Doctoral programme
PhD studies at the School of Social Work
The doctoral programme consists of four years of full-time study. The programme leading to a doctoral degree comprises a total of 240 credits divided into a course component of 75 credits and an academic thesis of 165 credits. The education is completed with the public defense of the doctoral thesis.
A doctoral student is employed to fulfill the requirements of the doctoral programme, and is also expected to contribute and take active part in the research environment at the School of Social Work. Doctoral students may teach or do administrative work up to 20% of the employment, also depending on the department’s requirements. Swedish as well as English are used as languages in the programme, during courses, seminars and meetings.
Admission of Doctoral students
Our routine is to announce, rank and appoint PhD-candidates every second year. Applications are accepted only following a vacancy announcement. Applicants who are eligible are those who have completed a Master's Degree in Social Work or a related field and whose scholastic achievement, previous experience, and aptitude for social welfare research and scholarship indicate the greatest promise for achieving the objectives of the program. Our next announcement is likely to appear in late 2024 with start in September 2025, although this will depend on our general situation. It could be earlier and it could be later.
All admitted doctoral students receive a salary so there is no need to apply for scholarships. There is no need to contact potential supervisors in advance. All doctoral position vacancies are announced on the university website.
We recommend that you visit this site regularly if you are interested in the doctoral programme.
At present, about 20 doctoral students are actively involved in research studies and each year around four or five students obtain their doctoral degrees.
Reading courses
These are reading courses specially designed for the doctoral programme:
- SASA007 Theories on the construction of social problems (reading course; third cycle) 7.5 credits (PDF, 60 kB)
- SASA009 Ethnography (reading course; third cycle) 7.5 credits (PDF, 60 kB)
- SASA016 An introduction to social work research and practice (reading course; third cycle) 7.5 credits (PDF, 64 kB)
- SASA017 Phenomenology, ethics and social work (reading course, third cycle) 7.5 credits (PDF, 64 kB)
- SASA018 Care theories in social work (reading course; third cycle) 7.5 credits PDF, 64 kB)
- SASA019, SASA020, SASA021 Research in the History of Social Work (reading course, third cycle) 2.5, 5, 7.5 credits (PDF, 224 kB)
Contact
Kristina Göransson
Director of doctoral studies
Handbook for Research Studies
Download the Handbook for Research Studies (PDF, 2,81 MB)
General Syllabi
Here you can find general syllabuses for the third-cycle study programmes at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Quick guide to PhD seminars
A quick guide for supervisor and doctoral student on planning seminars. Note that other routines apply to the final seminar, see the Handbook for Research Studies.