Working time and prolongation

A doctoral student is a student but is usually also an employee. Find out what applies here:

Higher Education Ordinance

Doctoral education is regulated by the Higher Education Ordinance, which states:

"A person appointed to doctoral studentship must primarily dedicate time to their own studies" (The Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Section 2).

At the Swedish Defence University, doctoral students are normally employed and a doctoral student's employment is always civilian, even if the doctoral student is an officer. Research training consists of both training time and employment time. Normally they run parallel.

Training time alludes to the time a person admitted to a doctoral programme is entitled to supervision and other resources, such as courses. A doctoral student has the right to take exams after completed courses and be examined for a doctoral thesis or scientific paper for a licentiate degree, even after the education period has expired. However, the doctoral student is no longer entitled to supervision.

Employment Doctoral student employment means study funding for third-cycle education in the form of employment as a doctoral student in accordance with Chapter 5. HF.

The Higher Education Ordinance regulates the following:

• Doctoral student employment (and thus also the duration of the programme) can be held for a maximum of four years in total, spread over a maximum of eight years (48 months full-time).
• Possibility of a maximum of 20 per cent departmental service, which may include education, research and/or administration.
• This gives a total of five years of full-time doctoral employment.

The decision, Regler om anställning som doktorand, Ö 705/2021 Pdf, 1.2 MB., (currently not available in English), demonstrates how the Swedish Defence University has chosen to regulate employment and extension.

At FHS, the same rules apply to doctoral students as they do to other employees.

Departmental duties

Departmental duties is a right for all doctoral students and a natural part of the doctoral programme. At the Swedish Defence University, all doctoral students should be offered 20 per cent departmental service.

In accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance, the doctoral student's employment may be extended with the time that the departmental service constitutes.

Departmental service may include working with education, research or administration. It should be designed in a relevant manner to the doctoral student's education and the taking into account the doctoral student's previous experience and knowledge. The service must not have an unfavourable impact on the doctoral programme.

The service need not be limited to one's own department but may extend across the entire research area.

If departmental service exceeds 20 per cent in one year, this should be compensated by less departmental service in another year. The supervisor and supervising manager mustl ensure that the remaining doctoral student time is distributed in the right proportions, and the departmental duties may not exceed 20 per cent in total. This shall also be documented in the doctoral student's ISP. The decision on departmental service is available here Pdf, 503.4 kB. Ö 595/2019 (currently not availabe in English).

Salary increase for doctoral students

Salary for doctoral students is regulated according to the Lokalt kollektivavtal om lönesättning och lönetrappa för doktorander Pdf, 66.7 kB. Ö 247/2016 (currently not availabe in English).

When a doctoral student has achieved 60 credits and 120 credits towards a doctoral degree, there will be a shift upwards in the doctoral ladder.

The supervisor or responsible director of studies sends an e-mail to hr@fhs.se with a copy to the head of department. The e-mail should state that the doctoral student has reached the next salary level in the doctoral salary ladder and at what time the salary adjustment should take place. The newly achieved level is adjusted on the first month following the alteration.

When employment is to be extended, the individual study plan (ISP) and a certificate from the supervisor form the basis for extension.

Prolongation due to special reasons

According to the Higher Education Ordinance, doctoral employment can be extended for special reasons:

• absence due to illness
• leave for service in national defence
• parental leave
• positions of trust in trade unions and student organisations

Extensions due to illness and parental leave are regulated via Primula.

Parental leave is registered on a specific code in Primula and this code is used when calculating total absence and any prolongation of employment.

Vacations taken during parental leave are seen as returning to work and thus receiving full pay during the vacation period. However, vacation does not prolong the doctoral student position.

Elected position

The doctoral student position is also extended for positions of trust. This means, for example:

• membership of the boards of international and national doctoral student organisations,
• membership of the university's own bodies,
• assignments as assessors/reviewers for FHS, another higher education institution or the Swedish Higher Education Authority (e.g. the Swedish Higher Education Authority's reviews of higher education institutions, educational evaluations and degree authorisation reviews, FHS university-wide evaluations and reviews.

The time for positions of trust can be handled as

• extension of the doctoral student period or,
• within the departmental service period.

More information can be found in Regulations for Extending the Education and Employment Period for Doctoral Students and Regulations Regarding Elected Positions Pdf, 270.5 kB. (Ö 525/2022).

Leave of absence and other duties

The collective agreement allows leave of absence for studies, but according to the Swedish Agency for Employment, the Higher Education Ordinance must be strictly adhered to regarding terms of reasons for extension.

The Swedish Defence University's recommendation is that doctoral students do not undertake assignments or tasks that require leave of absence from the doctoral position, mainly to avoid taking focus away from the education.

If the doctoral student nevertheless needs to set aside time for other purposes, the following is recommended:

• If leave of absence for any reason needs/is granted, it is prepared by the supervisor and director of studies and decided by the head of department (after it has been anchored with the dean). Note that the doctoral student's time is counted in the case of leave of absence for reasons other than those specified in the Higher Education Ordinance (see above). This means that the right to supervision and courses may cease before the doctoral position is completed.
• For projects within their own university, consideration may be given to whether the project can be counted as departmental service. In this case, the doctoral student, together with the supervisor and director of studies, can reorganise the doctoral time within the framework of the ISP.
• For activities/projects outside the university, the doctoral student can reduce working hours (at least 50 percent) and allocate the doctoral student time as full-time for six months.

All options are decided by the respective head of department. This is because the central funding runs over 5 years and amounts to 80 per cent doctoral employment per year. Extensions will thus affect the department's future budget.

All extensions and changes must be documented in the doctoral student's individual study plan. This is to ensure that 48 months are used for research studies.

Wellness

FHS health care also includes doctoral students. All doctoral students, including officers with doctoral employment, are entitled to health care during working hours from 1 hour per week up to 3 hours per week work permitting.