Doctoral studies
Faculty of Social Sciences
Do you want to immerse yourself further in a subject you are passionate about while contributing to new knowledge? Doctoral studies offer you the opportunity to do just that, while training you to become an independent and critically thinking researcher with career opportunities both within and beyond academia.
About doctoral studies
Doctoral education is the highest level of formal education and leads to a doctoral degree comprising 240 ECTS credits, which corresponds to four years of full-time study. It can also lead to a licentiate degree, comprising 120 ECTS credits, equivalent to two years of full-time study.
At the Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University, there are currently around 150 active doctoral students across twelve different disciplines.
Doctoral studies can take various forms, but the most common is a doctoral position (PhD employment) at one of the faculty’s departments. The PhD programme includes both coursework and a research project that culminates in a scientific thesis – the doctoral thesis. The thesis is defended at a public defence. After completing their doctoral studies, many graduates pursue academic careers, while others move on to roles in industry or public administration.
Application and admission
To be admitted to doctoral studies, you must meet both general and specific entry requirements. General eligibility means that you have completed a second-cycle degree or have completed at least 240 ECTS credits (of which at least 60 ECTS are at the second-cycle level), or have acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way. In addition to the general requirements, each subject has its own specific eligibility criteria.
There is no fixed application period for doctoral studies, but most doctoral positions begin on 1 September. All available doctoral positions at the Faculty of Social Sciences are advertised on Lund University's job portal.
Available positions at Lund University – lu.se
Thesis and courses
The doctoral thesis must be based on independent research and maintain a high scientific standard. It can either be a monograph or a compilation thesis consisting of several articles accompanied by a summarising chapter.
Each doctoral student typically has a principal supervisor and a co-supervisor. These supervisors are responsible for supporting you throughout your doctoral studies and guiding the progress of your thesis work.
During your studies, you will take both methodological and thematic courses, selected based on their relevance to your thesis. You are also encouraged to take courses at other universities, in Sweden or abroad.
More about doctoral studies
More information about doctoral studies in a specific subject can be found on each department's website. Each research subject has a Director of Doctoral Studies to whom you can turn to for questions.
The links below lead to each department’s website.
Already a doctoral student?
Check out the Faculty internal pages for doctoral students.