Admission and funding
On this page you will find information regarding the process of admission to the PhD programmes, funding possibilities, and the structure and content of the PhD programmes.
Admission and Funding
- Admission to the PhD programmes requires a relevant, national or international, master’s degree, normally with a master thesis of a minimum of 30 ECTS. Kristiania may, after special assessment, approve other equivalent education as a basis for admission. An experience-based master’s degree (90 ECTS) alone does not provide grounds for admission. Additional requirements may be placed on qualifications according to criteria that are openly available and in line with Kristiania’s recruitment policy and professional profile.
The applicant must have a strong academic background from previous studies. Applicants should normally have a weighted average grade in the last two years of their master’s degree or equivalent education and master thesis with a result of B or better. Applicants without letter grades from previous studies should have an equally good academic foundation. Applicants with poorer academic grades may be admitted if it is documented that the candidate is particularly suitable for the PhD programme.
Application for admission to the programme is based on a predefined form and must document the formal qualifications of the candidate and a description of the project, study plans, funding, and any planned visits to external institutions. The application must also account for any legal or ethical aspects relevant to the completion of the studies. The project description must be developed in cooperation with the main academic supervisor, and the application must be accompanied by a recommendation from at least one academic supervisor.
In addition to coursework grades and the master’s thesis, the Programnme Committee will evaluate the quality and relevance of the project description and any prior scientific publications and relevant work experience of the candidate. Admission into the programme takes place on a continuous basis throughout the year.
Each programme has special requirements:
For general information about application, please contact the administration. Applications must normally include:
- Application form for admission to a PhD programme.
- Documentation of the education on which admission is to be based.
- A project description, including an academic outline of the project and progress plan.
- Documentation of funding.
- Documentation of special needs for academic and material resources
- Plans for periods to be spent at an international institution.
- A plan for academic dissemination.
- Information about any intellectual property restrictions to protect others’ rights.
- A plan for the training component.
- Proposed main academic supervisor and co-supervisors, indicating their affiliation with an active academic community for research or artistic development work.
- An account of any legal and/or ethical issues raised by the project and how they can be resolved. The application must state whether the project is dependent on permissions from research ethics committees or other authorities or from private individuals (informants, patients, parents, etc.). Where possible, this kind of permission should be obtained in writing and submitted with the application.
You can find the templates for admission here.
The PhD School may set requirements regarding further documentation.
- To be admitted to a PhD programme funding for the whole PhD period is required. PhD candidates do not have student status in Norway and are not eligible to receive support from The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund ("Lånekassen").
The funding alternatives are PhD research fellow positions at Kristiania (or elsewhere), Industrial PhD or Public Sector PhD funded by a company or public institution with 50 percent support from Research Council of Norway, or other funds or funding sources.
Vacant PhD research fellow positions at Kristiania are advertised under vacancies.
- The PhD programme is a full-time programme with a nominal completion time of 3 years. In some instances, candidates are employed in PhD research fellow positions spanning over 4 years with 25% teaching duties.
The PhD programme consists of 180 ECTS, of which the coursework constitutes 30 ECTS and the PhD thesis correspond to 150 ECTS. The coursework component is a combination of mandatory and elective specialisation courses. The Research, Ethics and Society course (10 ECTS) is mandatory for all students. For more details you can read the specific programme description.
The programmes uses the English language, which means that the courses and seminars are taught in English, that all assessment activities are in the English language and that the thesis is normally written in English.
The PhD thesis constitutes the central part of the programme and documents an independent research project carried out under individual academic supervision. The research project is required to contribute new knowledge and original research results. The thesis must document the individual scientific work conducted by the candidate in accordance with international standards for research ethics, scientific levels, and work practices in the field of research. The thesis may take the form of a monograph or of a compilation of papers, called an ‘article-based thesis’.
- Internal PhD Research Fellows:
After you have been hired as a PhD Research Fellow, you need to apply for admission to the PhD programme within three months after starting up in your position at Kristiania. In the meantime, you will be working together with your supervisor to improve your project proposal and you can also sign up for PhD single courses via Søknadsweb. The PhD period start form the day of your funding (start-up date in the contract) although you have not yet been admitted.
Externally funded candidates:
You will need to enter a Cooperation agreement between the project owner (your organisation/employer) and Kristiania together with Confirmation of participation in a doctoral project. The School of Doctoral Studies will facilitate this process and provide you with the necessary agreements.
The processing of your application of admission:
The PhD Programme Committee processes you application for admission. The Chair of the committee is the Head of the PhD programme. The PhD Programme Committee (PGC) makes a recommendation based on the feedback from the members of the committee. The recommendation is sent to the Doctoral Degree Committee (DDC), which is headed by the Dean of the School of Doctoral Studies. The DDC makes the final decision on admission. Both the PGC and the DDC can decide that the project proposal needs to be revised and resubmitted within a deadline. When you have been accepted to the PhD programme you will sign the Agreement on admission to the PhD programme together with your supervisors.
- Here you can find research project descriptions in connection to the PhD Research fellow positions.
General:
Rules, template and courses (Accordion block)
- The doctoral studies at Kristiania is governed by the local regualtions:
- Kristiania offers single courses at the PhD level. To qualify for these courses, you need to fulfil one or more of three requirements:
- You are enrolled in a PhD programme at Kristiania or at an external institution
- You are in the process of applying for admission to a PhD programme at Kristiania
- You are employed at Kristiania University College and minimum hold a masters’ degree.
For applicants outside Kristiania (external applicants are candidates that are neither employed nor enrolled at a PhD program at Kristiania): You must complete and upload the form Application form for external candidates to attend PhD courses which you will find here.
You must also upload a signed confirmation from your PhD programme stating that you are an active PhD candidate at your programme and institution.Application for external candidates: please apply through Søknadsweb
You can find an overview of courses on the webpage of the different PhD programmes under electable courses in addition to the joint PhD course Research, Ethics and Society (RES9100)Here are the PhD courses offered at Kristiania autumn 2024:
PCL9205 - Communication and Leadership in Health Care
- Teaching dates: September 3, 4, 9 and 10, 2024
- Deadline for applying: August 3, 2024
PCL9202 - Contemporary Issues in Communication and Leadership- Teaching dates: September 17. and 18. and October 9., 2024
- Deadline for applying: August 17, 2024
RES9100 - Research ethics and society- Teaching dates: Every Thursday October 3 - December 5, 2024
- Deadline for applying: September 3, 2024
PCL9206 - Practical and Critical Perspectives on Leadership- Teaching dates: October 7 - 8 and December 5 - 6, 2024
- Deadline for applying: September 7
PCL9203 – Digital Media & Political communication- Teaching dates: October 30, November 6, 13, 20 and 27, 2024
- Deadline for applying: September 30, 2024
PIT9209 - Qualitative Research Methods- Teaching dates: November 7 - 8 and 28 - 29, 2024
- Deadline for applying: October 7, 2024
PIT9204 - Data Analytics for Business- Teaching dates: December 2 - 5, 2024
- Deadline for applying: November 2, 2024.
If a low number of students are signed up for a course, it may be cancelled or offered as a reading course with one start-up lecture and supervision.If you have any inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us at phd-studies@kristiania.no
- Kristiania University College is subject to the Norwegian Research Ethics Act and associated regulations and adheres to national and European research ethics guidelines. Kristiania University College has also drawn up dedicated research ethics guidelines based on the overarching regulations and a research ethics committee has also been established.