The Department of Language Studies offers research training programs in Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics, Literature, Pedagogical Work, and Sami Studies. Research into language, culture and literature can take many forms. The Ph. D. candidates at the department analyze place names, spoken language practices, Sami art, ecopoetry, translation processes, metaphors, fan fiction, first- and second language acquisition, literacy, and much more.
The PhD program is comprised of four years full-time study and consists of a course component and a dissertation component. The program is aimed at giving the candidate deepened knowledge of and exhaustive training in research methods, as well as a comprehensive understanding of research problems and theories relevant within the respective research fields and in practical applications of these. To make the candidate a critical and independent researcher with the ability to plan and produce scholarly texts, the program gives a broad orientation in the research development within the respective field. Further, the program prepares the candidate for disseminating her or his results to different audiences.
Each doctoral student has at least two supervisors. You can read more about our supervisors and their research interests here:
Supervisors
All PhD candidates are affiliated with at least one research school that offers courses aimed at developing participants’ vocational and individual skills, as well as generic competencies. Among research schools are the Faculty of Art´s Doctoral College, the Postgraduate School in the Educational Sciences and the Graduate School of Gender studies.
Each candidate has at least two supervisors, which enables interdisciplinary projects, and in the environment there are possibilities for contacts with research networks, both in Umeå and elsewhere. At present, our Ph. D. students receive 25 000 SEK per year as expense funding, which can be used for conference trips, data collection, international summer schools etc. All staff at the department also have their own working space, a computer, and access to first-rate library resources.
To be admitted to studies at the third-cycle level, the applicant must meet the eligibility requirements (see the relevant general syllabus below), and must be deemed to have such abilities as are otherwise required in order to assimilate the education. A student admitted to the program is financed the entire period via a PhD position. PhD positions are normally advertised every other year here: Open Positions.
Doctoral students will mainly devote themselves to their own education at third-cycle level. Employment as a doctoral student will be for the time deemed necessary for the completion of research studies at a normal rate of study, which corresponds to a full-time position for four years. An initial contract of 12 months is extended with up to two years at a time provided that the individual study plan is followed. A doctoral student may to a limited extent also work with teaching and administration up to a maximum of 20 percent of full-time. The period of employment may thus be extended up to a maximum of five years. The entry level salary is 27 900 SEK and rises in three steps to 32 300 SEK.
The syllabus is an important regulatory document for the research program. There are also central guidelines and policy documents. The legal framework regulates all positions, including the PhD position,
More information can be found at the Humanities Faculty pages, as well as on the University’s pages focused on the PhD program. You can also find more general information at studera.nu. You are also welcome to contact our Director of Research Studies.
Doctoral Studies, Faculty of Arts
Doctoral Studies, Umeå University
