The evaluation of applications is done in two steps: first, it is determined if the applicant meets the basic and special eligibility for admission; second, for those fulfilling basic and special eligibility, additional criteria are used to rank the candidates. Irrespective of whether the application is for a faculty-funded or an externally-financed position, the Department’s standard criteria for admittance into the PhD programme will be used.
Applicants with external funding need to apply in the regular round of applications and are assessed according to the same criteria as for a faculty-funded position. To be considered as an applicant with external funding, the applicant need to document guaranteed full external financing for at least 2 years. External funding here refers to two types of financing organisation: either a reputed research council or an equivalent research funding organisation with a professional capacity to independently assess the quality of applications or a national/international governmental/non-governmental organisation that wants to sponsor one of its employees, for example, to raise the professional competence of the person in question.
Step 1: Basic and Special Eligibility
Basic eligibility for admission to the PhD programme, the applicant is required to have a degree at advanced level, fulfilled course requirements for at least 240 credit points, of which at least 60 credit points at advanced level, or otherwise acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad.
Special eligibility for admission to the PhD programme, the applicant is required to have satisfactory results on courses carrying 90 credit points in the social sciences, containing at least one semester (30 credit points) of peace and conflict studies, or a closely related subject.
Please note that applicants who have not yet completed their Master's thesis also can apply, but are required to submit certificates of all other completed coursework. It is important that the applicant in such cases submit other writing samples. All required coursework should, however, be completed by 17 June 2024. Applicants who apply without a completed Master’s thesis should, if contacted by the pre-admission committee, be ready to submit their completed Master’s thesis/ documentation that they have completed their Master's degree (by 17 June 2024). Transcripts can be submitted later. Please also note that the successful candidate need to submit the grade for the thesis and the official diploma prior to admission into the program. The qualification requirements must be met by September 1, 2024. If the applicant does not meet the qualification requirements at the time of application, any potential notification of admittance will be preliminary until eligibility can be proven.
Step 2: Basis of Evaluation
The main criterion is formulated thus: In order to be admitted, a prospective PhD candidate shall—through relevant and in writing documented scientific ability—be judged able to, within the given time frame, author a PhD dissertation that will, at a minimum, be classified as ‘good’ by international standards.
Applicants who meet the basic and special eligibility for admission are evaluated based on their expected ability to profit from advanced graduate training and to produce, with proper training, independent high-quality academic research. Consequently, the evaluation is primarily based on submitted samples of prior research production completed by the applicant in the course of undergraduate or graduate training, or other research activities, for example, a B.A. and/or a master thesis (“C-uppsats”, “D-uppsats” or “masteruppsats”), and academic publications.
The samples submitted are evaluated with the purpose of obtaining an informed judgment about the applicant’s research talents rather than his or her command of a given literature. Hence, the samples submitted should preferably demonstrate those talents in as clear a manner as possible rather than take the form of literature reviews. Ideally, the samples should be of such a quality that (with minor revisions) they would be publishable as research articles in scholarly journals (or already published).
Besides the evaluation of prior research production, the applicant’s performance in prior course work is taken into consideration. Applicants should therefore include clear records of what they have accomplished in this regard, the grades obtained, and (for courses taken outside the Swedish university system) a certified explanation of the grading system used.
In addition, the following criteria are also considered:
- The quality of the submitted research proposal.
- The centrality of the proposed PhD theme in relation to peace and conflict research generally, and the research environment and ongoing or planned research projects at the department specifically.
- The capacity of the applicant to serve as a resource for the department might be taken into consideration.
Who decides?
The Head of the Department decides in consultation with the Collegium of Supervisors at the Department about admission for PhD candidates. To evaluate applications, the Collegium of Supervisors appoints an evaluation committee for each application round based on a proposal from the Director of PhD studies. The evaluation committee is composed with an eye to broad representation in terms of e.g. gender, methodological competences, research topics, and some continuity from year to year (normally one of the members stay on for the next round). This helps to, over time, ensure diversity and avoid biases in the doctoral admissions with regards to, for example, methods and research interests. The evaluation committee is tasked to produce a ranked shortlist of the top applicants. To this end it conducts a qualitative assessment of all applications based on the material submitted with the application, including writing samples, project proposal, CV and course transcripts. The shortlist of top-ranked candidates is presented to the Collegium of Supervisors at a meeting. After deliberations, the Collegium of Supervisors makes a recommendation on who should be admitted, which is suggested to the Head of the Department. The Head of the Department, in turn, makes the final decision about admission.
Admission of applicants with other sources of financing than a PhD employment must, however, be decided by Board of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The Faculty Board also decides on admission to the doctoral programme comprising 120 credits leading to the Degree of Licentiate, for part-time employment, and when the applicant has funding from other institutions of higher education.
