Doctoral studies at FyFa

1. A prospective principal supervisor must apply to FyFa to establish a doctoral position by submitting the required documentation to FyFa HR.
2. Required documents
   The following documents must be submitted:

• Application for a Green Light
• Application for the establishment of a doctoral position, including:
• Research plan
• Supervisory team
• CV of the principal supervisor
• Funding plan for the prospective doctoral student
• Description of the doctoral student's future work environment
• Documentation regarding a potential exemption from recruitment advertising
• Ethical approval, if required or planned
• Collaboration agreement, if applicable

The research plan should be approximately five pages and include the background, methods, and descriptions of the specific projects, including aims and hypotheses.

Please note that the Green Light assessment considers the supervisor's qualifications and ability to supervise doctoral education. Other criteria must also be met for a doctoral position to be established, including the financial plan, the quality of the research project, and the proposed supervisory team. See the Staff Portal for further information.

Please send all documents to FyFa HR: hr@fyfa.ki.se

The assessment may take up to three weeks. Please therefore make sure to submit the documentation well in advance of the relevant deadline.

Assessment of the application

Once all required documents have been submitted, the following assessments will take place:

1. Green Light: The Head of Department and the Directors of Doctoral Studies assess the application for a Green Light.
2. Research project and supervisory team: The ISP Committee assesses the research plan and proposed supervisory team.
3. Funding: The Head of Department, Administrative Chief, and Financial Controller assess the funding plan.

The recruitment process starts once the doctoral position has been established.

2A. Doctoral students recruited through advertising

FyFa HR assists supervisors with advertising the doctoral position and with subsequent steps in the recruitment process, including interviews and eligibility assessments. Colleagues may be involved in the recruitment process where appropriate.
The recruitment process normally takes approximately 10–12 weeks, including the advertisement period, candidate assessments, interviews, and eligibility assessment. The timeline may vary depending on the number of applicants and other circumstances.
Please plan ahead before initiating the recruitment process.
Advertising a doctoral position is required when the doctoral student will be employed by FyFa.
The supervisors select the doctoral student candidate.
 

2B. Doctoral students employed by Region Stockholm (SLL), supported by CSTP, or employed in industry

The process starts once the doctoral position has been established.
Please contact the Doctoral Course Administrator, Sofia Pettersson, regarding the assessment of eligibility.

2C. Doctoral students with scholarships

The process starts once the doctoral position has been established.
Whenever possible, the prospective doctoral student should visit FyFa and the research group for an interview and to receive information about what it means to be a doctoral student at KI.
FyFa HR can assist supervisors with practical matters, such as visa applications.
 

Please contact the Doctoral Course Administrator, Sofia Pettersson, regarding the assessment of eligibility.

Once the doctoral student has been selected and eligibility has been assessed, the admission decision can be prepared.

Compulsory documents for admission

The following documents are required:

• Decision of admission to doctoral education
• Eligibility statement
• Description of the selection process and assessment of ability and suitability
• Certificate of completion of the mandatory supervisor course, including the web course
• CV of the applicant
• Copy of passport if the applicant does not have a Swedish personal identity number (personnummer)

Please send the documents by email to the Doctoral Course Administrator at FyFa:

Sofia Pettersson – sofia.pettersson@ki.se

Annual follow-up is mandatory for all doctoral students and should be submitted once a year.

The individual study plan (ISP) and the student’s progression must be followed-up every year regardless of study activity. Information about the ISP, user manuals and other support functions at the staff portal read here

Link to KI-website and information about Annual-follow-up here

On this page we describe the process of half-time review for doctoral students at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology.

The half-time review shall be carried out for every doctoral student who is aiming for a doctoral degree when two years of full-time doctoral education or the equivalent has been completed.

Please start by reviewing the general KI rules for half-time review.

1. Notification of half-time review

No later than four weeks before your half-time seminar you notify the department of an up-coming half-time review by submitting the first part of Form 5 (Notification). The doctoral student and the supervisor fill in part 1 and send the form to the administrator of doctoral education at the department. A Ladok transcript should be attached.

The director for doctoral studies appoints the half-time committee by signing the form, where after the doctoral student can send documents to the appointed committee.

2. Supervisor opens a new version of ISP (keep revision mode open until after seminar).

3. Submit documentation to the examination committee

You or your supervisor should then submit to the members of the examination committee, a number of documents related to your doctoral studies. Please consult the KI rules for half-time review to see which documents should be submitted.

4. Book a room for the half-time seminar

Remember to book a room.

5. Announce the half-time seminar in calendar

The half-time review should be announced in the KI and FyFa calendars on the website ki.se. Please send an e-mail to FYFA Communication, communication@fyfa.ki.se , with the following information:

• Date and time of your half-time seminar
• The title of your work/your upcoming thesis
• Location of dissertation (both physical and online)
• The name of your supervisor

6. After seminar:

• Send the signed form 5 to Sofia Pettersson.
• Revise the ISP and upload the signed form 5 and the Half-time report.

FyFa follows the general rules for dissertation defence at Karolinska Institutet.

General information

Take some time to go through the information Time to defend your thesis on KI's Staff portal.

FyFa timeframe for public defence application:

1. Take some time to go through the information on KI´s staff portal.
2. Contact the Director of doctoral studies or the administrator to check your Ladok credits and that you have documents you need for your application.
3. Contact  sofia.pettersson@ki.se to book a venue for the dissertation.
4. For signatures from Head of department and Director of studies: send in the application form via email to sofia.pettersson@ki.se at least one week before the last submission date of the application to the Dissertation Committee at KI.
5. The completed and signed transcription of your public defence (including attachments) should then be sent to the Dissertation Committee at KI.

Announcement of your thesis defence

Your thesis defence can be announced in the KI calendar once the electronic version of your thesis has been uploaded to the KI Open Archive database.

For your dissertation to be announced in the KI and FyFa calendars on the website ki.se. Please send an e-mail to FYFA Communication, communication@fyfa.ki.se , with the following information:

• Date and time of your dissertation
• The title of your work/your upcoming thesis
• Location of dissertation (both physical and online)
• The name of your supervisor

Nailing

Doctoral students are required to nail their thesis at the University Library in Solna.
To ensure this process is followed correctly, the department heads in Biomedicum have decided to replace the unofficial nailing board (spikplanka) at Biomedicum with a display shelf.

The shelf will replace the nailing board on floor 3.

We encourage all PhD students to place a copy of their thesis on the shelf after the official nailing at the KI Library.

• Recent theses will be displayed on the top shelf.
• Older theses will be placed in the shelf.

Read more here!

Transcript of public defence

The completed and signed transcription of your public defence (including attachements) should then be sent to the Dissertation Committee at KI.

Download the application form 9, Application public defence that you will find on Apply for public defence of your thesis. You will find the contact information to the Dissertation Committee on the same page.

Thesis printing

The printing cost for the thesis will be paid by Fyfa. Please forward the invoice in UBW to Kristina Seitz. At the same time, please send a short message to ekonomi@fyfa.ki.se. 
Link: https://staff.ki.se/doctoral-education/time-to-defend-your-thesis/layout-and-printing-thesis

Opponent's fee and reimbursement

The opponent is entitled to receive an opponent's fee of SEK 15 000 (minus taxes) after the dissertation defence,.

Opponents are also reimbursed for expenses they have had in connection to the dissertation defence. Remember to book via KI´s contract travel agency, info here. 

For Swedish opponents please provide HR with the following information:

• Full name
• Swedish identity number
• Home Address
• Email Address
• Certificate document from Swedish population register (Personbevis) from Skatteverket or a photocopy of passport detail page
• To register bank account via this link  

For foreign opponent please provide HR with the following information:

• Full name
• Birth date or Swedish identity number
• Home Address
• Email Address
• A photocopy of passport detail page
• Bank account register in the attached form (note to include the IBAN and SWIFT numbers)
• Tax registration number (TIN) in his/her country of origin
• Information about the opponents visit in Sweden in terms of dates and if he/she participated psychically or digitally at the dissertation

FyFa HR arrange with the application for SINK-tax  for foreign opponents via the Swedish Tax Agency.
Submit the information to FyFa's HR unit via HR@fyfa.ki.se. 

Useful links

Tme to defend your thesis
Apply for public defence of your thesis

Doctoral courses at Karolinska Institutet are arranged as individual courses, in a doctoral programme or in a doctoral school. The individual courses and courses arranged by a doctoral programme are published in the course catalogue.

Doctoral courses

Doctoral courses at Karolinska institutet are arranged as individual courses, in a doctoral programme or in a doctoral school. The individual courses and courses arranged by a doctoral programme are published in the course catalogue.

Course catalogue - doctoral courses at KI

Please note that all students at Karolinska Institutet admitted to doctoral/third cycle education have to participate in a general and compulsory introduction to doctoral education at Karolinska Institutet - Introduction to doctoral education at KI – Expectations, support and opportunities.

All doctoral students at Karolinska Institutet are required to attain an educational target corresponding to at least 30 higher education credits for those working towards a doctoral degree or at least 15 university credits for those working towards a licentiate degree. You find the requirements in the general syllabus https://staff.ki.se/doctoral-education/documents-and-information-doctoral-education/general-syllabus-for-doctoral-education . 

Queries regarding doctoral education courses and programmes

E-mail: doctoralcourses@ki.se

Credits for doctoral studies

Here's how to be accredited in Ladok with the university credits you are awarded during your doctoral studies:

Credits awarded from doctoral courses at KI

Credits you have been awarded from doctoral courses at KI are registered in Ladok by the department that arranged the course. This is done automatically.

If you took a doctoral course before you were admitted as a doctoral student, find more information about credit transfer below.

Credit transfer - Form 13

A credit transfer means that one of the credit-bearing courses and knowledge requirements of the syllabus is replaced by credits earned previously or outside KI.

• Courses outside KI
• Courses concluded prior to admission
• Other credit bearing activitys, see form 16, if they are completed prior to admission
• Professional skills and experience

Reporting credit-bearing activity - Form 16

• Participate in international congress
• Participation in seminars, journal clubs
• Period with another research group at another university
• Teaching

You can download forms 13 and 16 from the Forms and documents for doctoral education on the staff portal.

Attachments you need to submit with Form 16

-- for participation in international congresses --

Proof of active participation title, date, place of the conference. Participation only does not grant any credits.

-- for doctoral education or research collaborations at other universities --

Submit certificate detailing the content of the training, duration and university or company. The certificate must be approved by your supervisor at KI.

-- for teaching --

Hours you have taught in undergraduate courses at FyFa are registered in Planedit. Administrator at FyFa can help you print out a work report. For supervising a master student you need a certificate from your supervisor.

For PhD student belonging to PMI you should document hours/days of teaching. This includes lectures, seminars and also clinical teaching of students “on the floor”. To get credits use this documentation along with a certificate from the supervisor.

-- for participation in seminars/journal clubs/FyFa Forum --

Submit a certificate stating how many occasions, what kind of occasion and period. The certificate must be approved by your supervisor at KI.

For PhD student belonging to PMI you should document participation in seminars/journal clubs, “Monday meetings” at the clinic usually belong to this type of activity. 

A report of your activity and how your studies have been financed, must be submitted twice a year in June and in December. You will get the form via email from Sofia Pettersson. The report is registered in Ladok.

You find more information here: https://staff.ki.se/doctoral-education/reporting-study-activity-and-source-of-income 

Please contact Kent Jardemark, Departmental Director of Education (GUA) at FyFa, if you are interested in teaching at one of our courses in physiology and/or pharmacology, then he will guide you to the course leaders.

Credits for teaching (max 4,5 credits)

60 hours – 4,5 credits

Supervising a student 0,1 credits/week, (max 2 credits)

The doctoral student representatives at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology (FyFa) are PhD students from the department that act on behalf of all doctoral students. 

The doctoral student representatives organise social activities at the department to encourage sharing and collaborations. They are also at hand when you need to talk to a fellow doctoral student, being a bridge between administration and students.

Doctoral students' ombudspersons

Contact the doctoral students' ombudspersons

The Doctoral Students' Ombudsperson provides doctoral students with independent information about rules and regulations at Karolinska Institutet. The DO may also assist and support doctoral students in the case of a conflict with the department.

The Doctoral Students' Ombudsperson is an expert employed by Medicinska Föreningen to support doctoral students at Karolinska Institutet.

Being a doctoral student can be hectic and demanding. This page lists the persons you may turn to when you need support.

Problems with your employment or work environment

The HR unit at FyFa is usually your first point of contact when you need assistance in matters related to your employment or your work environment.

Rebecka Jakobsson

HR-ansvarig

Telefon: +46852484101

Mobil:+46737121357

E-post: rebecka.jakobsson@ki.se

Problems related to supervision

Should you experience problems related to supervision, try to speak to your supervisor first. If speaking to your supervisor does not help, you can turn to the Head of Department or the HR unit at FyFa.

You'll find more information on how do deal with problems related to supervision on the website studera.nu - doctoral studies (link to external website)

Sophie Erhardt

Prefekt

Telefon: +46852486883

Mobil:+46706296706

E-post: sophie.erhardt@ki.se

Harassment or bullying

Harassment or bullying has no place at work.

If you have experienced or been the witness of harassment or bullying, you are always welcome to phone, e-mail or come by the offices of the HR unit at FyFa.

The HR unit can help you by being an intermediary when communicating with the person(s) concerned. They can also help you get in touch with the Doctoral Student's Ombudsperson or with a psychologist.

If you prefer to speak to someone outside of the department, you can contact the Doctoral Students' Ombudsperson. The Ombudsperson provides doctoral students with independent information about rules and regulations at Karolinska Institutet. The Ombudsperson is employed by the Medical Students' Association in Stockholm. The Ombudsperson works under confidentiality unless explicitly told otherwise by the doctoral student who seeks advice.

You can also get around the clock telephone counselling provided by Falck Healthcare. This is an around the clock telephone counselling service for employees, doctoral students and postdocs on stipends, which provides assistance and can quickly identify any need for help or support.

Conflicts with the department

The Doctoral Students' Ombudsperson assists and supports doctoral students if a conflict has arisen with the department. The Ombudsperson works under confidentiality unless explicitly told otherwise by the doctoral student who seeks advice.

Responsible research and doctoral education

Kent Jardemark

GUA

Telefon: +46852486772

E-post: kent.jardemark@ki.se

Eddie Weitzberg

Telefon: +46852487994

E-post: eddie.weitzberg@ki.se

Doctoral students' ombudspersons

Contact the Doctoral students' ombudsperson

Links

Staff support – around the clock telephone counselling

studera.nu - about doctoral studies