The Medical Humanities International Summer School invites applications from PhD students in medical humanities, social sciences and medicine with an interest in interdisciplinary research. This Summer School offers theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to the study of bodies and embodiment in critical medical humanities. It provides tools to examine the role of bodies and embodiment within lived experiences of illness, pain, health, different bodily and functional variations, and as enacted through discourses and in various practices or policies. The Summer School combines insights from senior scholars, reflection sessions, creative workshops and personal mentoring conversations while providing ample time to connect to other PhD students.
We encourage applications from PhD students whose work engages with health-related topics from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, including (but not limited to) anthropology, architecture, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, health sciences, history, media studies, music, literary studies, philosophy, public health, sociology, STS, and visual arts.
The Summer School will be held between 8-10 September 2026, in beautiful Vadstena, close to Linköping, Sweden. It is coordinated by the Centre for Medical Humanities and Bioethics at Linköping University, in collaboration with the Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University.
Accreditation (3 ECTS credits)
Accreditation is optional for all students. All participating students (both accredited and non-accredited) are expected to have completed preparatory work (equal to approximately 3 days full-time work) before the onsite course days. More information can be found in the course plan.
Practical details
The Summer School is free of charge for all PhD student participants, and includes the coach trip between Linköping and Vadstena, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Vadstena on 8th and 9th September, and meals (from lunch on the 8th of September through lunch on the 10th of September). Teaching will be in English.
Twenty places are available for the Summer School:
- five will be allocated to PhD students from the Centre for Medical Humanities and Bioethics, and other Swedish universities;
- five bursary places for PhD students from universities in lower- and-middle-income countries;
- five bursary places for PhD students from UK universities; and
- a further five places are open to any eligible PhD students.
The Summer School is open to active PhD students who have not been awarded a PhD before the application deadline of 16th of February 2026. PhD students who will have submitted their thesis by the application deadline, but who have not yet had their examination or defence (or otherwise had confirmation of their award) are eligible to apply.
For PhD students applying for open places or from Swedish Universities
As stated above, the Summer School is free of charge. However, PhD students applying for open places, or from Swedish universities other than Linköping, will need to cover their own travel costs to and from Linköping.
Financial support for PhD students from universities in lower- and middle-income countries and the UK
Through the Wellcome-funded Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities (DRP-MH) at Durham University, the Institute for Medical Humanities is able to offer the following bursaries to support attendance at the Summer School:
For PhD students from universities in lower- and middle-income countries
Five bursaries of up to £2,000 GBP in total are available to support air travel to Sweden, internal travel within Sweden, accommodation, subsistence for two travel days (receipted to a maximum of £40 per day and reclaimed after the School has taken place), and, where necessary, up to £80 in visa costs.
Bursaries will cover:
- International travel and accommodation costs (booked via the DRP-MH at Durham University).
- Internal travel and subsistence costs of up to £200 in total and with receipts (to be reclaimed from the DRP-MH at Durham University after the summer school).
A full list of lower- and middle-income countries is available here. Please note, you must be both ordinarily resident in, and studying in, a lower- or middle-income country to be eligible for this bursary. Students ordinarily resident in a lower- or middle-income country but currently undertaking their PhD in a higher income country are not eligible for this award.
For UK-based PhD students
Five bursaries of up to £700 in total are available to support travel to Sweden, airport transfers, accommodation and subsistence for two travel days (receipted to a maximum of £40 per day).
Bursaries will cover:
- International travel and accommodation costs (booked via the DRP-MH at Durham University).
- Transfers and subsistence costs of up to £200 in total and with receipts (to be reclaimed from the DRP at Durham University after the workshop).
If you have any queries about bursaries for PhD students from lower- and middle-income countries or for UK-based PhD students, please contact Fiona Johnstone (fiona.r.johnstone@durham.ac.uk).
How to apply
Please email a letter of support from your PhD supervisor (approximately 300-500 words) to summerschool.medhum@liu.se and submit the following information via this online form by 16th of February 2026 at 10:00 AM CET:
- Your name
- Your contact email address and telephone number
- Your department, institution, and country
- A short statement, describing: your PhD project, how your research interests relate to the themes of the Summer School, and how you hope to benefit from participating in this Summer School (up to 500 words)
- Whether you are applying for a bursary, and if so, which one. (Please check eligibility requirements carefully. If you are not eligible for a bursary, please confirm that you will be able to cover your own travel costs to and from Linköping)
- Confirmation that, if accepted for the Summer School, you will undertake the required preparatory work (equal to approximately 3 days full-time work)
Applications will be assessed by a selection committee of academics from Linköping University and Durham University. All candidates will be notified of the outcome in mid-March 2026.
The Summer School is funded by
- The Centre for Medical Humanities and Bioethics at Linköping University
- The Grant "Biomedicine, Clinical Knowledge, and the Humanities in Collaboration: A Novel Epistemology for Radically Interdisciplinary Health Research and Policy-Work on Post-Covid-19 Syndrome", financed by the Swedish Research Council (no. 2021-01245).
- The Wellcome Trust through the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities (DRP-MH) at Durham University
If you have any questions about the Summer School or the application process, please contact us at summerschool.medhum@liu.se
