Regulations concerning admission to doctoral programmes are described in detail in § 2 of the PhD regulations for UiA, and in the supplementary regulations.
Academic qualifications
Applicants to a doctoral degree programme should hold a five-year master’s degree or equivalent qualification approved by the faculty as the basis for admission to the relevant doctoral degree programme. Some programmes may have additional requirements for applicants. These are described in the Supplementary Regulations.
Funding
The most common way of financing the PhD degree at UiA is to apply for PhD research fellowships which are announced on UiAs website for vacant positions.
To be admitted to a PhD programme the applicant must either be employed as a PhD research fellow, or document financing for the doctoral studies. UiA does not grant admission for applicants without proof of a satisfactory funding.
In order to strengthen the cooperation between Norwegian industry or public administration, and universities, funding for an industrial and public PhD has been established by the Norwegian Research Council. This is an alternative way of funding for those who work in a public or private company operating in Norway. The research project must be of direct relevance the companie’s area of responsibility and build knowledge and competence that is relevant and applicable to them.
Such PhD is conducted in cooperation between a PhD candidate, his/her employer and UiA. The candidate is employed by the company and receives a salary from them. The company may apply for funding from the Research Council of Norway to cover costs for a PhD fellowship. UiA awards the PhD degree after a completed doctoral programme.
For more information, please see UiAs website, or the Research Council of Norway website.
Applying for a doctoral programme
After the necessary funding is approved one must apply for admission to a doctoral programme. Even if the applicant has been appointed a PhD research fellowship by UiA, he/she still has to be admitted to a doctoral programme too.
The application form is available on UiAs website. Please contact the administrative PhD coordinator at your faculty.
The description of the research project must specify theme, the issues to be considered, theory and methodology. When applying for admission, the applicant may submit a summary of a project description provided. After submission a complete project description should be prepared no later than 3 months in cooperation with the principal supervisor. A shorter time limit may be stipulated by supplementary provisions.
Agreement
When admission to a doctoral degree programme is granted, a written agreement is made to formalise this. The agreement is made between the PhD candidate, the supervisor(s) and the faculty, and it stipulates the mutual rights and obligations of the parties. For more details, please see the PhD regulations.
There are three parts in the agreement. Parts A and B are to be completed for all PhD candidates admitted. Part C is to be completed only for candidates who receive external funding (Norwegian Research Council excluded), or who have a workplace at an institution other than the University of Agder.