Programme structure – PhD
The PhD education is stipulated to 3 years’ full-time study and aims to educate independent researchers of high international rank, in accordance with recognized scientific and ethical principles.
A PhD degree will qualify you for research activity and other employment in which the expected standard of scientific insight and analytical thinking is high. The PhD degree is awarded based on:
- a scientific thesis
- a completed and passed educational component of 30 - 40 credits
- a completed and passed trial lecture and PhD examination
From start to finish
- Commence your position and start working on your PhD project
- As a PhD candidate, you receive individual and regular supervision from at least two supervisors.
- Induction conversation
- Within the first weeks, you conduct a mandatory induction conversation with your main supervisor to clarifying your expectations to each other.
- Career plan (for PhD candidates employed at the departments of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MN Faculty) only)
Within the first month, you shall fill a career plan, for setting and implementing goals for your career. The career plan is a personal document that you can revisit regularly and adjust as you develop new skills, your interests change or you wish to (re)evaluate your career.
For PhD candidates employed at the Natural History Museum (NHM), separate guidelines and procedures for career development apply. These PhD candidates should therefore follow NHM’s guidelines rather than this career plan.
- Apply for admission
- Within 2 months, you must submit your application for admission to the PhD Programme. As attachment to the application, a project description is required, which you will develop together with your supervisors.
- Third semester follow-up
- After 12-15 months, you will be invited to a mandatory meeting to receive feedback on your work so far.
- Complete your educational component
- The compulsory educational component is equivalent to six months’ work or between 30 to 40 credits.
- Write your thesis
- The thesis is normally in the form of several articles that are linked together to form a whole, with an introduction to the work and a summary of the main findings and conclusions.
- Submission
- Three months before the defence, you submit your thesis to your department/unit. A committee receives the thesis and evaluates whether the work is of sufficient quality to proceed to the defence.
- Trial lecture and public defence
- The PhD examination consists of a trial lecture and a public defence where you present and defend your work.