PhD Student in Didactics with a Focus on Preschool Didactics

Mälardalen University (MDU) is Sweden's newest university. With our vision to be a progressive and collaborative university where we together shape a sustainable future, we want to make a real difference.

Would you like to contribute to our development?

Together we contribute to a more sustainable future through knowledge and innovation. We believe that new knowledge and perspectives are best created and achieved in collaboration with others - colleagues, students, industry, and the public sector both nationally and internationally.

At the Academy of Education, Culture, and Communication (UKK), our students primarily study programs within teacher education, but programs and courses are also offered in language and communication, mathematics/applied mathematics, physics, music and opera, as well as the preparatory education technical foundation year. MDU's research focus on educational science and mathematics is part of the academy. Our work is conducted in collaboration with the surrounding community and international partners.

Employment Information

• Employment type: Fixed-term employment starting 2025-09-01 or by agreement
• Extent: Full-time
• Number of positions: 1
• Application deadline: 2025-05-05
• Location: Västerås
• Academy/unit/section: Academy of Education, Culture, and Communication

Access to doctoral education and basic eligibility requirements are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 7, Sections 34–41. Read more here: https://www.mdu.se/utbildning/forskarutbildning (https://www.mdu.se/utbildning/forskarutbildning). A full-time doctoral position is linked to the educational period, which corresponds to four years.

Job Responsibilities

The Academy of Education, Culture, and Communication (UKK) at Mälardalen University is seeking a PhD student in didactics with a focus on preschool didactics for the newly established graduate school, Teaching Practices and Technologies.

Research in the field of didactics addresses issues of education, teaching, and learning. Didactics encompasses questions about the content of teaching, in various educational contexts, and how this content is legitimized, that is, who has the power over the selection processes of teaching. Furthermore, scientific didactics researches the forms (methods and models) of teaching and learning as well as its actors (teachers and students/children) and their interrelations.

The graduate school is linked to a practice environment for teacher education, where teacher students are given the opportunity to experiment, explore, and practice (subject) didactic knowledge and skills using various technologies and modalities. Technologies and modalities refer here to the resources, techniques, and expressions of teaching, both digital (e.g., creating a podcast, using AI in teaching, developing teaching materials) and analog (e.g., methodology, aesthetic forms of expression, teachers' classroom communication). The practice environment is under construction, and the graduate school will study and participate in the development work. The practice environment will play a central role in teacher education at MDU as well as for schools and preschools connected to teacher education.

As a PhD student in the graduate school, you will also belong to the research environment, Children and Youth in School and Society (BUSS), which gathers staff in preschool didactics and special didactics.

Dissertation Projects

The dissertation projects within the graduate school should address the thematic focus of the graduate school, teaching practices and technologies, and be linked to the field of preschool didactics. This theme can thus be advantageously related to prioritized research areas within the educational science research environment at MDU, such as:

• teachers' and preschool teachers' competence to meet the needs of children and youth requiring special support
• preschool teachers' work and pedagogical leadership
• the profession of preschool teaching and teacher education
• issues of democracy, sustainability, and justice from both a local and global perspective (global citizenship, global humanities)

Eligibility Requirements

For basic eligibility for doctoral education, one of the following is required:

• degree at an advanced level
• at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 at an advanced level
• or in another way, acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad.

As specific eligibility for admission to doctoral studies in didactics, a degree with studies of at least 60 higher education credits with educational scientific relevance and an independent project corresponding to 15 higher education credits with educational scientific relevance is required. The applicant must have completed an approved thesis/independent project/paper of at least 15 higher education credits at the advanced level (or equivalent) during their undergraduate education. Specific eligibility is also granted to those who have otherwise acquired mainly equivalent knowledge within or outside the country.

You must have good oral and written communication skills in Swedish and English at the level required to perform regular tasks within research, teaching, and administration.

Assessment Criteria

A fundamental assessment criterion is the ability to benefit from education at the doctoral level.

For this position, particular emphasis will be placed on the applicant's preliminary dissertation plan and previous independent work (especially theses at the advanced level) regarding independence, methodological clarity and theoretical awareness, analytical and stylistic stringency, and critical approach.

A teaching degree or experience in pedagogical professional activities is meritorious.

In a comprehensive assessment of suitability, personal qualities will also be considered. All employees at MDU are expected to collaborate and treat colleagues and students with respect, take responsibility for the operations and their own tasks, and contribute to a good working environment.

In this recruitment, we invite exploratory dissertation projects and therefore seek individuals driven by creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking.

We value the qualities that a balanced age and gender distribution as well as ethnic and cultural diversity contribute.

Application

You submit your application by clicking the “Apply” button below.

You, as the applicant, are responsible for ensuring that the application is complete in accordance with the advertisement and submitted to the university by the application deadline.

Welcome with your application!

Union Representatives:

Saco-S saco-s@mdu.se (mailto:saco-s@mdu.se)
Susanne Meijer ST-OFR/S, tel: 021-10 14 89

We kindly ask for no contact from advertising salespersons. We have made our strategic choices for this recruitment.