiversity (max 1 A4 page)

- CV of Main Applicant, maximum three A4 pages:

• Name, position, academic title and department
• Docent, date (when applicable)
• PhD year
• List of ongoing projects and research grants
• List of doctoral students for whom you are and have been the main supervisor
• Current composition of the research team

- Declaration to apply without being a docent (when applicable):

• Date for when an application to become a docent was submitted or is intended to be submitted (no later than September 2026)
• List of pedagogical courses: completed, in progress & planned
• List of all of your publications (you may extend the publication list below)
• Name of Main supervisor until the Main Applicant becomes a docent and a change in the supervisor group may be made

- List of publications from the main applicant from the last 10 years including highlighting the five most important publications (since 2015).

• Link to the Google Scholar profile

- Create a pdf file of the entire application

- The application must be signed digitally in Edusign by the head of the main applicant's department

- Incomplete applications will not be assessed

Assessment criteria

Grading scale for assessment of:

Main applicant's basic scientific competence:

4 = Conducting excellent, internationally recognized research.
3 = Conducting very good internationally competitive research
2 = Conducting good nationally competitive research
1 = The scientific quality of the supervisor's research is insufficient

Competence and suitability of the main applicant for the supervisory task:

4 = Excellent competence for the supervisory task
3 = High competence for the supervisory task
2 = Good competence for the supervisory task
1 = Insufficient competence for the supervisory task

Feasibility of the project: Assessment of the feasibility of the doctoral project based on methodology and the main applicant's method/technical competence.

4 = Very high
3 = High
2 = Doubtful
1 = Unlikely

The originality and scientific quality of the doctoral project:

4 = Very high
3 = High
2 = Sufficient
1 = Insufficient

The relevance of the doctoral project to the goals of the graduate school (basic scientific knowledge to be able to analyze, develop and actively contribute to research on the future sustainable use of forests):

4 = Very relevant
3 = Relevant
2 = Less relevant
1 = No relevance

Applications should be submitted electronically to SLU via the following e-mail address Registrator-sfak@slu.se. Mark your e-mail and your application with the current diary number "SLU.sfak.2025.1.1-272".

Apply no later than September 23, 2025.

Programme Manager Hjalmar Laudon hjalmar.laudon@slu.se

Co-Programme Manager Ove Nilsson ove.nilsson@slu.se

Coordinator & Director of Studies Maria Israelsson Nordström maria.nordstrom@slu.se