Applying for a PhD – University of Copenhagen

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Department of Mathematical Sciences > Study programmes > PhD > Applying for a PhD

PhD calls

The usual entry level for our (3 years) PhD program is a Master's Degree. Besides having the appropriate entry level degree, to become a PhD student at our department you need first of all:

    1. a stipend to cover your living expenses (your salary) and the fees (taxameter) to the university (currently DKK 80,000 per year),
    2. to be admitted to the PhD school at the Faculty of Sciences,

      The department offers a number of PhD stipends every year. Many of them are tied to external grants within specific research areas, but we aim to have a few stipends that are not tied to any external funding. We have calls for applications to all our available stipends twice a year, with deadline beginning of January and end of May, respectively. If you have obtained financial support from other sources to do a PhD in Copenhagen, then you only need to worry about item 2 above, but we recommend that you also in this case submit an application to one of our PhD calls (indicating that you already have financial support).

      The applications for the PhD calls will be evaluated by the research committee (Forskningsudvalg) of the department.  

      If you have been offered a stipend through one of our PhD calls, Item 2 above is usually just a matter of form (see "How to enroll to the PhD school at the Faculty of Sciences" below). 

      All candidates with a foreign (= non-Danish) Master's Degree must have an official evaluation, a so-called IU assessment, of their degree issued by a government agency, Danish Agency for International Education. It is less hassle than it may sound! Ask Nina Weisse to help you with this. It is a good idea to get this assessment as early as possible. You can apply for this assessment before you know if you are awarded a stipend, but not before you have completed your Masters Degree. 

      How to enroll to the PhD school at the Faculty of Sciences

      Once you have been offered a PhD stipend (or in case you don't need a stipend because you have funding from other sources), then you must apply to enroll as a PhD student at the PhD school of the Faculty of Sciences. This requires some paper work that you probably will do with help from your future advisor.

      Here is how you do it: There are five (!) forms to be filled:

      • 1A - Application for admission (to be filled by PhD student),
      • 1B - Application for admission (to be filled by advisor and staff at the department),
      • 1C - Summary of interview with PhD student (to be filled by staff at the department),
      • 1D - Assessment of the applicant (to be filled by the staff at the department),
      • 1E - PhD plan (to be filled by the PhD student and the advisor).

      You can find the forms here. It is not expected that you can supply all information about your PhD studies at this point, and a final PhD study is expected only a few months after you have begun your PhD studies. 

      It is important to fill in the "Financing of the study" part of form 1B correctly. This should be done together with your advisor and it must be approved by NCI (North Campus Administration) before being submitted. 

      The filled forms along with obligatory attachments (CV, Bachelor's and Master's degree diplomas, including grades, etc.) must be submitted to Nina Weisse (at our department) both electronically (pdf files by email) and a printed paper version. The electronic version need not be signed (in fact we prefer not to have scanned electronic versions), but the paper version must be signed by the applicant and by the advisor. Nina Weisse will obtain signatures from the department chair and from the PhD coordinator. 

      Your application will be assessed by a committee under the research committee of the department chaired by the PhD coordinator who will fill part 1D. This is done automatically once the application is handed in to the department. The assessment report will be forwarded to the Faculty of Sciences together with your application.

      You need not attach a copy of the call. The department has a copy and will forward it together with your application.

      It will usually take about one week from Nina Weisse has received the application until it is submitted to the faculty of sciences (with the necessary attachments), and the faculty of sciences will need 2-3 weeks to process the applications.

      When all this is done and approved, then you are ready to become a PhD student at our department!