Available PhD Student Representative Positions
Do you know any problems with the University? Come and help fix them and apply as a PhD student representative!
The Doctoral Board of Uppsala University (doktorandnämden, DN) elects PhD students to its own positions of trust as well as doctoral student representatives to various bodies of Uppsala University. All of the positions are lucrative ways for PhD students to get to know the university better, deepen their knowledge on PhD student related matters, strengthen their CV, and advocate for PhD students’ rights in various parts of the University! In addition to the positions being fun, challenging and rewarding, you get compensated by prolongation and, in some cases, by money!
In 2024, the elections are held on 21 May at the Doctoral Board’s election meeting. The filler elections are to be held on 18 June.
You can see the available positions in the tables below. All the advertised positions consider a term from 1 August, 2024, to 31 July, 2025, unless otherwise stated. More information on the positions or on doctoral student representation in general can be found below.
Interested? LINK HERE
Doctoral board (dn) PRESIDIUM positions
| Uppdrag på Svenska | Position in English | Ordinary/Alternate | Language Requirements if other than English | Prolongation (working days per annum) | Monetary Compensation (SEK per annum, BEFORE TAX) | More Information | Current Representative | Contact for current rep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordförande | Chairperson | N/A | Ability to read Swedish / At least one of the chairs or vice-chairs should be able to partake in Swedish meetings | 50 | 35000 | See DN regulations: https://uudoctoralboard.se/docs/dn-regulations/ | Lux Miranda | dn@uufs.se |
| Vice Ordförande x 2 | Vice Chairperson x 2 | N/A | At least one of the chairs or vice-chairs should be able to partake in Swedish meetings | 20 | 21000 | See above | Lennart Spode and Jila Shamslatifi | lennart.spode@physics.uu.se and jila.shams@physics.uu.se |
| Sekreterare | Secretary | N/A | 6000 | See above | Ayesha Bilal | ayesha.bilal@neuro.uu.se | ||
| Eventansvarig | Event Manager | N/A | 5000 | See above | Ayesha Bilal | ayesha.bilal@neuro.uu.se |
Note: DN Board consists of representatives of the faculty level PhD Councils. They nominate members to DN’s board in their respective election meetings.
Representative positions within Uppsala University:
| Uppdrag på Svenska | Position in English | Ordinary/Alternate | Language Requirements if other than English | Prolongation (working days per annum) | Monetary Compensation (SEK per annum) | Other details | More information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedömargruppen för PUMA | Assessment Panel for Educational Development Projects (PUMA) | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/staff/gateway/teaching/educational-development/development-of-teaching/educational-development-funds-puma | ||
| Biblioteknämnden | Library Board | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X254 | ||
| Board of Women’s Mental Health during the Reproductive lifespan (WoMHeR) | Board of Women’s Mental Health during the Reproductive lifespan (WoMHeR) | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://uu.se/forskning/womher/organisation | ||
| Centre for Integrated Research on Culture and Society (CIRCUS) | Centre for Integrated research on Culture and Society (CIRCUS) | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://humsam.uu.se/circus-en/board/ | ||
| Konsistoriet | University Board | ordinary | Swedish | 20 | 28000 | 6 meetings a year. At least half-day length. Excessive preparation expected and travel twice a year. | https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/organisation/university-board/ |
| Nämnden för forskningsinfrastruktur | Board for Research Infrastructure | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/staff/gateway/research/research-handbook/research-infrastructure/research-infrastructure-board | ||
| Nämnden för utredning av avvikelser från god forskningssed (NUAF) | Board for Investigation of Misconduct in Research | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X257 | ||
| Nämnden för utredning av avvikelser från god forskningssed (NUAF) | Board for Investigation of Misconduct in Research | alternate | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X257 | ||
| Rådet för lika villkor | Equal Opportunities Advisory Board | ordinary, alternate | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X244 | ||
| Samverkansgruppen för arbetsmiljöfrågor (SVAM) | Joint Committee on Work Environment Issues | ordinary | Swedish | 5 | Meeting every month or every other month. | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X86katalog/-/orginfo/X86 | |
| Språkverkstadens referensgrupp | Reference group for the language workshop | alternate | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | 1 meeting per semester at Engelska Parken. Very lightweight position. | https://www.sprakverkstaden.uu.se/about-us/ | |
| Språkverkstadens Styrgrupp | Steering committee for the language workshop | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.sprakverkstaden.uu.se/about-us/ | ||
| Stipendienämnden | Scholarship Board | ordinary | Swedish | 5 | Two meetings per year (each half-day long). | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X92 | |
| Stipendienämnden | Scholarship Board | alternate | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/organisation?query=X92 | |||
| Styrelsen för Alva Myrdal centrum (AMC) - Kärnvapen nedrustning | Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament at Uppsala University | ordinary | Swedish | 5 | 5 meetings a year. 2 hours each. Possibility to meet online. | https://www.uu.se/en/news/article/?id=16082&typ=artikel&lang=en | |
| Styrelsen för centrum för forskning om funktionshinder | Centre for Disability Research board | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://cff.uu.se/ | ||
| Styrelsen för centrum för forsknings- och bioetik | Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics board | ordinary | Swedish | 5 | 1-2 meetings per term (1.5 to 3 hours each). Meeting online possible. | https://crb.uu.se/about-crb/ | |
| Styrelsen för centrum för genusvetenskap | Center for Gender Research | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | 4 meetings per year and forum attendance monthly. Good if the applicant is from the centre. | https://www.gender.uu.se/?languageId=1 | |
| Styrelsen för centrum för mångvetenskaplig forskning om rasism (CEMFOR) | Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism (CEMFOR) | ordinary | Read and understand Swedish (can participate in English) | 5 | Approx. 2-3 meetings every semester. 2-4 hours per meeting. Not much preparation required. | https://cemfor.uu.se/about-us/ | |
| Styrelsen för centrum för medicinsk humaniora | Centre for Medical Humanities | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://www.idehist.uu.se/centre-for-medical-humanities/ | ||
| Styrelsen för centrum för digitala humaniora | Centre for Digital Humanities | ordinary | Meetings are held in Swedish | 5 | 500 SEK per meeting attended | 1-2 meetings per term á 2 hours with some preparation | https://www.abm.uu.se/cdhu-eng/ |
| Styrelsen för Uppsala diabetescentrum (UDC) | Uppsala Diabetes Centre board (UDC) | ordinary | At least some level of Swedish required (but should be able to speak English in the meetings if necessary) | 5 | https://uu.se/forskning/udc | ||
| Universitetskollegiet | Electoral College | ordinary | Swedish spoken at meetings but can participate in English | 3 meetings per year. 2 hours long each. Not much preparation. | https://www.uu.se/medarbetare/organisation-styrning/uppsala-universitets-organisation/universitetskollegiet | ||
| Universitetskollegiet | Electoral College | ordinary | Swedish spoken at meetings but can participate in English | See above | See above | ||
| Universitetskollegiet | Electoral College | ordinary | Swedish spoken at meetings but can participate in English | See above | See above | ||
| Universitetskollegiet | Electoral College | alternate | Swedish spoken at meetings but can participate in English | See above | See above | ||
| Universitetskollegiet | Electoral College | alternate | Swedish spoken at meetings but can participate in English | See above | See above | ||
| Universitetskollegiet | Electoral College | alternate | Swedish spoken at meetings but can participate in English | See above | See above | ||
Arbetsgrupp för revidering av UU:s pedagogiska program | Working group for revising UU's pedagogical program | ordinary | 5 | ||||
Referensgrupp för revidering av UU:s pedagogiska program | Reference group for revising UU's pedagogical program | ordinary | 5 | ||||
Uppsala University Institute for Sustainable Transformations (UUniCLASH) | ordinary | 5 | https://www.uu.se/medarbetare/organisation-styrning/universitetsovergripande-projekt/pagaende-projekt/uuniclash---uppsala-university-institute-for-sustainable-transformations | ||||
Referensgrupp för jämställdhetsintegrering | Gender Mainstreaming Reference Group | ordinary | 5 | ||||
Styrelsen för centrum för digital humaniora | Centre for Digital Humanities | ordinary | 5 | https://www.abm.uu.se/cdhu-eng/precdhu-eng/ | |||
ENLIGHT | ENLIGHT | ordinary | 5 | https://www.uu.se/en/collaboration-innovation/enlight |
Help! I don’t speak Swedish fluently or don’t satisfy some other criteria listed above?
From DN’s perspective, any student despite their language background or study location (i.e. Gotland) should be able to partake in doctoral representation. It is our right to select the best candidates for the position, and in principle university should accommodate around the PhD student representative we have chosen. Sadly, this is often difficult in reality.
That is, if you find a suitable position and have a strong will to participate, we strongly encourage you to apply nonetheless! After the elections, it’s easier to then make best out of the situation.
Your desired position is not on the list?
Worry not! Your position is most likely elected by the faculty level doctoral student councils. To contact your closest council, find their information from: https://uudoctoralboard.se/organization/
More information on the available positions
Please refer to the information on the table above, as well as the resources in Uppsala University’s pages. It is also advised to ask information from the current representative, for from the DN chairperson at dn@uufs.se.
General information regarding being a PhD student representative
What does it mean to be a PhD student representative?
Being a PhD student representative elected by DN means that you are assigned by a democratic manner to represent all of the PhD students in the university. It is not a job, and you are not elected as an expert, but as a member of a community and as a PhD student colleague. As a PhD student, your task is only to represent PhD students and bring PhD student point of view to the tables where decisions are made in a way you deem good. If not for PhD student representatives, in many decisions PhD students would be lost between interests of regular staff members and students.
By volunteering for a PhD student representation position you volunteer some of your time to strenghten the democracy ideal of higher education. You are mostly free to work as you wish, and we trust the judgement of elected PhD student representatives in the meetings they attend. Of course, you are entitled and encouraged to ask for opinions of other student representatives, or your fellow PhD colleagues, if necessary. For more information, see the guidelines on student influence: https://www.regler.uu.se/document/?contentId=1015190
What does a student represenative gain from volunteering?
In addition to non-tangible perks such as attainment of high-employable skills and CV rows, you are awarded with prolongation and possibly a monetary compensation. Prolongation roughly means that you are entitled to a contract extension in UU for your PhD studies by a set amount of working days. Prolongation within UU is based on this document: https://www.regler.uu.se/digitalAssets/14/c_14339-l_3-k_forlangning-av-studietid-for-doktorand-med-fortroendeuppdrag.pdf. Monetary compensation is decided in the yearly budget of DN by UUFS.
As a student representative, you will be added to a mailing list of PhD student representatives and are invited to monthly DN meetings.
What is expected from a student representative?
We expect you to work in your elected position as indicated by the position. Usually this means by attending meetings and doing other possible tasks. We do not expect you to work over your assigned prolongation amount, and most of the positions are fairly light compared to the perks you get out of them.
If there are some crucial information or if you need help when doing your representative work, we expect you to contact DN chair or to attend DN meetings in order to discuss these things. In addition, we wish to hear updates from your positions every now and then.
Election Process
- You send your application by filling out this form: LINK
- We (as the DN, doctoral board) will then review the applications after the deadline 17th May.
- For DN presidium positions (chair, vice-chair, secretary and event manager) and the University Board position, we will conduct interviews on May 21st between kl. 15 and 17. Information about the possible interview will be messaged on May 17th.
- We make a decision in DN Meeting on the 21st and let the candidates know in a reasonable timeframe.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction for DN to elect student representatives is delegated to DN by the Student Unions in Uppsala (https://www.uufs.se/) according to DN regulations: https://uudoctoralboard.se/docs/dn-regulations/