Norwegian version of this page

Apply for admission to the PhD programme with external funding

If you have funding and are affiliated with a relevant research environment, you can apply for admission to the PhD programme with external funding. The Faculty receives applications ongoing without any deadline.

What is external funding?

External funding may be:

  • A PhD fellowship at a university college/another university
  • Other employment at a research institution that allocates time for own research
  • The Research Council of Norway’s Industrial PhD or public sector PhD

The Faculty of Educational Sciences does not accept private funding as a basis for admission to the PhD programme.

The external funding must cover necessary operating expenses for your project, including any research travel.

There is no tuition fee for the PhD programme at the Faculty of Educational Sciences. However, you will not receive financial support from the Faculty.

The normal framework for admission is up to four years, with three years net research training.

Previous education

  • A minimum of five years at bachelor’s and master’s degree level (two years masters' degree or equivalent).
  • A master’s dissertation of 30 credits (ECTS) with the grade B or better
  • Average grades of A or B in your master’s degree (ECTS)
  • The master’s degree must have been completed at the time of application. It is not possible to send references and certificates at a later date.

For more information, see the Faculty of Educational Sciences’ Supplementary Rules to the Regulations for the Degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD).

Project quality

Admission to the PhD programme is based on an individual project description and an assessment of whether you are qualified to carry out the project.

The assessment places emphasis on scientific quality, feasibility, and whether the project will contribute to the development of new knowledge in the field. The project description must be fully-developed, and reflect your knowledge of the field. As an applicant, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with recent literature in the field. You may consult academic environments while working on your project description, but you cannot expect to receive support from the faculty.

Every autumn the faculty tries to hold a course on writing project descriptions. We will inform you in the course catalogue. You should also take a look at the guidelines for the project description.

The project must also comply with research ethics guidelines, and you must have applied for the necessary permits before starting the project.

The project description must be devised in accordance with the faculty's guidelines for project descriptions. The project description can be written in a Scandinavian language or English.

Supervision and affiliation with a research community

Admission with external funding requires that you are affiliated with a relevant and active research environment. Examples of such affiliation:

  • Employment at a college, university or other research institution that is considered academically relevant.

  • Office space at one of the faculty's departments. This means that the department must have the capacity and desire to make workspace available. You must contact the department in question yourself.

    If you have been admitted with external funding, you can participate in research education activities on the PhD programme, and you will receive supervision at the Faculty of Educational Sciences. You will not receive financial support from the faculty.

    You must submit an application without formal affiliation with a supervisor. Supervisors will be appointed upon admission. Admission to the PhD programme requires that the faculty has supervisory competence and capacity in the field in which you will write your thesis.

The faculty has overall responsibility for ensuring that all PhD candidates are part of a relevant academic environment during the admission period.

Where should I send my application?

The application may be sent to the Faculty of Educational Sciences, PO Box 1161 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, attn. Postmottak (further information can be found on the application form (docx)). You may also submit your application by email.

Required documentation

  • The Faculty has a specific application form which has to be submitted together with the project description. Completed application form.

  • Project description.

  • A result of the Toefl test or of the IELTS test.

  • List of academic publications, if applicable.

  • CV and copies of relevant diplomas/certificates.  Be aware that you need to arrange that certificate/diploma(s) for the obtained degree(s) also is sent us from the Universities from which you obtained your degrees.

  • Documentation of full funding for the entire admission period, or information about the funding you have applied for, and the date on which this will be ready. The funding must be ready four months at the latest after the application deadline. If not, you will lose your place on the programme. Documentation for full funding for three years is a presupposition for admission. However, you may reapply at a later date. It is important to note that an application that cannot document an application for three years of net funding at the time of submitting the admission application will be rejected without an academic assessment. Neither the Faculty nor the Departments have the capacity to give financial assistance to those who want to apply. You have to work this out yourself. More about funding.

Choice of programme option (discipline)

The Faculty has one PhD programme in educational sciences with three programme options: Education, Special Needs Education and Subject Didactics. When you apply for admission to the programme, you must choose the programme option you want to be affiliated with. Applications for admission are assessed by the Faculty.

How is my application assessed?

Applications are assessed by academic committees emanating from the PhD Programme Council, together with academic employees at the relevant Department, based on the project description and programme option desired. Every applicant has to deliver an application with all the information necessary and asked for. The Faculty does not accept information from an applicant sent after the deadline. The academic committees’ assessments are presented to the PhD Programme Council. The admission decision is based on an overall assessment of the application. The final decision will be made by the Faculty.

The Faculty must assess qualified applicants in relation to the number of candidates that can be admitted to the PhD programme every year.

What happens if I am accepted for admission?

You will normally be admitted to the programme for four years, with 25% required duties (e.g. teaching). Your employer/funding body will determine the need for required duties.

Admission to the PhD programme is formalized in an admission agreement, which will be sent to you as soon as the admission decision has been made. You must sign the agreement and return it to your Department/Centre, which will appoint supervisors. Your supervisors and the Department will sign the agreement. A separate agreement will be signed between the Faculty and your external employer.

The admission and supervision agreement should be signed within four weeks of admission to the PhD programme. The agreement will stipulate the topic of the thesis, the agreement period, the funding plan, supervision arrangements, and the place of work. The agreement will clarify the responsibilities, rights and obligations of the candidate, supervisors, Faculty and Department, in addition to obligations towards your employer/external sponsor.

The agreement and the admission letter stipulate the period of admission to the PhD programme, i.e. the start and end date. For candidates with external funding, the admission period is the same as the period of funding, which is a minimum of 100% research over a three-year period (nominal period of study), four years with 25 % duty work or five years with 40 % duty work.

Resources

Rules and guidelines

 

Published Apr. 22, 2015 8:22 AM - Last modified Sep. 4, 2023 11:27 AM