Movement Theatre Programme description

The PhD in Social Sciences is a full-time, 180 ECTS credit programme based at the Faculty of Social Sciences (SAM). The programme aims to qualify candidates for research, teaching, development work and other highly qualified work in the social sciences. The programme is characterized by interdisciplinarity and by theoretical and methodological pluralism. The programme has four specialisations:

Business Administration, Innovation and Governance (BIG)

Information, Library and Archival Studies (IBA)

Journalism and Media Studies (JMF)

Social Work and Social Policy (SASP)

The programme’s different specialisations are all broad fields of research and practice, which in turn house many disciplinary, theoretical, epistemological, and methodological approaches. “Social Sciences” is thus a wide-ranging appellation including humanistic and technological perspectives. All PhD candidates will be grounded in central philosophical traditions and paradigms within the Social Sciences via the common educational components of the programme. The PhD education will be organised around professional fields and will break down disciplinary barriers and facilitates innovative trans-disciplinary research. Closeness to the professional fields is important to prepare candidates for careers both within and outside academia. The PhD programme in Social Sciences thus aims to prepare candidates for the needs of an employment market within and outside academia.

The PhD programme consists of an educational (coursework) component (30 ECTS credits) and a research component comprising the doctoral thesis (150 ECTS credits). The programme is intended to be completed within an effective researcher training period of three years, alternatively four years including mandatory duties (pliktarbeid).

Upon completion and passing of the programme, the candidate will be awarded the degree PhD in Social Sciences. The candidate’s specialization will be named on the transcript and diploma.

The requirements for the PhD degree are established in the Provision for the Degree of Philosophiae doctor a (PhD) at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University. https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2012-08-28-841

The target group for the programme consists of those who wish to achieve research competence in Social Sciences within the fourspecialisations, in order to be qualified for research and teaching positions and other positions that place high demands on professional competence.

Reference is made to Section 2 of the Regulations Relating to the Degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at Oslo Metropolitan University (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations relating to the PhD Degree at OsloMet).

To be admitted to the PhD programme, you should have completed a master's degree (120 ECTS credits) with good grades or an equivalent education in social sciences, the humanities, and/or fields relevant to thespecialisations in the PhD programme.

A completed master's degree of 90 credits may be considered as a basis for admission if your master's degree contains an independent work with a master's thesis of at least 30 ECTS. In addition, one of the following three criteria must be met:

• Advanced methodological knowledge in the form of completed master's course or documented exam in methods / theory of science at master's level
• A Scientific article assumed in a peer-reviewed journal and/or book article in a peer-reviewed book
• Relevant research experience

Grade requirements

Applicants must have a B or better on the master's thesis and an average grade B or better on the master's degree. In special cases, applicants with a grade of C may be considered for admission. In such cases, particularly relevant experience related to one's own research project and / or scientific publications may contribute to strengthening the application.

Admission is based on a comprehensive assessment of the application, including the relevance and quality of the project description, and funding.

Applications for admission must contain the following:

• Project description. The project description shall describe the topic, research question, theoretical basis, and choice of method
• Progress plan for the doctoral work.
• Documentation of the applicant's educational background and completed research work
• A plan for the training component
• A funding plan
• A proposal for academic supervisor(s)

In addition, you should provide information in which the language you wish to write your doctoral thesis. You may also be asked to provide information about possible problems in accordance with rights to intellectual property and if relevant special needs regarding infrastructure. In you have comprehensive data collection, you must clarify how this will be financed.

Admission is based on a total assessment of the application, including the relevance and quality of the project description. The quality of the applicant's master's degree thesis/thesis at second degree level and other written work can also be taken into consideration. Admission is subject to funding being approved.

Decisions on admission are made by the Research Education Board (DGU) at the Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University. Upon admission to the programme DGU will assign you a supervisor/supervisors. Preferably, the main supervisor, but at least one of the supervisors, should be affiliated with the institute of the applied specialization.

The PhD program is an organised research education, and candidates shall participate in research groups. Externally funded candidates participate in research groups at their own workplace or in one of the faculty's research groups.

• Template, application for admission to the PhD programme (ansatt.oslomet.no)
• Template for the project outlines (oslomet.no)
• General information about admission (ansatt.oslomet.no).

Admission to separate subjects/courses

The courses are reserved for candidates admitted to a PhD programme. All courses will be offered to external PhD candidates provided availability.

• External applicants must submit a summary of approximately one A4 page in length containing information about their PhD project or another project/area of interest, stating the topic, method, theoretical approach, how far they have progressed in their PhD studies, and why they consider the course in question to be relevant to their own project.
• Internal candidates register via the Studentweb, and submit a summary of their PhD-project, maximum one page.

Rejections of applications for admission can be appealed pursuant to the Regulations Relating to Studies and Examinations at Oslo Metropolitan University

After completing the PhD programme, the candidates are expected to have gained the following knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The candidate:

• is at the cutting edge of knowledge within his/her field of specialization and can relate the subject area to philosophy of science issues (K1)
• can evaluate the expediency and application of different methodological approaches and processes to the development of researchable questions in the subject area (K2)
• can contribute to the development and production of new knowledge, theory and methods in the field of study (K3)

Skills

The candidate:

• can function as independent researchers planning and carrying out research in their field of study, including formulating problems and research questions and assessing the appropriateness of various theories and methods (S1)
• can carry out research at a high international standard (S2)
• can deal with complex academic questions and challenge existing knowledge and practice in the field of study and/or in the professional field (S3)

General competence

The candidate:

• can identify and reflect on ethical issues in their own and others’ research and carry out his/ her research with scholarly integrity (GC1)
• can undertake or contribute to complex interdisciplinary assignments and projects (GC2)
• can disseminate research through recognized national and international scholarly and/or professional publication channels, and to the professional field(s) and the general public in popular science form (GC3)
• can participate in debates in the field in international forums and present research at national and international research conferences (GC4)
• can assess the need for, initiate and practice innovation (GC5)

In addition, the programme will have learning outcomes related to the use of references and proper citation practices.

References

Correct use of source references and verifiability are required in all research. Candidates must comply with the guidelines for correct referencing and use of quotations in both their training component and research component. Inadequate references can be deemed to constitute plagiarism and cheating, and can constitute a breach of research ethics guidelines, cf. the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges Sections § 4-13. (R1)