Admission requirements to the PhD programme

In order to be admitted to the Faculty's PhD programme, the applicant must have a cand.psychol. degree, a five-year Norwegian master's degree or equivalent education, or other qualifications approved by the Faculty. The grade norm for admission is B or better for the main/master's dissertation, or the average grade of the qualifying degree. Applicants with weaker grades may be admitted if it is documented that the applicant is particularly suited for the PhD education.

It is not necessary to attach a summary of the master's or main thesis.

See also the program description for the PhD programme.

The financial framework must be sufficient for the implementation and completion of the doctoral project. Applicants must submit confirmation of satisfactory funding, both for living expenses and research expenses for the entire research training period. This is usually documented with an employment contract or confirmation of a grant award. Self-financed candidates, who come with their own, private funds, are not admitted to the programme. At least 50% of the working time must be used for research training.

See also the program description for the PhD programme.

The project description (max. 10 pages incl. reference list) should, in addition to accounting for topics, issues and choice of theories and methods (design, data base and analysis), also account for planned academic works and the format of the thesis (article-based or monograph). The project should appear to be feasible within the time frame and from the resources available. The project description should include a literature review showing that the applicant understands the subject area and can draw sensible conclusions from previous research. The project description should explicitly discuss relevant ethical research issues related to (for example) privacy, obligation to notify, etc. If it is relevant to apply to the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) or apply for advice from UiB’s Data Protection Officer or Sikt (Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research), it must be stated that you have applied or intend to apply.

Regarding applications related to specifically defined research projects, the applicant should contact the project manager in order to obtain the project description. Based on this, the applicant should draw up a separate, short project draft, maximum 3 pages (including references). The draft is prepared and submitted by agreement with the professional community, no later than one month after the potential employment.

See also the program description for the PhD programme.

The main supervisor must write a declaration which recommends the candidate for the project in question and confirms that they are willing to supervise the candidate. Any other relevant information that does not appear in the project description or application can also be provided here.

The following documents should be attached to the completed application form:

• Project description
• Confirmation from the research group and PhD supervisor
• CV
• Transcripts and references (all higher education)
• Applicants with a foreign education must enclose certified translations to English or a Scandinavian language if the original Diploma and grade transcripts are not already in one of these languages. The applicants must also enclose a confirmation from NOKUT (The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) that the education is recognised to be in accordance with the Norwegian master’s degree. Some educational qualifications from the Nordic countries may be automatically approved, see NOKUT.
• Relevant certificates and references
• Plan for any stays abroad
• If relevant: Declaration from the basic unit on the financing of special operating costs
• A list of any (scientific) publications
• External applicants (PhD candidates not funded by UiB) must provide proof of sufficient funding/R & D time for the entire period of the research programme.