PhD at Kristiania

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 by the programme board 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.  

The assessment will be conducted by the PhD programme committee. In addition to coursework grades and the master’s thesis, the 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: 

• PhD in Applied Information Technology
• PhD in Communication and Leadership
  
  

For link to 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 fint the templates for admission here.

The PhD School may set requirements regarding further documentation.

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.

The programmes uses the English language, which means that the courses 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’.

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.

All PhD candidates are encouraged to stay abroad at a partner institution during the research fellowship period. Research stays abroad with international partners can contribute to competence development, networking, and the development of new project ideas. International experience can give an advantage in the competition for scientific positions and externally funded project funding.

Research at Kristiania University College often takes place in research groups anchored at the various Schools and departments. Research groups contribute to the development of strong academic environments and lasting academic collaboration.

Ongoing research projects at Kristiania University College are shown here. The overview is based on projects registered in the CRIStin database. Active research projects anchored at the University College are available here on this website.

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.

Kristiania University College is growing and is building increasingly large and broad research communities. Kristiania prioritises national and international collaboration and participates in a number of international networks.

Kristiania offers single courses at the PhD level. To qualify for these courses, you need to fulfil one or more of three requirements:

1. You are enrolled in a PhD programme at Kristiania or at an external institution
2. You are in the process of applying for admission to a PhD programme at Kristiania
3. 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.  

For link to application, please contact the administration.

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 spring 2023: 

Course code	Name of course	Teaching dates	Deadline for applying
PCL9101	Field-based Research in Organisations	March 7. - 9.	February 7.
PCL9200	The Green Transition: Leading and Communicating Sustainability	May 2. - 3. and May 15. - 16.	April 2.
PCL9202	Contemporary issues in Communication and Leadership	January 31. - February 2.	January 17.
PIT9201	Quantitative Research Methods	March 28. – 31.	February 28.
PIT9205	Design Science Research	March 21. - 24.	February 21.
PIT9206	Evolutionary Computation and Search-Based Software Engineering	June 6 – 9,	May 6.
RES9100	Research, Ethics and Society	April 11. – 13., April 18. – 20., and May 23. – 26.	March 11.

If two or fewer candidates are participating in a course, it will be 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