Uppsala University is a broad research university with a strong international position. The ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance in order to make a long-term difference in society. Our most important asset is all the individuals who, with their curiosity and commitment, make Uppsala University one of the country’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has just over 54,000 students, more than 7,500 employees and a turnover of approximately SEK 8 billion.
Research topic
The Faculty of Law at Uppsala University is and has been for many decades a strong and dynamic research environment in property and insolvency law with a leading position in both Sweden and the rest of the Nordic region. The Faculty recently received a donation from the Ackordscentralen Foundation to finance research in insolvency law. In accordance with this donation, the Department of Law hereby announces a position as a doctoral student in civil law with a focus on insolvency law. This subject includes disciplines such as bankruptcy and reorganization law, general property law with a focus on creditor protection issues, and credit and security law.
Job duties
A person employed as a doctoral student shall primarily devote himself to his own education at the doctoral level. Other duties at the department relating to the education of students, participation in teaching teams and administrative work may be included within the scope of the employment (maximum 20 percent of the employment). Admission to doctoral education is required for employment as a doctoral student.
Provisions regarding doctoral students can be found in the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 1-7, in the university’s rules and guidelines, and in the general curriculum for doctoral education at the Faculty of Law.
Qualification requirements and assessment
To be admitted to a doctoral program, the applicant must be eligible. At the Department of Law, to be eligible, the applicant must either:
- within Sweden have completed a Bachelor of Laws degree, a law degree or have completed a law school, or
- within or outside the country have acquired knowledge that corresponds to what persons who have completed the aforementioned degrees can be assumed to have. When assessing whether the knowledge is sufficient, special consideration shall be given to what is required to successfully benefit from the education in the specific postgraduate subject.
Applicants must have satisfactory knowledge of the Swedish or English languages.
The overall goals of doctoral education are that the newly graduated doctor should have good conditions for a successful professional life within or outside the university. This includes, among other things, in-depth subject knowledge in the research area, the ability to think independently and critically, skills in scientific methods and working methods, the ability to identify interesting and researchable issues, pedagogical skills and the ability to express oneself well in speech and writing, the ability to work in an international context, and a good ability to understand and handle research ethics issues.
The appointment is based on an assessment of the applicants’ ability to benefit from doctoral education. In the assessment, the project description and the written legal scientific material are most important. This includes written material, published or unpublished. The main assessment is made of analytical skills, ability to structure and process, independence and the novelty value of the intended research project. In addition to the written material, other qualifications may be important in the assessment of the ability to benefit from doctoral education, such as grades from education and positions, completed courses, etc. When assessing the applicant’s ability to benefit from the education, consideration may also be given to their ability to collaborate in various forms, for example in teaching teams.
Content of the application:
- Personal letter (mandatory attachment)
- CV in Swedish or English (mandatory attachment)
- Degree certificate (mandatory attachment) and other certificates that are relied upon
- Project description in Swedish or English (mandatory appendix)
The project description should address relevant issues for the project, thematic context, research status, material and methodological issues, a timetable for the project, and reflections regarding legal scientific value and news value. The project description should comprise a maximum of 35,000 characters including spaces (approximately ten A4 pages). - Popular science project summary in Swedish or English (mandatory appendix)
The project summary must contain a short popular science summary in Swedish or English of a maximum of 2,000 characters including spaces. - Legal works cited (electronic copies of books, articles, theses, scripts, etc.)
- A letter of recommendation or indication of at least one reference person (e.g. university professor or employer). Statement from a potential supervisor regarding the project should not be submitted, but should be obtained by the department for prioritized applications.
- Application for employment as a doctoral student and application for admission to doctoral education (mandatory attachments)
are submitted on special forms: Application for admission to doctoral education and Application for employment as a doctoral student.
Decisions on admission to the doctoral program are made by the Faculty of Law’s Research Committee. As part of the admissions process, a limited number of interviews and reference checks may be conducted.
Only complete applications (including attachments) will be processed.
The employment
The position is fixed-term, according to HF Chapter 5 Section 7. The position is full-time. Entry date 2025-09-01 or by agreement. Location: Uppsala
Information about the position can be provided by: Director of Research Studies Rebecca Söderström, email: research@jur.uu.se tel: 073 657 61 32, or, as far as the specific subject area is concerned, by Professor Laila Zackariasson, email: laila.zackariasson@jur.uu.se.
Welcome with your application no later than March 1, 2025!
The Department of Law currently also has a general announcement regarding at least three positions as a doctoral student, see: https://www.uu.se/om-uu/jobba-hos-oss/lediga-jobb
