1. PhD Education – Faculty of Medicine
The number of active graduate students within the Faculty of Medicine in Lund is about
900. About 120 new graduate students are registered every year and about the same
number conclude their studies by obtaining their doctorate.
The aim of postgraduate studies is to educate researchers, teachers and other personnel
who can develop the area of medicine both by their own discoveries but also through
critical adoption of new experience and methods in medical care.
Postgraduate studies conclude with a doctoral degree equivalent to 240 credits or, as a
stage in the progress towards that degree, with a licentiate degree equivalent to 120
credits. The objectives of postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Medicine are:
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to provide the individual postgraduate student with a solid foundation in research
methodologis and a unique competence within a circumscribed area in the field of
medical knowledge;
to train researchers, research supervisors and teachers for the future needs of
colleges and universities;
to train doctors for future service in health care supervisory positions;
to train those with university health care education (nurses, laboratory assistants,
etc.) for future service as teachers and research supervisors in their respective
subject areas;
to train medical researchers for companies in the biomedical sector.
The Board of the Faculty of Medicine has stipulated certain subject areas within which
postgraduate studies may be offered. The principle is that only subjects falling under the
aegis of a full professor or other teacher qualified as a senior lecturer may be offered at
the postgraduate level. The areas are: Biomedicine, Laboratory medicine, Clinical
medicine, Health science and Public health science. Each subject has a study plan
describing the subject, aim, scope, content, admission requirements, funding, description
of the subject and examination.
A principal and at least one assistant supervisor are to be officially designated when a
student is admitted to postgraduate studies. As a supervisor, the Departmental Board or
the Departmental Chairperson may assign a teacher at the Faculty of Medicine who has
been admitted as an unsalaried Senior Lecturer or who, in the judgment of an external
consultant, has at least the equivalent competence. The principal supervisor does not need
to be an unsalaried Senior Lecturer providing the acting supervisor is. In this case the
principal supervisor has to be the principal of a three year project funding from a
national/international funding agency. The principal supervisor should be working at
Lund University, Lund university hospital or Malmö university hospital or have a clear
connection to Faculty of Medicine. All supervisors must have a doctoral degree and
passed the faculty education for supervisors.
Permission to submit a doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Medicine in Lund requires that a
significant part (>50%) of the research should have its origins within our Faculty.
Obtaining a doctorate requires that the candidate has passed the obligatory courses and
other examinations included in the postgraduate medical programme, and that the
candidate has written a doctoral thesis that has been approved. The thesis must have been
orally defended at a public examination. Postgraduate studies after 1 January 1996 must
be subjected to a review after roughly half the period of their postgraduate studies, ie.
“halfway review”. The aim of the halfway review is for the supervisor and the
postgraduate student to evaluate the project in terms of what has been accomplished and
to ensure that progress is being made in accordance with the individual study plan that
was drawn up when the student was admitted to postgraduate studies.
The Faculty Board has decided that all students admitted to postgraduate studies after 1
July 1998 must have completed mandatory basic courses equivalent to a total of 7 credits.
The courses must be completed before the halfway review, i.e. for full-time postgraduate
students, as a rule, within two years after admission. The basic package of courses
consists of: Introductory meeting, Scientific communication, Research Ethics, Oral
communication and
Statistical Methods for Medical Research alternatively a SBSS-course. Apart from the
course package a number of voluntary postgraduate study courses are also held at
intervals. As a PhD-student you also have to take at least one of this voluntary courses
(1,5 credits). The course Laboratory Animal Studies (3 credits) is mandatory for
postgraduate students who make direct use of laboratory animals in their research.
Several departments arrange seminars as part of their graduate study programme.
Funding
The Faculty Board is permitted to admit only those applicants to postgraduate studies
who gain postdoctoral studentships or who are awarded study grants. The Faculty Board
is, however, permitted to admit applicants who have some other form of financial
assistance for their studies if the Faculty Board judges that this financial assistance can be
ensured for the whole period of the postgraduate studies and that the applicant can devote
enough time to his/her studies to complete the study programme. (Extract from the
Swedish Code of Statutes, SFS 1998:80)
The financial assistance plan must state how the research studies are to be financed up to
the doctoral degree. Postgraduate students usually receive a study grant for the first two
years and are appointed to a postgraduate studentship for the final two years. For a
postgraduate student with external financial assistance it is not unusual for them to hold a
postgraduate studentship for all 4 years. Clinicians normally pursue their postgraduate
studies simultaneously with their work in clinical practice.
Admission and selection
In 2006 a new system of admission was introduced at the Faculty of Medicine whereas
all postgraduate positions are advertised in open competition. The aim is to guarantee the
quality of postgraduate project and quality of recruitment which is an important
prerequisite for both quality and legal security. The new routine stipulates that all fulltime
postgraduate vacant positions have to be advertised in open competition. Part-time
positions can also be advertised but it is not compulsory. PhD students who are accepted
are guaranteed supervision and the financial situation should be secured preceding the
admission so it will be possible to finalize the PhD education after four years fulltime
studies or eight years part-time studies. An individual study-plan is handed in, in
connection to the admission process. It is the supervisor for the project who makes the
final selection of candidates, and then the Departments postgraduate head of the
university department (FU-prefekt) makes a statement as to if the eligibility requirements
are fulfilled. Postgraduate Education Committee takes the final formal decision.
PhD graduate schools
The faculty offers a wide arrange of PhD graduate schools, some in collaboration with
other faculties at Lund University and other universities:
Clinical research school for clinical doctors
Summer research school – a preparatory school to attract medical students to the PhD
programme
Research school stem cell biology which consists of 2 parts, one preparatory part and
PhD-programme for PhD-students admitted to the regular PhD-programme.
The Vårdal Institute Research School (Health sciences) in collaboration with Gothenburg
University
FLÄK – a cross-faculty Research school in pharmaceutical sciences
CASE, Graduate School for ageing research - partly a joint collaboration with the
Graduate School at the Aging Research Center in Stockholm
METALUND, Center for Medicine, Technology and society at Lund University – a cross
faculty research school is planned for autumn 2008.