Södertörn University is a higher education institution in Stockholm that conducts education, research and collaboration with the surrounding community for sustainable societal development. Education and research are conducted in the humanities, social sciences, technology and natural sciences. The university also provides police and teacher education programmes with intercultural profiles. A significant amount of our research is multidisciplinary and specialises in the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe. At Södertörn University we combine subjects, perspectives, people and experiences, searching for surprising syntheses, challenges and development.

As a doctoral student in Sociology, you will join a research environment that offers multidisciplinary perspectives and an advanced curriculum.

The primary workplace for doctoral students is the Sociology Department at the School of Social Sciences, where they learn how to conduct independent scholarly research. Here, research is conducted within the following sub-fields of sociology: political sociology (e.g. social movements, protests, organisations, civil society); social stratification (ethnicity, class, gender); sociological criminology (surveillance, violence); sociology of social welfare and social policy; sociology of work; sociology of organisation; urban sociology; sociology of education; sociology of migration. While the discipline as a whole has a global analytical orientation, many of our projects focus specifically on the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe, the Nordic countries, and the European Union. Moreover, the Sociology Department and its doctoral students are involved in national and international sociology networks, as well as in multidisciplinary cooperation through the university’s Contested Democracy research platform and the university’s research centres Centre for the Study of Political Organisation and Reinvent – the Centre for City Dynamics.

For more information, please click here. For a Swedish version click here.

Doctoral studies at the Department of Sociology are included in the research area of Politics, Economy and the Organisation of Society, which is an interdisciplinary research environment that encompasses the disciplines of Business Studies, Journalism, Political Science, Public Administration, Social Work, and Sociology.

The work environment at Södertörn University is bilingual, with both Swedish and English as working languages.

For more information, please click here. For a Swedish version click here.

The planned research for this studentship must be relevant to the Baltic Sea region or Eastern Europe (please see this list of countries) because the position is affiliated with the Baltic and East European Graduate School (BEEGS). This is financed by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies and is part of the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) at Södertörn University. Eastern Europe comprises post-communist central, south and east Europe. The Baltic Sea Region is the Baltic Sea and the surrounding countries.

The Foundation does not fund research that relates exclusively to Sweden or Swedish conditions. However, funding may be granted for comparative studies concerning Sweden, or countries entirely outside the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, when there is a scholarly justification for this.

Entry requirements

The general entry requirements are:
1. a second-cycle qualification or,
2. fulfilled requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle or,
3. substantially equivalent knowledge acquired 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. (Ordinance 2010:1064)

Specific entry requirements
Specific entry requirements for third-cycle education in Sociology are met by those who
1. have at least 90 credits in Sociology, and
2. have successfully completed an independent project at advanced level of at least 15 credits, or
3. have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge to that specified in items 1 and 2 in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

The ability to assimilate academic material in English and a command of the language necessary for work on the thesis are prerequisites for admission to the degree programme.

Assessment criteria
Grounds for selection are the following: documented formal qualifications, demonstrated expertise at the time of application in the form of essays and other independent written scholarly works and, where relevant, a proposed research plan. For the applicants who are assessed as most qualified, an interview and references will be used as grounds for selection.

Eligible applicants must be ranked by their ability to assimilate third-cycle programmes, after which other circumstances are considered based on the ranking.

An applicant who is considered able to transfer credits from prior education or professional experience may not be given priority over other applicants.

Aspects of gender equality must always be considered. Where qualifications are equivalent, applicants from the underrepresented sex, in relation to the distribution among third-cycle students in the subject at the university, have priority.

Ground for assessment that are applied during selection:

• The applicant’s formal qualifications: course/degree certificates, grades and diplomas.
• The applicant’s expertise as regards

  – subject knowledge
  – knowledge of scholarly theory and method
  – analytical ability.

• The quality, feasibility and relevance of the proposed research for Sociology and to the Baltic Sea region or Eastern Europe.
• The ability to comply with given timeframes.

• The applicant’s expertise as regards:

  – independent and original problem formulation and analysis
  – the ability to problematise
  – theoretical and methodological awareness, systematics and rigor
  – scientific maturity
  – critical approach.

During assessment, the following circumstances are also considered:

• whether there are adequate supervisory resources
• whether the planned research is deemed feasible given the available financial resources
• whether the planned research is deemed feasible from the standpoint of research ethics.

Admission and employment
This position includes admission to third-cycle education, i.e. research level, and employment on a doctoral studentship at the School of Social Sciences at Södertörn University. The intended outcome for admitted students is a PhD. The programme covers 240 credits, which is the equivalent of four years of full-time study. The position may be extended by a maximum of one year due to the inclusion of departmental duties, i.e. education, research and/or administration (equivalent to no more than 20% of full-time). Other grounds for extension could be leave of absence because of illness or for service in the defence forces, an elected position in a trade union/student organisation, or parental leave. Provisions relating to employment on a doctoral studentship are in the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 1-7.

Date of employment: 1 September 2026