For PhD candidates at ITS

Information for prospective External PhD candidates

Will you be an "External PhD Candidate"?

If you are an external PhD candidate, you are not employed by UiO during your PhD period.

If you are an external PhD candidate, you are employed by an external company or an external research institute during your PhD period. In that case, your employer will sign a contract with the ITS department at UiO, to ensure your rights to be enrolled in (/admitted to) our PhD programme. 

(In contrast, if you were an internal PhD candidate, you would have typically applied for and got a PhD postion at UiO. In other words, it is UiO who is your employer and pays your salary during your PhD period. )

Before a contract is signed between your employer and the ITS department

Pre-assessment of academic qualifications ("Forhåndsgodkjenning")

This is the first thing must be done, after you have agreed with your employer that you will start a PhD. This can be initiated either by the PhD-candidate or a contact person for the planned PhD project at the employer. The process is initiated by sending an email to phd-admin@its.uio.no and asking for a "forhåndsgodkjenning" (pre-assessment). In the email also inform about the details of the PhD plans, e.g. possible contact persons for the PhD at the employer and/or at ITS, timing (when is the PhD-project plan to start), etc. In the process, the candidate will need to send certificates and transcripts from bachelor and master education, so that UiO can assess and confirm that the PhD candidate is qualified to be enrolled in (/admitted to) our PhD programme. If some of the education is from a non-Norwegian university, the pre-assessment process might take several weeks to be carried out.

Initiate signing of contract between your employer and ITS

  • The pre-assessment must be completed before the contract can be signed.
  • To get the contract signed, ensure that your employer initiates this by contacting the administration leader at ITS, Marit Tronstad (marit.tronstad@its.uio.no).
  • The Contract Agreement Form to be signed is found here: Agreement Form
  • After the contract is signed, you can consider your PhD project as started. See more info below about what you have to do next.

Information for prospective Internal PhD candidates

Will you be an "Internal PhD Candidate"?

If you are an internal PhD candidate, you are employed by UiO during your PhD period.

You have typically applied for and got a PhD postion at UiO. In other words, it is UiO who is your employer and pays your salary during your PhD period.

(In contrast, if you were an external PhD, you would be employed by an external employer - usually a company or a research institute - during your PhD period. In that case, your employer will sign a contract with the ITS department at UiO, to ensure your rights to be enrolled in (/admitted to) our PhD programme.)

Before employment date

Important issues when relocating to Norway (for foreign PhD candidates only)

Familiarize yourself with the practical information found in this document:

Main points:

  • Visa: Contact your local authorities to see if you will need a visa in order to travel and work in Norway.
  • Prior to arrival in Norway, and as soon as you know your employment date or arrival in Norway, you must book an appointment with the Service Center for Foreign Workers. You should visit the center quite soon after you arrive.
  • Housing (see document above)
  • Bank account (see document above)
  • For further information or assistance see document above

Important info for all new PhD candidates

Familiarize yourself with the practical information found in these documents:

Note specifically:

  • Around three weeks before the employment date: The PhD candidate sends email to IT admin at ITS, Arild Hemstad, to initiate the purchase of a laptop for the PhD candidate, to be ready before the employment date.
  • Any other questions can be sent to our administration at phd-admin@its.uio.no 

Preparing for your first day

We have an onboarding checklist that comprises things you must remember to do the first days:

Note specifically:

  • As a new PhD candidate at ITS, you are responsible to fill out this checklist, and ensure that all items are completed. The completed checklist shall be attached when you send your application for enrollment to our PhD program within 2 months after employment.

Your first day at ITS

Remember the onboarding checklist that comprises all things you must remember to do the first days of your employment:

The first day will usually be organized as follows:

  • Meeting at the Office building: The Department is located at Gunnar Randers vei 19, 2007 Kjeller
  • Meeting with the PhD coordinator at ITS (contact: phd-admin@its.uio.no):
    • Administrative tour together with the PhD coordinator:
    • Get laptop, activate login credentials, get temporary guest ID entrance card etc. at IT support (Arild Hemstad):
    • Physical key to the office (Tuhta Ismailova)
    • Confirmation of employment by Head of adm. (Marit Tronstad)
    • The PhD coordinator will book a short introductory meeting for you with the candidate's personal leader (head of section).
    • The PhD coordinator will also have a short introductory talk with you related to your stay at ITS as a PhD candidate
  • Meeting with the PhD representative (Nikolas Recke):
    • Tour in the building together with the PhD representative:
      • See the facilities
      • Meet and greet with colleagues
  • Meeting with supervisor / supervisor team:
    • "PhD Expectations Dialogue"/"Induction Conversation":
      • Either on the first day, or an appointment is set for the coming days
    • Getting your office space

What to do right after you have started

After the employment date (for internal PhDs) or after signing of contract (for external PhDs)

The first week after employment (internal) / after contract signed (external)

Application to be admitted to the PhD programme (Deadline: 2 months after employment date for internal PhDs or 2 months after signing of contract for external PhDs)

  • The admission application might take considerable time to complete. Therefore, you are adviced to start working on your application right after you have started to ensure that you meet the deadline. You should collaborate closely with your supervisor team when you write your application, especially when you write the Project Description.
  • Your application will usually consist of at least the Admission Application Form (see next bullet point) and a Project Description (more info about this in bullet points below). The application might require other supporting documents also (see next bullet point). If you are an external PhD candidate, you must also attach the Contract Agreement form that is signed between your employer and the ITS department.
  • Getting the Admission Apllication Form: 1. Open the following link (English version), and click on the "Submit your Application" button. 2. Start filling out the correct information. Make sure the "Employment and source of funding field" is correct, and you will get access to the correct enrollment application form. Download it. Notice that the form for external candidates have more required info in the beginning of the form than the form for internal PhD candidates). 3. Note down other information, supprting documents and forms you might need to prepare for your submission. 4. Do not click "send" yet. Instead, go back and prepare all you need for your application. You will return to this nettskjema later when you are finally ready to submit your application.
  • MS Word template for project descriptions at ITS. However, you are encouraged to use Latex instead, to prepare yourself for later paper writing.
  • If you prefer to present your progress timeline with a Gantt chart instead of the traditional table shown in the Word-template, you might create the Gantt it in an Excel file. Here is an example (xlsx)
  • Simple Latex template for project descriptions at ITS. You might want to copy this template text-file into your existing Overleaf project at overleaf.com.
  • Full overleaf-project latex template containing Gantt-diagram: As an alternative to the simple text-file above, you can do this: In Overleaf, choose "New Project" -> "Upload Project" and then upload the latex project template found in this zip-file.
  • Example of a fairly up-to-date project description using Latex
  • Example of an old project description (using an outdated template, and without coursework, progress plan, etc.)
  • Submission: The submission should be done at the following webform (nettskjema)

Courses to consider in Education Component of PhD

Important deadlines

  • Foreign PhD candidates only: Visa, appointment with the Service Center for Foreign Workers at http://www.sua.no/en/, housing, etc., must be in place before employment. More info above.
  • Internal PhD candidates: 3 weeks before employment date: PhD candidate contacts IT admin at ITS, Arild Hemstad, to initiate purchase of laptop and office equipment. Supervisor needs to be in the loop.
  • All: 1 week after employment date (internal PhDs) or after the contract is signed (external PhDs): PhD candidate sends email to PhD coordinator at ITS (phd-admin@its.uio.no) that the "Expectation Dialogue" has been completed.
  • 2 months after employment date: Send application to be enrolled in the PhD Programme

Working as a PhD candidate

3rd Semester (Mid-term) Evaluation

Making formal changes to your ongoing PhD project

  • Application for making changes to the agreed educational component (pdf)
  • Application for making changes to the supervisor team (pdf)
  • Application for extension of the PhD admission period (pdf)
  • Submitting any of these applications: Send it by email to phd-admin@its.uio.no 

Other useful info

Useful resources for PhD candidates

Research ethics

Finishing your PhD

For the PhD candidate

For the supervisor team

For adjudication committee members

Other info

Published Mar. 4, 2024 2:27 PM - Last modified June 8, 2026 4:53 PM
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