PhD Position in Cultural Studies

The Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen is inviting applications for 3 three-year PhD scholarships starting on 1 September 2025.

Department of Art and Cultural studies

The Department of Arts and Cultural Studies is seeking PhD candidates affiliated with one or more of the department's sections and contributing to one of the department's six interdisciplinary research clusters.

The project should be affiliated with one (or more) of the following sections:

• Comparative Literature & Modern Culture
• Art History & Visual Culture
• Theatre and Performance Studies
• Musicology

The project should contribute to one of the following research clusters:

• Art and Earth
• Doing Cultural History
• Nordic Models
• Digital Culture
• Global Entanglements
• Art and Health

Introduction
PhD studies consist of research programmes at the highest international level that qualify students for independent research, knowledge dissemination and teaching. The main emphasis is on PhD students organising and conducting their own research project (under supervision). The programme culminates in the submission of a PhD thesis, which the student must defend in public. The programme is prescribed to 180 ECTS credits, corresponding to three years of full-time study.

A PhD degree opens up a range of career opportunities in academia and elsewhere. As well as writing a thesis, PhD students work in active research environments in Denmark and abroad. They contribute to the academic environment, take research training courses, and convey the results of their research in teaching, at academic conferences and to the general public.

Qualification requirements
Applicants must have a two-year Master’s degree (120 ECTS) or equivalent and, as a minimum, have submitted a Master’s thesis for which they have received pre-approval at the time of application.

The qualifications of applicants with non-Danish Master’s degrees will be assessed to ascertain whether they correspond to the Danish level. For further information, please refer to the website of the Ministry of Education and Research: https://ufm.dk/en/education/admission-and-guidance.

Applicants must possess skills in written and spoken academic English at a high level. If deemed necessary, the department may request that applicants document their English skills.

Application
All applications must be submitted online, in PDF or Microsoft Word format, via the link “Apply now” at the bottom of this page.

The application must include:

1. Project abstract
   (max.1,200 characters with spaces)
    
2. Personal statement (max. one page)
   In their personal statements, applicants are encouraged to:  
   - outline how the PhD project relates to other research activities at the department, including the availability of supervisors
   - describe as clearly as possible their competencies and personal qualifications relevant to the PhD programme.
    
3. CV
   Applications must be accompanied by a CV (max. one page) and a list of publications, where relevant.
    
4. Documentation (diplomas and transcripts)
   Applicants must upload the following:
   - a copy of their Master’s degree diploma or similar (if this is not available by the application deadline, applicants must document pre-approval of their Master’s thesis)
   - a copy of their Master’s degree transcript
   - a copy of their Bachelor’s degree diploma
   - a copy of their Bachelor’s degree transcript.
   
   Applicants with a degree from a university where the working language is not English or one of the Scandinavian languages must submit a translation of their Master’s diploma and/or diploma transcripts approved by the Danish embassy or consulate in the country where the original document was issued. These documents must be translated into English, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish. An official description of the grading scale (and a diploma supplement where relevant) must also be attached.
    
5. Project description
   Applications must include a detailed project description covering the problem formulation, overall objectives, methodology, design and timetable (max. five pages/12,000 characters, incl. spaces, excl. bibliography).

   Applicants who anticipate incurring extraordinary expenses (related to questionnaires, fieldwork, extended stay(s) abroad, equipment, etc.) must include brief comments about this in their project description.

   Guidelines and good advice on project descriptions are available here: https://phd.humanities.ku.dk/how-to-obtain-a-phd-scholarship/admission-requirements/.

6. Other relevant material
   Statements of consent, e.g. regarding access to special archives and approval of studies abroad, may be submitted along with the applications. It is not necessary to include commitments from supervisors.
   Please do not upload or submit recommendations, publications, theses, etc.

If you apply for more than one scholarship at the Faculty of Humanities, please disclose this information in your application as it may help the coordination between the departments.

Assessment criteria
The following criteria are applied when assessing PhD applications:

• The quality, originality and feasibility of the PhD project
• Research qualifications, as reflected in the attached CV and project description
• Competencies and knowledge of relevant fields of academic research
• Level (grades obtained) of Bachelor and Master’s studies.

Please note that only a few scholarships are awarded at each call for applications and competition is intense.

We seek to reflect the breadth and diversity of society and encourage applications irrespective of personal background.

The recruitment process 
After the deadline for applications, the Head of Department considers advice from the Appointment Committee and then selects applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether or not they have been shortlisted. After this, the Head of Department sets up an expert Assessment Committee to assess the shortlisted applications. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Individual applicants will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment of their application before the appointment is announced. The assessments are expected to be completed by the end of April 2025.

Enrolment
It is a prerequisite for employment that successful applicants enrol at the PhD School of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen.

For further information about the structure of the PhD programme, please refer to: https://phd.humanities.ku.dk/phd-programme/structure/.

For further information about the guidelines for PhD studies at UCPH, please refer to: https://phd.ku.dk/english/.

Salary and terms of employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The salary range starts at approximately DKK 30,700 (EUR 4,100) + a 17.1 % contribution to the pension scheme.

For further information about employment at UCPH, please see: https://phd.humanities.ku.dk/phd-programme/employment-as-a-phd-student/.

According to the agreement, the PhD fellow is required to carry out tasks at the relevant department to an extent corresponding to 840 working hours (6 months).

Contact information
For further information about the structure and rules of the PhD programme, please e-mail the PhD Administration at South and City Campuses, email: phd@hrsc.ku.dk.

If you have any questions about the academic content of the PhD programme, please contact PhD Coordinator Devika Sharma at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, email: sharma@hum.ku.dk.

Questions about the recruitment process can be addressed to HR South and City Campuses, email: hrsc@hrsc.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number 211-2013/24-2H #1.

For further information about the application procedure, please refer to the University of Copenhagen’s website: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

The deadline for applications is 16 February 2025 at 23:59 CET.

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.