Admission

BEFORE ADMISSION

In general, people interested in becoming students at the Karolinska Institute should first identify and contact the faculty member with whom they would like to study their particular area of research interest. It is through the affiliation with the faculty that the student may become registered at the Department ofClinical Neuroscience. For an overview of research areas studied within our department se the link below.

• Overview of research areas

It is recommended that prospective students and supervisors get to know one another during a test period, e.g., 6 months, before admission to the postgraduate program so that both parties can have an opportunity to assess eachother. It is important that there is clear communication between the supervisor and student with respect to research expectations, supervisory input, the student´s role, design of the research project, timeplan, financial support, obligations of reporting to the Department. Students are required to have at least two supervisors (one main supervisor, one co-supervisor), and for research projects with interdisciplinary topics/methodologies/scientific approaches additional co-supervisors may be desirable.

It is important that the prospective students familiarize themselves with the postgraduate program at the KI through reading the general rules of the Karolinska Institute and through contact with either the Director of Graduate studies, the Departmental graduate programme administrator, the faculty member responsible for the specific research subject of interest, or the student representatives .

Before accepting a prospective candidate as a student, the department must satisfy itself that the candidate has the intellectual and personal qualifications for the task at hand. This is normally evaluated by the "General Minimum Requirements for Eligibility" approved by the central KI Postgraduate Education Board and by the supervisor´s evaluation letter of the candidate.

General Minimum Requirements for Eligibility (Form is available through supervisor)

Good knowledge of English is an essential prerequisite in order to conduct research studies at KI.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Application to the postgraduate program occurs 4 times per year (see timetable at the beginning of each semester). Applications received after the deadline will not be addressed until the subsequent admission.

The application should be sent (in one unstapled original) to Marianne Youssefi, Stockholm Centre for Psychiatric Research and Education (CPF), Karolinska University Hospital Z8, 171 76 Stockholm

The application should be submitted in the following order:

• Application for admission to doctoral studies
• General Minimum Requirements for Eligibility (Form is available through supervisor)
• Individual study plan

Prospective students must contact the faculty member responsible for the specific research subject of interest in order to prepare the course plan prior to submission of the application.

The purpose of the research study plan is to indicate which projects will be conducted during the research education, and to attempt to identify how they might lead to generation of publishable research manuscripts. The project description should not exceed 5 A4 pages (references included) and should be written so that non-experts can understand.

For research education courses, attempt to identify which courses will provide subject-specific knowledge as well as general courses. If you will be part of a research education school, it is NOT acceptable to only write `Forskaskolan kurser´ - list the component courses within the programme, as these may vary from year-to-year.

A mentor is someone who will have no financial obligation or direct obligation to input scientifically to the project, but is more of a person who you respect as a confidant - someone to talk to about your career opportunities, how you are doing and to be there to advise you in case problems arise within the lab.

The individual study plan should be signed by the applicant, all supervisors and the mentor.

A checklist form should also be completed and signed by the potential main supervisor. Also head of division certificate must be filled in signed.

• Checklist - research education application (Word file, 32 Kb)
• Head of division certificate (Word file, 26 Kb)

Applications are judged for the quality of the project plan, feasibility with the time frame allowed for postgraduate studies, course plan and financial plan.

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

The most important criterion is the financial situation, which is assessed Karin Blomberg, Head of Finance and Administration. If the finances are not guaranteed for the entire 4 year period then the application cannot be considered further.

Failure to submit a checklist will result in rejection of an application. Completion of the checklist signifies that all information has been included in the study plan. If not, you will be requested during Week 1 to supply additional information.

During weeks 2-3 the applications are reviewed by a review board and the admissions seminars are staged.

Given that proficiency in the English language has been confirmed and that the review board has been positive, the applications are finally approved by the Director of Research Education and officially approved by the Departmental prefect during week 4.