Documents and structures

There are two PhD regulations at UiB: regulations for the traditional, scientific PhD degree and regulations for the PhD degree in artistic research. The regulations are paramount for the two respective PhD educations at our institution. In the event of disagreement, one should refer to the PhD regulations. As a supervisor you should familiarise yourself with these regulations and be knowledgeable about the most important requirements for candidates and supervisors. This e-course is meant to help you acquire knowledge about these specific requirements.

The PhD education at UiB is organised in one PhD programme per faculty. Each PhD programme has its own PhD programme description. These descriptions are found on the faculties' websites for PhD education. The faculties cannot establish programme descriptions that circumvent the rules laid down in the PhD regulations.

At the Faculty of fine art, music and design there is a separate PhD programme in artistic research. In this education, the candidates work with an artistic project instead of a written thesis. Upon completion of this PhD education, you will receive the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) in Artistic Research.

The Board of the University of Bergen has the overall responsibility for the PhD education offered at the institution through establishing the PhD programmes, setting up the frames for the programme descriptions and by passing amendments in the regulations. The faculties can adopt supplementary rules for admission requirements, agreement period, the training component, the thesis and trial lecture, to mention the most important elements. The faculties make decisions on day-to-day issues like admission of candidates, appointment of supervisors and approval of the individual candidate's training component. The faculties approve the thesis, trial lecture and public defence.

All the faculties have description of learning outcomes for their respective PhD programmes. The texts describe the total knowledge, skill and general competency learning outcomes that the candidates have obtained upon successful completion of the PhD programme. In the start-up phase the supervisor and the candidate should set up a plan on how to fulfil the criteria in the description of learning outcomes.

Central bodies

The Board of the University of Bergen has overall responsibility for the PhD education. Revisions to the PhD regulations and other structural changes to the PhD education are subject to approval by the University Board. The University Board officially confers doctoral degrees.

UiB has its own research committee, led by the pro-rector. Other members are the vice deans at the faculties, representatives of academic staff in temporary positions and the students. The University Research Committee deals with a number of matters concerning the PhD education and is an advisory body to the Board of the University of Bergen.

Statistics from the doctoral education

Statistics from 2021 shows 1560 PhD candidates at UiB. They are affiliated with the following faculties:
The Faculty of Humanities: 140 candidates
The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences: 490 candidates
The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry: 575 candidates
The Faculty of Social Sciences: 145 candidates
The Faculty of Law: 55 candidates
The Faculty of Psychology: 125 candidates
The Faculty of art, music and design: 35 candidates

The group of candidates is naturally quite heterogeneous, something that these numbers from 2021 shows. Around 60 % of the candidates belong to a research school¹ - a unit of academic activity in the PhD education that transcends the traditional structures at the university. At the time of admission, 55 % of the candidates were funded by sources external to UiB, while 40 % had employers external to UiB. For the group as a total, about 30 % of the candidates have exhausted their funding but are still taking part in the programme. Around 40 % of the candidates have foreign citizenship. In 2021 245 candidates completed their PhD degree. Slightly more than half of these were women.

The PhD programme in artistic research was established in 2018. There are around 25 candidates in the programme.

Footnotes:

1. According to the candidates' own progress report