PhD programme in Social Sciences

Admission must be in accordance with the Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Agder and the supplementary regulations for the PhD degree at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The applicant must normally have completed a five-year master’s degree in a relevant subject area from a Norwegian or foreign university or college. The degree must normally comprise a minimum of 90 ECTS credits in the relevant subject area the PhD candidate is admitted to. At least 30 of these ECTS credits should be from the 4th and 5th year of study. All applicants are required to document sufficient previous knowledge in social-scientific methodology.

Generally, an applicant should not be considered for admission to the PhD programme if he/she has an average mark for modules in the relevant subject area lower than B, a mark for graduate modules lower than B, or a mark for his/her Master’s degree thesis or equivalent lower than B.

Admission must either be financed through employment in a three year Research Fellow Candidate position, or through financial guarantee from an employer/organisation. Such a guarantee normally includes 3 years of salary, operating costs, office space and supervision. The University of Agder does not accept private financial support (own savings, funding by spouse/family, etc.) as a basis for admission to a PhD programme. Please refer to more information for applicants.

Admission to the programme can either be directly to the PhD programme in Social Sciences or to one of the four specialisations the PhD programme has to offer.  (See the specialisation descriptions below for more information).  

The programme offers PhD education within all the faculty’s four departments (see list above). The overall purpose of the programme is to give the PhD candidates a thorough theoretical and methodological background, along with the experience of completing a substantial piece of original scientific work (the PhD thesis).

The coursework component consists of a minimum of 30 ECTS credits. All candidates must complete a minimum of 15 ECTS credits in research methodology which includes courses in Philosophy of Science (mandatory), qualitative methods and/or quantitative methods. The detailed course plan must be set up in cooperation with the candidate’s planned supervisors, and presented in the application for admission. The faculty uses a template application form available upon request.

The dissertation project will be initiated in parallel with the obligatory coursework, guided by the appointed supervisor(s). Dissertation seminars will be arranged to support the candidates in developing their dissertation work, and will give the opportunity to present and discuss this with other PhD candidates and faculty.
The dissertation may consist of a monograph or a number of research articles related to each other. An article-based PhD thesis normally consists of three to five articles, at least one single-authored. To be included in the PhD thesis the articles need to be published or of publishable quality. An articlebased PhD thesis includes an introductory part binding the articles in the PhD thesis together. The departments are free to formulate more detailed requirements for the composition of the thesis. 

Upon successful completion of the programme, candidates should have the knowledge, skills and the general competence needed to be at the research frontier of their specific field.

Knowledge

The candidate should be able to

• list, describe and discuss the core theories and methods of the subject area
• evaluate the appropriateness and usefulness of various methods and processes in research projects
• contribute to the development of new knowledge, theories and methods within the subject area

Skills

The candidate should be able to

• formulate research questions, plan and carry out research at a high international level
• analyse and handle complex academic questions and challenge established knowledge and practice within the subject area
• develop scholarly publications in the subject area and reflect on the research and writing process

General competence

The candidate should be able to

• identify and reflect on relevant ethical questions in the research process and conduct own research according to established ethical standards
• disseminate research and development work through recognised national and international channels
• participate in debates within the subject area in international forums
• assess the need for, take the initiative to and engage in innovation

The PhD programme consists of a coursework component of minimum 30 ECTS credits and the completion of a thesis.Research for the thesis is carried out under supervision.

The coursework will be run as seminars including reading assignments, class discussion and presentation of term papers.

The candidates are expected to take full responsibility for their own learning and personal progress. It is expected that candidates will achieve major parts of the learning objectives through self-study.

More information about the courses may be found in the course descriptions. Teaching will be in English.

The assessment is normally based on term papers graded as pass or fail, where pass is equivalent to a grade B or better.

The doctoral programme concludes with a public trial lecture on a prescribed topic and a public defence (disputation) where the candidate presents the main results of the thesis and defends the thesis in a discussion with two opponents.

The PhD degree will qualify for careers in academia, as well as both in private and public sector.

Upon successful completion of the programme, the candidate is awarded the degree of PhD in Social Sciences, with a specialisation in the chosen field.

COURSES GIVEN AT THE FACULTY

ME-631 Researching Social Sciences: Philosophical and Methodological Foundations

UT-601 Development, Planning and Communication 

IS-607 Theoretical Foundations of Information Systems

SO-600 Professions and Professional Relations

SO-601 Reflective Processes in Professional Practice

ST-600 Composite Political Systems and Governance

OTHER RESOURCES
Norwegian website for PhD courses in social science subjects at Norwegian universities 
(UiA and nationwide)

The Research School PROFRES

The Research School NAFOL

Other National Research Schools

PhD on Track