Doctoral student in Philosophy, specialization in Ethics in Teacher Education

The Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies together with Umeå School of Education invites applications for the doctoral training programme in Philosophy, specialization in Ethics in Teacher Education.

The Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies conducts research and education within archeology, environmental archeology, history, history and education, history of science and ideas, religious studies, theology and philosophy.

The department offers courses and awards degrees in philosophy at the undergraduate (first-cycle), advanced (second-cycle), and graduate (third-cycle) level. There are 18 permanently employed faculty members in the subject. The research activity is high and research is pursued over a broad range of philosophical areas, including aesthetics, applied ethics, epistemology, history of philosophy, metaethics, metaphysics, normative ethics, philosophy of artificial intelligence, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and political philosophy. A research seminar for the whole subject typically meets weekly during semesters. In addition, guest lectures, reading groups, workshops and conferences are organized. The research is highly internationalized and contributes to the advancement of knowledge through peer-reviewed publications in international journals and in books from international publishers. Researchers are engaged in extensive networks and collaborate with colleagues nationally and internationally. 

The Postgraduate School in Educational Sciences offers a coherent environment for doctoral education in the field of educational sciences at Umeå University. You will combine your doctoral education at a department with being part of a dynamic, interdisciplinary doctoral student group and have access to national and international research networks. As a doctoral student in the graduate school, you will contribute to the development of knowledge in the field, for the benefit of researchers as well as teachers and other educational professions.

Specialization of the doctoral studentship

The doctoral position is open for applicants with research proposals focusing on ethical issues relevant to teacher education. This may include, for example, questions in ethics education concerning how teachers – also outside of dedicated ethics courses – can teach ethics in ways that are fruitful and relevant for different groups of pupils; practical questions about which methods or models are suitable for handling ethical conflicts in schools; philosophical questions related to the school’s fundamental values and teachers’ professional ethics; or questions concerning blame, praise, and responsibility within teachers’ professional practice. The field should be understood broadly, and issues such as democracy and equality in schools may also fall within its scope.. This doctoral position is advertised in collaboration with the Umeå School of Education and is a part of the Postgraduate School in the Educational Sciences. Core parts of the doctoral programme are delivered in English, and the working language of the philosophy unit is English, whereas the working language of the department as a whole is mainly Swedish.

Qualifications

To be admitted, the applicant must meet both general and subject specific entry requirements. A person meets the general entry requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if the person has been awarded a second-cycle qualification, has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad. The Faculty Board may permit an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant, if there are special grounds (Chapter 7, Section 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance).

To meet the specific entry requirements for third-cycle (doctoral level) education in philosophy, specialization in Ethics in Teacher Education, one must have completed a minimum of 30 credits on second-cycle level in philosophy, practical philosophy or theoretical philosophy, including a degree project of at least 15 credits. Students who have acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way may be admitted to the third-cycle education after an assessment.

Applicants will be ranked with reference to their capacity to benefit from and complete the program. The assessment criteria are prior study results, the quality of the submitted independent projects, and the quality of the research plan and its relevance for the philosophy coupled with the department’s ability to supervise the proposed research project. This assessment will be complemented with references and interviews, and additional evaluations of the main candidates.

General and subject specific entry requirements must have been met at the time of application. Applicants who wish to argue they have acquired equivalent general and/or specific entry requirements in other ways, either in Sweden or abroad, need to show this in their application to facilitate assessment of equivalence.

Terms of employment

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.

See the general syllabus.  

Doctoral students are affiliated with the Postgraduate school in the educational sciences, coordinated with the doctoral training programme at the relevant department. Doctoral studies begin at the start of the autumn semester, 31 august 2026.  The place of work is Umeå University. The entry level salary is 33 100 SEK and rises in four steps to 38 100 SEK. Doctoral students are expected to actively contribute to the research environment and a high level of attendance at the department is required. 

Physically the employee will be stationed at the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, where the subject-specific education and supervision will take place.

According to The Higher Education Ordinance, chapter 12 §2, a decision of appointment for a doctoral student position cannot be appealed.

Application

Applications are submitted in the e-recruitment system Varbi, no later than 2026-04-15.   

An application must contain:

• A degree certificate, transcript from the Ladok student registry, and/or equivalent attested copies of your academic transcripts proving that general and specific requirements are met.
• Curriculum vitae, including name and contact information of two reference persons.
• Copies of relevant BA and MA theses and other relevant publications.
• A letter that states your motivation for undertaking research training leading to a PhD, and that specifies what expertise at the Department is needed for carrying out your research.
• Research plan – should normally not exceed 30,000 characters including spaces – that contains a description of the proposed project’s:
  - purpose and research problem 
  - previous research
  - implementation, that is, method, material and theory
  - relevance for Philosophy, specialization in Ethics in Teacher Education
  - time plan

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Please note: the Swedish version is the official version of this advertisement. In the case of any differences in information between this translation and the official version, the latter takes precedence and is the legally binding document.

Additional information

The place of work is Umeå University. Doctoral students are expected to actively contribute to the research environment and a high level of attendance at the department is required. 

For more information contact docent Lars Samuelsson,  lars.samuelsson@umu.se, 090-786 62 41

We look forward to receiving your application!