Industrial and Public Sector PhD Scheme

Are you employed in a company and wish to pursue a PhD alongside your job? Or does your public sector organisation need research expertise? Then an Industrial PhD or Public Sector PhD might be the right fit for you and your organisation.

Published 22. Oct. 2020. Updated on 22. Jul. 2024

Facts

Duration

he PhD is completed over three years (100%) or four years (75%).

Application form

Application form for the PhD canditate (pdf)

Forskningsrådet

About Industrial PhD scheme About Public Sector PhD scheme

A collaboration between

the employee/PhD candidate, the organisation, and UiS.

Contact

The PhD administration.

Does your organisation have unmet research needs?

About the scheme

A public sector or industry PhD is a collaboration between the PhD candidate, their employer, and the University of Stavanger.

Meeting research needs

The scheme meets the research needs of the company and provides research expertise to its own employees. The employee receives an education tailored to their own field of work and will contribute research-based insights to the company's own challenges. After completing the PhD, the candidate will have unique competence in both the practical field and academia.

Get financial support for the project

The Research Council of Norway provides financial support to companies that enter into an agreement with UiS and a PhD candidate. This corresponds to half the scholarship rate for three years. The payment is given as project support to the company and not as a personal scholarship to the candidate.

The PhD candidate is partly funded by the company and partly by the Research Council during the project period. The financial contribution from NFR involves support for up to half a scholarship rate for a total of three years.

The University of Stavanger covers the costs for the main supervisor and possibly co-supervisor from UiS, the training component (PhD courses and subjects), workplace costs during the period the candidate stays at UiS, and expenses for the mid-term evaluation and the defense.

Get Started with an Industry or Public Sector PhD

Curious about the scheme? Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Contact UiS

The employer and the prospective candidate should begin by directly contacting the relevant academic environment or the PhD administration at UiS. We will then put you in touch with the appropriate academic environment.

The candidate will be asked to submit their master's degree diploma to check if they are qualified. If the candidate is qualified, we will send you a confirmation. This confirmation should be included in the application to the Research Council.

Step 2: Employer submits application to the Research Council

You can now submit an application for funding to the Research Council. The employer is responsible for preparing and submitting the application.

The candidate should write the project description in collaboration with their future supervisor or the relevant academic environment at UiS. It is advisable to start in the autumn so that the application can be ready by February/March when the application portal opens.

The Research Council reviews applications on a rolling basis until the funding pot is depleted. Therefore, the application should be submitted as soon as it is ready. The processing time is approximately 6 weeks.

Step 3: The candidate applies for PhD admission at UiS

The employee must apply for PhD admission at UiS. This should be done in parallel with the employer's application to the Research Council.

The admission requirements for the PhD programme at the University of Stavanger are:

A five-year master's degree or equivalent education. Some PhD programmes require an average grade of B or better in the last two years of the master's programme, as well as B or better on the master's thesis.
A well-developed project description that falls within one of our PhD programme's academic areas.
A financing plan.

The candidate must complete the application form (PDF). The application and attachments should be sent to the PhD programme administration to which you are applying.

Step 4: Submit the documents to the Research Council

Once you receive confirmation of admission to the PhD programme from UiS, you need to forward this confirmation to the Research Council. After this is submitted, the company can enter into the final contract with the Research Council.

When all contracts are signed, the project is officially ready to commence!