Recruitment and admission

Routines for application and admission for doctoral education are presented below. The most common form of support for doctoral students is doctoral studentship (employment as doctoral student) and bullets 7-8 below describes how a proposal for employment to a doctoral position is handled. For a more detailed description of the admission process, please have a look at the admission regulation for doctoral students. 

Here you can download a pdf print version of this information.

Here you will find an overview of the admission process for doctoral students to an advertised position, and to a position that has NOT been advertised.

N.B. Doctoral students admitted after July 1, 2018, and whose student grants consist of scholarships, shall be employed as a doctoral student after one year of study. Exemptions are granted for scholarship funding in aid or capacity building programs, where scholarships constitute the approved funding form, or EU program or equivalent where scholarships constitute a recognized form of financing and employment requirements are an obstacle to the university's participation. A guide to use when assessing whether an exception can be approved is under development.

Procedure for admission of doctoral students

1. The department advertises the doctoral education place in ReachMee. If the doctoral student will be financed in other ways than an employment at SLU Eva Borgert at the HR division can help with adding the place in ReachMee (for example doctoral students that are employed at an external company). Applicants fill out a form that i.e. contains personal information and a personal description to why she/he wants to be a doctoral student.

2. The department chooses top candidate/s using the applications in ReachMee, and the top candidate/s  is/are being interviewed. If the education place is supported by other means that via doctoral studentship there is normally just one candidate.  N.B.! If the top candidate don't have a Swedish degree he/she should be encouraged to bring certified copies of the following documents when she/he arrives for the interview:

• Certificates and diplomas from previous studies at an internationally recognized higher education institution (university or university college) as well as transcripts of completed courses and grades for each semester
• Proof that the candidate meets the requirement of English 6*
• If the applicant is a foreign citizen, we require a copy of the page in your passport with your personal data and photograph
            

*For admission after July 1 2018, the following is needed to meet the English B/6 requirements:

Applicants with 60 higher education (HE) credits from a course/programme where the language of instruction of the course was English, from an EU/EEA country/Switzerland or English-speaking country.

3a. If the top candidate have a Swedish degree, please send the applicant's name, perosnla ID-number and project-ID in ReachMee to the Division of Educatoinal Affairs.

3b. If the top candidate don't have a Swedish degree, please send his/hers’ certified copies mentioned in point 2 are sent from
the department in paper form to the Division of Educational Affairs. Please also mention the specific project ID in ReachMee and a contact person at the department. Please note that all first contact with the Div. of Educational Affairs should be taken by the department contact person/prospective supervisor.

The documents are sent to:

Division of Educational Affairs
Box 7010
750 07 Uppsala

Mark the envelope “Doctoral applications for evaluation”. 

4. The Div. of Educational Affairs performs the evaluation of authenticity of degree certificates and language certificates and checks the eligibility of the top candidate/s as a part of the quality assurance of admission of doctoral students. After the evaluation, the Div. of Educational Affairs returns the evaluation to the contact person at the department by regular post.

5. The department sends a recommendation on admission including copies of attachments, to the faculty board.

N.B.: The doctoral student can't apply for residence permit before the the faculty board has decided to admit him/her. Please see Criteria for residence permit - Swedish Migration Agency

6. The faculty reviews the application and make a decision on admission. The decision is sent out to e.g. the doctoral student and supervisors.  

Bullets 7-8 only applies to doctoral students who are supported via doctoral studentship (employment as doctoral student) at SLU.

7. In order to prepare a proposal for employment to a doctoral position, the Division of Human Resources needs the following:

• a proposal for employment;
• the certified copies from the top candidate;
• assessment of qualifications for candidates;
• comment on choice of candidate;
• economic information about the employment (konteringsuppgifter). 

8. The division of Human Resources negotiates with the unions, make a decision on employment and sends out an announcement.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

1. The position has not been advertised – is an SLU ID-number still needed?

Yes! All applications need an SLU ID-number. If the position hasn’t been advertised there are two different ways to get an SLU ID-number:

A. Supervisors at NJ- and VH- faculties will be given a SLU ID-number upon request by the respective education officer at each faculty office.

B. Supervisors at LTV- and S-faculties will get a SLU ID-number for the admission by contacting the Registry Office in Alnarp or Umeå, respectively.

2. Why do the Division of Educational Affairs need certified copies?

According to SLU’s Admission Regulations for doctoral education the Division of Educational Affairs should verify the authenticity of the degree diploma and the language certificate.

To do so, the Division of Educational Affairs needs to be able to certify that no changes have been made between an original document and the copy of which the assessment is made.

3. Will digital copies be accepted?

No. A digital copy of a certified copy or an original will not be accepted. The Division of Educational Affairs cannot certify the authenticity of a digital copy since there is no way of telling if any changes have been made from the original documents.

All positions that must be advertised according to HEO Chapter 7 Section 37 must be advertised for at least three weeks at www.slu.se. This duty to advertise applies regardless of the source of funding.

According to the Higher Education Ordinance (HEO):
"Chapter 7 Section 37

Decisions relating to admissions are made by the higher education institution. A person who wishes to be admitted to a third-cycle course or study programme shall apply within the time prescribed and in compliance with the procedures laid down by the higher education institution. When a higher education institution intends to admit one or several third-cycle students, information shall be provided by the higher education institution through advertising or some equivalent method. Information need not, however, be provided:

1. about the admission of a third-cycle student who is to complete the course or study programme within the framework of employment by an employer other than the higher education institution,
2. about the admission of a third-cycle student who has previously begun thirdcycle studies at another higher education institution, or
3. if there are similar special grounds."

As long as the recruitment has been open to competition, the following special grounds can allow for exemptions from the duty to advertise at www.slu.se:

• there is a changeover from studies for a degree of licentiate to studies for a degree of doctor before the licentiate degree has been awarded;
• the applicant is recruited by a university partner as part of contractual collaboration on education;
• the applicant is recruited within the framework of an o aid and capacity-building programme or o an EU-funded programme
• the applicant has been awarded a personal scholarship.

Special conditions in research contracts can also allow for exemptions from the duty to advertise at www.slu.se.

A person meets the general entry requirements for third level education if he or she has completed a second level qualification (Master's degree) or has completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, including at least 60 higher education credits at secondary level.

Upper secondary school grades equivalent to English B/English 6 are a basic requirement. Applicants who do not have a Swedish school-leaving certificate from an upper secondary school must have an internationally approved language test certificate corresponding to English 6 (TOEFL, IELTS or Cambridge ESOL) in accordance withwww.universityadmissions.se/en/All-you-need-toknow1/Applying-for-studies/English-requirements/Internationally-recognizedEnglish-test/. Exemptions from certificate requirements can be found at www.universityadmissions.se

For admission after July 1 2018, the following is needed to meet the English B/6 requirements:

• Applicants with 60 higher education (HE) credits from a course/programme where the language of instruction of the course was English, from an EU/EEA country/Switzerland or English-speaking country.

*Please note that a TOEFL-test need to be sent directly to SLU from the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The institution code of SLU is 1185. This might take several weeks, so be sure to request that the TOEFL-test should be sent to SLU in good time.

A faculty board may permit exemptions from the general entry requirements. In such cases, the applicant must provide evidence of a degree at Bachelor’s level, and an independent paper corresponding to at least 15 HEC, the content of which must correspond to the knowledge and skills displayed in a degree project at second cycle level, or a relevant independent project of similar difficulty and scope. The thesis should be written in English or Swedish.

The faculty board sets the other specific entry requirements for each third-cycle subject. These requirements must be specified in the general syllabus for the third cycle subject.

If specific entry requirements in the form of specific professional or vocational experience, requisite skills in languages other than English or other conditions are specified in the general syllabus, the criteria used for assessment must also be specified.

Guidance for Head of departments on how to avoid creating "skuggdoktorander"

1. Anyone who, on application for admission to doctoral education, already has an SLU employment, may, in consultation with the head of the department and in the initiative of the principal supervisor, participate in discussions on the research project to be included in the dissertation work.

2. Applicants who do not have an SLU employment under paragraph 1 above, can not be employed for the primary purpose of preparing for doctoral studies, before the Faculty Board has approved the admission.

3. The principal supervisor is responsible for compiling the preliminary ISP which is to be attached to the application from the faculty to the faculty board regarding admission of the main candidate. A preliminary ISP's main purpose is to show that the research project that will form the basis for the planned dissertation work is reasonably defined and defined. Other parts of the education planning may be superficial and be completed after admission together with the PhD student.

N.B! Applicants will no longer send in certified copies of documents with the application in ReachMee. Instead the top candidate/s should be encouraged to bring certified copies of the following documents when she/he arrives for the interview:

• certificates and diplomas from previous studies at an internationally recognized higher education institution (university or university college) as well as transcripts of completed courses and grades for each semester
• Proof that the candidate meets the requirement of English 6*
• If the applicant is a foreign citizen, we require a copy of the page in your passport with your personal data and photograph, or some other identification document

At the external SLU web you can find further information about certification of copies which is needed for an application for admission of a new doctoral student. The documents mentioned above should then be sent to the Division of Educational Affairs.

For specific questions regarding evaluation of eligibility and certification of copies, please contact Ylva Lönnerholm at the Div. of Educational Affairs. Please note that all first contact with the Div. of Educational Affairs should be taken by the department contact person/prospective supervisor.

Doctoral studentships are the normal form of support for doctoral students at SLU.  Financing studies with the help of a doctoral grant or private means is not allowed.
 
In addition to doctoral studentships, the following means of funding are permitted:

a) Other forms of employment at SLU: accepted only if a contract is drawn up between the doctoral student and the head of department. The contract shall ensure that the time allocated for third-cycle studies as part of the employment is sufficient for the studies to be completed within the stipulated time (HEO Chapter 7 Section 36). 
 
b) Employment with another employer (company, university or other government agency). If a contract is drawn up between the employer, doctoral student and head of department, doctoral students may be admitted using this form of funding. The contract shall ensure that the time allocated for third-cycle studies as part of the employment is sufficient for the studies to be completed within the stipulated time (HEO Chapter 7 Section 36). If the PhD student will be "industridoktorand" this template can be used for forming the aggreement.

Doctoral students from international universities taking part in research projects funded by Sida must be employed by their home university. The contract between Sida, SLU and the foreign universities governs the funding of the doctoral students' financial support and other costs. 
 
c) Scholarships
SLU accepts funding through scholarships until such a date when, according to the individual study plan, the remaining period of study corresponds to three years of full-time study before the award of a doctorate. There are restrictions on the types of scholarships that are accepted, for more information please read the SLU admission regulations for doctoral education. 

Preparing and planning educational cooperation intended to result in a joint degree is a complex process that often takes a long time.

At least the top-ranked applicant must be interviewed, following the instructions below.

Time and place

The interview shall be held a meeting where the applicant, the prospective supervisor and preferably one of the department's doctoral students participate. It is recommended but not compulsory with doctoral student participation in the recruitment process. The doctoral student representative should answer any questions from the applicant regarding doctoral education in Sweden, at SLU and the department, but she/he is not expected to be involved in the hiring decision.  If no doctoral student representative is present at the interview meeting, the prospective supervisor should provide the applicant with contact information to one of the current doctoral students at the department, for answering questions from the applicant. 

The applicant and the prospective supervisor should meet in person, but the doctoral students may participate via video or telephone if the interview is not performed at SLU.  The applicant and the prospective supervisor could, in special circumstances, perform the interview using video-link. The head of department may grant exemption from the normal procedure of a personal meeting between the applicant and the prospective supervisor.

Invitation to the interview

The time of interview is determined together with the applicant. The applicant must receive a written invitation to the interview. The invitation should state the general purpose of the interview, its scale, form, time, place and participants. The invitation must also describe how the results of the interview will be documented and used, as well as the final steps of the admission process. It is also possible to ask the applicant to prepare a brief presentation of no more than 10 minutes.

Costs for travel and accomodation

Any costs for the applicant's travel and accomodation expenses caused by the interview will be paid by the department.

Summary of the interview

A written summary of the interview, with comments on the applicant's language skills and collaborative and educational potential is signed by the prospective supervisor. The summary is used as a basis for the justification for proposing the candiate for admission. This justification has to be attached to the application when it is sent to the faculty board.

Interview structure

At least two hours should be set aside for the interview. The interview should include the following:

• Presentation of participants.
• A brief presentation of SLU, the department, its research, education and the planned form of financing.
• Questions from the applicant.
• Questions from the supervisor and others, based on the applicant's Master's dissertation or equivalent; previous education; the forthcoming thesis work and other overarching issues etc. This should lead to a discussion that will give sufficient information about the applicant's educational potential, own ideas and interests.

The discussion also aims to ensure that it is the applicant who is the author of the documentary evidence, usually a Master's dissertation, which it submitted as an appendix to the application.

If the applicant will be supported by a personal scholarship, a copy of the letter of acknowledgement sent to the applicant must be attached to the application. Only letters of acknowledgement drafted using the template intended for the purpose will be accepted.

• Introduction of new doctoral students at SLU (recommendations to the departments).
• Practical information and advice for living and working in Sweden and at SLU. 
• New as doctoral student?