Practical and administrative matters

The doctoral student experience is framed by organisational systems, practical procedures, administrative issues and different people with responsibilities.  It is impossible to list everything in a document like this one; new issues linked to bureaucracy are constantly emerging.  Doctoral students come into contact with many systems, particularly at the very beginning of the third-cycle programme. (See a list of roles below, and systems to your right.) Det kan vara bra att känna till vilka personer/roller som på olika sätt kan vara behjälpliga i relation till det administrativ. Se listan till höger för information om de olika datasystem som du behöver använda som LU-anställd. It can be good to know which people/roles can be useful in different ways in relation to administrative matters:

• Supervisors have knowledge of most matters concerning the programme.
• Director of third-cycle studies helps out with challenges, but also with any other matter you may not be able/want to raise with your supervisors.
• The head of department has the overall responsibility for staff in the department and they are also responsible for the doctoral student appraisals. It is important to emphasise here that problems that arise in relation to supervisors, colleagues, management, other people or events can be raised with the director of studies or head of department at any point in time.
• The HR coordinators at department services can assist with terms of employment, for example, matters relating to salary and tax, certificates of different kinds, personal expenses, residency permits, etc.
• The course administrator for matters concerning Ladok registrations.
• The health and safety representative at the department who you can turn to if you experience problems related to the work environment (physical and psychosocial).
• For doctoral students in Media history and Rhetoric, the faculty coordinator is an important person for any matters with regard to employment or education.
• Directors of first- and second-cycle studies are important people when you are teaching – or would like to teach

Meetings and gatherings

Doctoral students are an important group in the department. For this reason, they are also represented in the department’s primary decision-making body, the department board. Doctoral students themselves appoint who is going to be their representative. Another of the department’s fora is the supervisory committee. Doctoral supervisors meet twice per semester to discuss issues concerning doctoral supervision and doctoral studies. The supervisory committee can prepare matters, but do not have any formal decision-making rights. There is also one place for a doctoral student representative appointed by the doctoral students in this group.

In addition to these fora, the director of third-cycle studies schedules approximately two doctoral student meetings per semester. The agenda is usually reasonably open and based on the group’s requests. One fixed point on the agenda is information and news from faculties and department. It is also at these meetings that the doctoral student representatives on the department board and supervisory committee are usually appointed.

Periodically, there have been other doctoral student gatherings, for example, regular joint breakfasts or similar. These informal meetings have been organised by the doctoral students themselves. The department encourages these kinds of gatherings. Not least because the doctoral student experience can be a lonely one, and that to be able to share glimmers of light and share dilemmas can be of great value.