Doctoral education is the highest level of education offered at the country’s higher education institutions and prepares for a career in or outside of academia.
Doctoral studies involve you, through independent work under supervision, conducting a research project. Here you will have the opportunity to utilise both your practical and theoretical skills while learning the latest methods in modern research in a scientific environment.
Doctoral studies involve taking part in a doctoral programme where you learn to plan, think critically and take responsibility with the goal of becoming an independent researcher.
The process map shows the lead time for the process that must take place, from establishment of a position to admission to a doctoral programme at BKV.
Forms can be signed either by pen or electronically, and in these cases the electronic signature must be done last. The form is then sent via e-mail to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Read more about e-signing here.
The forms for establishment of a position and mentorship are specific for BKV. The remaining forms apply to the entire faculty. You can find these via the link to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences below.
Prior to admission of a doctoral student, a doctoral position must be established at the department. The intended principal supervisor/supervisor constellation is to apply for a doctoral position. The application must be granted by the departmental board of BKV before it can be established. Contact the relevant subject representative before planning and compiling an application for the establishment of a doctoral position.
We must receive a complete application form no later than 3 weeks before the department board meeting.
Only applicable to LiU-employed doctoral students
Following a decision on the establishment of a doctoral position by the department board, the intended supervisor will be contacted by the director of doctoral studies to design an advertisement. Advertising takes place for a duration of three weeks at Work at LiU/Vacancies.
Only applicable to LiU-employed doctoral students
Aspiring doctoral students apply according to instructions advertised at Work at LiU/Vacancies
Note: The admission and hiring processes are different to each other. Once you have been admitted, your principal supervisor must contact the HR function to begin the hiring process, which takes about two weeks.
Selection meeting
If there are several applicants for a doctoral position, the supervisor books a selection meeting with a selection committee, where a ranking of eligible applicants is made with regard to their possibilities of benefiting from the education. Applicants who are placed first in the ranking are invited to apply for admission to the doctoral studies programme. You will find all information about admission a little further down the page.
All supervisors need a LiU ID for registration and access to our systems.
In the case of internal supervisors, please contact your department coordinator for application.
In the case of external supervisors, please contact forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se and provide your name, personal identity number, and email address for application.
After the LiU ID is created and registered in our systems, supervisors can be searched for to be added to the eISP.
The application is to be sent by email to:
Email: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
FORM
Establishment of a doctoral studies position (swe/eng) Word
NB:
Forms can be signed either by pen or electronically, and in these cases the electronic signature must be done last. The form is then sent via e-mail to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Read more about e-signing at Liunet coworker.
After an approved application for establishment of a position (and any selection meeting), the intended doctoral student must apply for admission to the doctoral education.
All supervisors need a LiU ID for registration and access to our systems.
In the case of internal supervisors, please contact your department coordinator for application.
For external supervisors, please provide your name, personal identity number and e-mail address for application for a non-active account to: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se.
After the LiU ID is created and registered in our systems, supervisors can be searched for to be added to the eISP.
The admission and hiring processes are different to each other. Once you have been admitted, your principal supervisor must contact the HR function to begin the hiring process, which takes about two weeks. You can find information about the employment process of doctoral students at BKV here.
Following a decision on admission, the principal supervisor starts work on the electronic individual study plan, eISP. After that, the doctoral student can access the system.
The study plan must contain a research plan of maximum 5 pages in Times New Roman, 12 pt, minimum 1 line spacing. The research plan is to contain:
Read through the guidelines for doctoral studies at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
When working on the eISP, book a time for your start seminar within 2 months from the date of admission. Seminars begin at the top of every hour and last 45 minutes.
When the eISP has been completed by the supervisor and doctoral student, it is to be sent as a pdf with the research plan to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se, no later than 14 days before the seminar.
NB: the EISP must not be approved by the subject representative before the seminar. The subject representative approves it after the seminar when any additions or changes have been made.
The seminar will be attended by a review committee consisting of the director of doctoral studies, teacher representatives and a doctoral student representative, see below. The review committee is appointed by the Department Board.
As a newly admitted doctoral student, you have the opportunity to choose a person to be your mentor. This may, for example, be a doctoral student who has been admitted for some time or a person with a doctoral degree. The person must not be part of your supervisor constellation, nor be involved in your research. You should have confidence and trust in the person.
Ask the person if they want to be your mentor, discuss the forms and arrangements of the collaboration based on what you are both looking for.
Write their name and a brief description of what the mentorship will involve/your agreement in the form. You are both to sign the agreement. Save a copy for yourself and one for your future mentor.
Form
Notification
Send complete notification by email to:
Email: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Venue:
The seminars are conducted remotely following invitation from the director of doctoral studies.
Book a time here:
Email: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Application documentation is to be sent by email to:
Email: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Forms can be signed either by pen or electronically, and in these cases the electronic signature must be done last.
The form is then sent via e-mail to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Read more about e-signing here.
The purpose of the half-time seminar is to review the progress of the thesis project and to provide assistance with the planning of further work.
The half-time seminar has the character of a public seminar and is to be conducted by every doctoral student who will later take a doctoral degree. The seminar should take place no later than the semester after one of the following conditions has been met:
Half-time seminars in doctoral studies can only be conducted at Linköping University Campus US or Campus Norrkoping.
In consultation with the doctoral student and the principal supervisor, the subject representative prepares a notification of a half-time seminar.
Complete notification must be received no later than 5 weeks before the planned seminar for review by the director of doctoral studies and decision by the head of department.
Announcement of the seminar is made by the registrar in the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences calendar.
The registrar sends the invitation to the members of the expert committee and its chairperson.
The doctoral student/supervisor is responsible for sending documents including eISP and research plan to the expert committee well in advance of the seminar.
At the seminar, the doctoral student will present the research question, background and method of the thesis project, the results obtained so far and their significance, and the planned further work. The presentation is held in English.
Subsequently, the expert committee and seminar participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about the thesis project to the doctoral student and discuss the continuation of the project (this can be done in Swedish). The discussion is to be held in English if any of the experts or other participants are English-speaking.
After discussion of, for example, the quality of the project, the work carried out and planned and the presentation of the seminar, the expert, who has no conflict of interest, is responsible for completing the half-time minutes.
The written statement is to be signed by the expert committee, the principal supervisor, the doctoral student and the subject representative and sent no later than 14 days after the seminar.
Attach any revised individual study plan (see below).
Assessment of expert reviewers at half-time review - minutes
Application and minutes are to be sent by email to:
Email: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
FORMS
Notification of half-time
Minutes – experts’ statement
REFERENCE
National half-time review goals of the Higher Education Ordinance
Forms can be signed either by pen or electronically, and in these cases the electronic signature must be done last. The form is then sent via e-mail to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Read more about e-signing here.
Every semester (calendar half year), information about doctoral studies activities must be documented and registered in Ladok.
This does not apply to students who have discontinued their doctoral studies before the current semester.
The form for reporting is sent out in good time by the coordinator.
NB! Too low a level of activity may mean that a degree cannot be awarded!
You can log in with your LiU-ID in Ladok to access registration and results certificates and to see if previous study activity and funding are correct.
Degree of activity is the percentage of full-time doctoral studies the doctoral student has been able to conduct during the semester.
It is therefore not the percentage of full-time hours the position involves that is to be reported, but actual time spent on doctoral studies (as % of full-time 40 hours/week).
Doctoral students who have a doctoral grant or doctoral employment and who have a teaching obligation or administrative duties, shall reduce their activity to a corresponding degree.
In all cases where the activity varies over the semester, for example due to a study break or the degree, the reported activity is to be an average over the semester. For a doctoral student who begins their studies in the middle of a semester, the activity is also to be an average over the semester.
The principal supervisor is responsible for providing information on study activity and funding in consultation with the doctoral student.
Note that activity should also be reported for those who have taken a degree or terminated their studies during the relevant semester.
Information on funding is only to relate to that part of the doctoral student’s activities that relates to doctoral studies.
The sum of funding types must always be 100% for a semester, even if the stated activity in the current semester is less. Breaks that are shorter than the entire calendar half year thus affect the degree of activity.
When stating the degree of funding, an average over the semester is to be calculated. Everyone who has an activity is also to report funding.
The report is to be sent by email to:
E-mail: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
The processing time for the credit registration can be up to 3 weeks from the time the postgraduate education administration receives your request.
Below follows information on how to apply for course/courses that you have completed at another University, or another Faculty at LiU, in connection with conferences or other contexts, as well as participation at conferences, visits with other research groups and journal club / seminar activities.
If what you have completed is not already scored, eg for a course with a syllabus, we point out on the basis that one (1) week's full-time studies correspond to 1.5 higher education credits.
For credit purposes, if no points are specified, you must therefore provide information about the scope of the course and your contribution.
If you have any questions, please contact forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Please use Form 4a: Application for accreditation of courses, for courses done at other faculties or universities than LiU. Add course certificate and/or documentation of your attendance and contribution and information about where the credit giving course has been performed. You need to add the title in both Swedish and English, if problems with this, please contact us.
Please use Form 4b: Application for accreditation of other modules. Attach document to certify your participation, the content/duration of the participation, for conferences also proof for poster or oral presentation, for visit in a research group at another university in Sweden or abroad – describe the point of the visit and duration, for seminars and journal clubs – ad a document that describes the content, and extent of your participation and contribution.
Send your application by e-mail to: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Forms can be signed either by pen or electronically, and in these cases the electronic signature must be done last. The form is then sent via e-mail to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Read more information about e-signing here.
Notification of change of supervisor constellation is applied for by form with content as specified below.
The current supervisor constellation for the doctoral student is the constellation registered in Ladok. The desired and proposed change of supervisor constellation is to be discussed with, and signed by, the subject representative.
In the case of an approved change of supervisor constellation, the doctoral student’s individual study plan must be updated and revised based on the new constellation and submitted to doctoral studies administration.
Check in Ladok that persons registered as supervisors for the doctoral student have signed the notification. Inform of any circumstances where a signature from a registered supervisor is not possible.
For discussion and questions please contact:
Annelie Lindström, Director of Doctoral Studies
Email: annelie.lindstrom@liu.se
Giannis Spyrou, Associate Director of Doctoral Studies
Email: giannis.spyrou@liu.se
Relevant subject representative - Research subjects at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and subject representatives
Send by email to:
Email: forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
NB!
Forms can be signed either by pen or electronically, and in these cases the electronic signature must be done last. The form is then sent via e-mail to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
Read more information about e-signing here.
If you want to suspend your doctoral studies, you must fill in the following form:
The form is sent by email to forskarutbildning@bkv.liu.se
The Research Programmes Board (FUN) is the board at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Linköping University that works with issues related to research and postgraduate education.
Forsknings- och forskarutbildningsnämnden (FUN) (Liunet - Log in required)
Rules for education at postgraduate level at Linköping University's Faculty of Medicine (In Swedish below)
Regler för utbildning på forskarnivå vid Linköpings universitets medicinska fakultet (pdf)
