Social sciences PhD 3 years Pilestredet Campus Full-time

In Norwegian institutions of higher education, there is no tradition for direct application and admission to PhD programs.

Admission to a program is sought either after you have received funding for a project from a funding organization, equivalent of a full time position for minimum three years in Norway,  or by applying to a research fellow position in an institution of higher education. These positions are listed throughout the year, with different application dates. 

You must have completed a master’s degree of 120 ECTS in social sciences, the humanities, and/or fields relevant to the specialisations in the PhD programme.

A completed master’s degree of 90 ECTS may be considered as a basis for admission if your master’s degree contains an independent work with a master’s thesis of at least 30 ECTS. In addition, one of the following three criteria must be met:

• Advanced methodological knowledge in the form of completed master’s course or documented exam in methods / theory of science at master’s level
• A Scientific article assumed in a peer-reviewed journal and/or book article in a peer-reviewed book
• Relevant research experience

Grade requirements

Applicants must have a B or better on the master’s thesis and an average grade B or better on the master’s degree. In special cases, applicants with a grade of C may be considered for admission. In such cases, particularly relevant experience related to one’s own research project and / or scientific publications may contribute to strengthening the application.
Admission is based on a comprehensive assessment of the application, including the relevance and quality of the project description, and funding.

Applications for admission must contain the following:

• Project description. The project description shall describe the topic, research question, theoretical basis, and choice of method
• Progress plan for the doctoral work.
• Documentation of the applicant’s educational background and completed research work
• A plan for the training component
• A funding plan
• A proposal for academic supervisor(s)

In addition, you should provide information in which the language you wish to write your doctoral thesis. You may also be asked to provide information about possible problems in accordance with rights to intellectual property and if relevant special needs regarding infrastructure. In you have comprehensive data collection, you must clarify how this will be financed. 

Admission is based on a total assessment of the application, including the relevance and quality of the project description. The quality of the applicant’s master’s degree thesis/thesis at second degree level and other written work can also be taken into consideration. Admission is subject to funding being approved.

Decisions on admission are made by the Research Education Board (DGU) at the Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University. Upon admission to the programme DGU will assign you a supervisor/supervisors. The main supervisors or one of the supervisors has to be  employed at the Faculty of Social Science or otherwise formally associated with the programme’s specializations.

The PhD program is an organised research education, and candidates shall participate in research groups. Externally funded candidates participate in research groups at their own workplace or in one of the faculty’s research groups.

You will find the requirements for application in the programplan PhD programme in social sciences  (student.oslomet.no) .

Application for single PhD courses

The PhD courses are offered to PhD candidates.

• Internal PhD candidates  sign up for the courses in StudentWeb (fsweb.no) , and send a summary of their project, max one page, to the PhD Administration.

• External PhD candidates apply through Søknadsweb (fsweb.no)  and upload  required documentation such as:
  Certified copy of admission to a PhD programme, programme summary of approximately one A4 sized sheet including information about your PhD project, topic, method, theoretical approach, and why this course will be relevant for your project.

Maximum number of participants varies from 10 to 15.