PhD Candidate in Swedish at Södertörn University

Swedish at Södertörn University is a vibrant research and teaching environment focusing on the social meanings and functions of language in a changing society. Within the subject, we are interested in how language is used and shaped in various social contexts – a perspective that connects to issues of linguistic and social change and to the role of language in education and society. The environment includes researchers and teachers with specializations in three overlapping directions. The first concerns language and globalization, where we study multilingualism in relation to migration, the establishment of newcomers, and labor mobility, and how these processes affect language use in schools, workplaces, and other parts of society. The second direction deals with language and education, focusing on language use in various forms of education – from preschool to higher education – as well as learning in other social contexts such as citizen dialogues and language cafés. The third direction revolves around language and power, where we study linguistic norms and language ideologies in relation to issues of gender, segregation, social citizenship, and institutional communication. Theoretical and methodological breadth characterizes the research, with approaches such as linguistic ethnography, corpus studies, conversation analysis, New Literacy Studies, action research, and various forms of multimodal and critical discourse analyses. Read more about the subject here: Swedish (Swedish)

Description of the PhD Position

You will defend your thesis and conduct your doctoral studies in the subject of Swedish at the Department of Culture and Learning. You will also be part of the research education area of Educational Sciences (UVS). The multidisciplinary environment surrounding UVS constitutes an important context for your research and studies. The area encompasses research on the preservation and transformation of culture, knowledge, and values, in and through language, and within and outside formalized educational institutions. Based on research questions often stemming from the teaching profession, the doctoral education addresses the conditions and possibilities of teaching. What does it contain? How is teaching designed in different cultural and sociopolitical contexts? The research is characterized by a critical approach and an interest in today's multicultural, multilingual, and mediatized society. For more information about the area, click here.

Educational Sciences and Didactic Questions

Educational sciences and didactic questions can be researched in all three research directions mentioned above.

More Information

Educational Sciences (Educational%20Sciences)

Please note that the working environment at Södertörn University is bilingual, with both Swedish and English as working languages.

Eligibility Requirements

The basic eligibility for doctoral education is met by those who:

• have obtained a degree at the advanced level, or
• have completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at the advanced level, or
• have acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way within or outside the country.

The Faculty Board may grant exceptions from the basic eligibility requirement for an individual applicant if there are special reasons. Regulation (2010:1064).

Specific Eligibility

Specific eligibility for doctoral education in Swedish is met by those who have successfully defended an independent project in Swedish with a didactic focus, Swedish as a second language, Nordic languages, or another relevant subject of at least 15 credits at the advanced level. If there are special reasons, the Faculty Board may grant exceptions from the requirements for specific eligibility for an individual applicant.

Admission and Employment

The announcement entails both admission to doctoral education and employment as a PhD candidate at the Department of Culture and Learning for a maximum of four years full-time. The doctoral education corresponds to 240 higher education credits and aims to lead to a doctoral degree. The employment can be extended for a maximum of one year with institutional duties in teaching, research, and administration (corresponding to a maximum of 20% of full-time). Other reasons for extended employment include leave due to illness, service in total defense, elected positions within trade union/student organizations, or parental leave. Regulations regarding doctoral positions can be found in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, Sections 1-7.

Start date: September 1, 2026.

The general study plan for doctoral education in Swedish can be found here.

The admission regulations with information about selection criteria and other information about doctoral education can be found here.

Application Procedure

For more information, see the FAQ page on sh.se. Apply through Södertörn University's web-based recruitment system “ReachMee”. An application can be written in Swedish/Norwegian/Danish or English and must include:

• application letter
• curriculum vitae
• degree certificates and documents showing eligibility to apply for the position (if written in languages other than those mentioned above, you must attach translated documents)
• candidate and master's thesis according to the subject's requirements for specific eligibility (if written in languages other than those mentioned above, a translated summary in one of the languages must be attached, 5-6 pages, approx. 14,000 characters)
• research/project plan that clarifies the project's relevance to Swedish and Educational Sciences (1000–1500 words)
• two references with contact information.

If there are publications, a maximum of three can be attached to the application.

Applications that are incomplete at the end of the application period will not be considered.

Application deadline: February 11, 2026, at 23:59

Contacts

Jenny Magnusson, Professor of Swedish, Director of Studies in the Swedish subject's doctoral education and Research Leader for Teacher Education, [email protected], +46 (0)8 608 50 41
Liza Haglund, Director of Studies for Educational Sciences, [email protected], +46 (0)8 608 49 30, +46 (0)73 534 86 97
Mirjam Bargello Lindberg, HR Generalist at the Department of Culture and Learning, [email protected]