Practical information to applicants for PhD position in Nordic Languages

Doctoral position (Third cycle)

The PhD programme starts on 1 September 2025. The content and scope follows the general syllabus for a doctoral degree in Scandinavian Languages (pdf). General and specific entrance requirements are described below. The monthly salary follows tariffs decided by the University of Gothenburg. Those appointed for the positions as PhD students are expected to locate their studies in the Department in order to be able to take an active part in the research environment.

Application

The application is to be made by means of the electronic form in the University of Gothenburg's net-based Job Application Portal. For technical support concerning the Job Application Portal, please contact rekrytering@gu.se.

NOTE: The application must include five (5) kinds of information. The following must be submitted with the application in order for it to be considered, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Applications not including all of the enclosures listed below will be considered incomplete and consequently not eligible on formal grounds. 

Attachment 1. Educational certificate (name of file(s): “Applicant surname education 1”, “Applicant surname education 2” etc.)

You must enclose an attested educational certificate that lists the courses you have completed. The certificate must demonstrate that you meet the general entrance requirements for postgraduate study as well as the specific entrance requirements specified in the general syllabus for the postgraduate subject to which you are applying. If you do not meet the requirements specified under the heading “Behörighetskrav och förkunskapskrav” (“Entry and admission requirements”) in the syllabus, then you must submit a separate document (“Applicant surname entrance requirements”) where you clearly state on what grounds your knowledge can be said to correspond to the general and specific entrance requirements.

Attachment 2. Cover Letter (name of file: “Applicant surname cover letter”)

You should enclose a brief reflection on your motives for applying to the postgraduate program. This text must not exceed 3,000 characters, including spaces, which corresponds to approximately one A4 page of text, and it may be written in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or English.

Attachment 3. CV/curriculum vitae

Attachment 4. Project description (name of file: “Applicant surname project”)

You must attach an independently written description of your intended thesis project. Before you write it, you should study any detailed instructions listed in the general syllabus for your postgraduate subject. The project description, including references, must not exceed 24,000 characters, including spaces, which corresponds to approximately eight A4 pages of text, and it may be written in Swedish or English.

Your thesis description should contain a clear research problem in connection with your area of investigation, and you must motivate why this particular problem is worthy of closer investigation. The introduction of the research problem should lead to a description of the precise purpose of the investigation, which in turn may include examples of the questions you will seek to answer or the hypotheses you wish to test.

The description should contain a brief survey of the research field to clarify what has previously been done in this area and how your own investigation relates to the existing works: what you wish to incorporate or develop further, but also what has so far been dealt with in an incomplete or unsatisfactory manner.

It should also contain a section where the theoretical framework that serves as a foundation for your investigation is presented and motivated. In connection with this there should be a methodology section where you discuss and explain the tools and analytical techniques you wish implement within your research problem. Here you should also define the materials that you mainly intend to work with. The description may also contain a preliminary outline of your dissertation or a list of envisaged research stages, as well as reflections on an overriding timeframe for the research process.

The description should be written in such a way that the points listed above are treated as links in a structurally and logically coherent argument where the initial formulation of your research problem serves as a foundation for everything that follows.

Note that the thesis description is to be written by the applicant independently. Discussing the project with a potential supervisor, or asking general questions about what should be included in a project description, is permitted but seeking help with writing the actual text is not. If the applicant has consulted someone regarding the thesis project, this must be stated explicitly along with contact information about the consultant.

Attachment 5. Texts (name of file: ”Applicant surname text 1”,”Applicant surname text 2” etc.)

Submit your advanced-level degree projects and any relevant publications. You may submit up to five texts; any additional texts may be presented in a separate list.

For technical support concerning the recruitement portal, please contact rekrytering@gu.se. Questions related to the content of your application can be directed to Kristian Blensenius (kristian.blensenius@gu.se) or the director of postgraduate Studies at the Department: Julia Prentice (julia.prentice@svenska.gu.se).

General entry requirements

To meet the basic entry requirements of doctoral programmes at the University of Gothenburg, applicants must have obtained a second-cycle degree, or have completed studies of at least 240 higher education credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or have completed a corresponding programme in some other country or be able to demonstrate the possession of equivalent qualifications.

Specific entry requirements, Scandinavian languages

At least 120 higher education credits in Scandinavian languages, Swedish language or Swedish as a second language are required for admission. At least 30 credits in Scandinavian Languages, Swedish language, or Swedish as a second language at second-cycle level, of which at least 15 credits consist of an independent project or equivalent knowledge. Knowledge of Swedish and English is required to benefit from compulsory course components and participate actively in seminars and the like. Depending on the applicant's research orientation, special language skills may also be necessary.

Admission and selection

The selection among qualified applicants shall be based on their ability to benefit from the study programme as provided in Chapter 7 of the Higher Education Ordinance. Exams, essays, publications and project drafts are assessed based on the following criteria:

a) Relevance of research (significance to knowledge development in the research area, together with relation to previous research, theory and method).

b) Feasibility of research (pertinent methods and sources)

c) Novelty of research (independence in relation to traditions of the subject)

Admission and selection will be based on the applicants' merits and are also contingent upon the Department's availability of supervisory resources in the doctoral student's area of focus.

A preliminary decision and evaluations of applicants will be communicated to the applicants by 15 May 2025.