PhD in Didactics with a Focus on Higher Education Pedagogy

Original title: Doktorand i didaktik med högskolepedagogiskt fokus

Translated from Swedish by Graduates Corner. The official posting is the authoritative version.

Mälardalen University (MDU) is Sweden's newest university. With our vision of being a progressive and collaborative university where together we shape a sustainable future, we want to make a real difference. Would you like to contribute to our development? Together we contribute to a more sustainable future through knowledge and innovation. We believe new knowledge and new perspectives are best created in collaboration with others – colleagues, students, business and the public sector, nationally and internationally. The Faculty of Philosophy conducts education and research in the humanities, social and educational sciences, mathematics and natural sciences, and the arts. Our research and education are carried out in dialogue with the surrounding society and contribute to critical knowledge development, education in the broad sense and deeper understanding of complex social issues. Education is offered at all levels and rests on a scientific or artistic foundation and academic breadth. Together we contribute to a sustainable, open and knowledge-based society. The faculty has three departments with about 420 staff in total. Through our collaboration platforms we bring together academia, the public sector and business to contribute jointly to knowledge development and meet societal challenges. The School of Education, Culture and Communication mainly offers teacher education. It also includes the University College of Music and Opera, which educates in music and opera. Its research contributes new knowledge about Swedish education, music and the performing arts. The department also hosts Mälardalen Competence Centre for Learning (MKL), the region's platform for collaboration on school development, teacher education and research in educational science.

Type of employment: fixed-term

Employment period/start: 1 January 2027

Application deadline: 4 November 2026

Location: Västerås

Department/unit: Faculty of Philosophy

Doctoral subject: Didactics

Admission to doctoral education is governed by the university's admission regulations, which bring together the national and local rules for admission to doctoral education at Mälardalen University: https://www.mdu.se/utbildning/forskarutbildning.

The study place comes with full-time employment as a doctoral student during the programme, corresponding to two years to a licentiate degree.

Focus and research environment

The doctoral student is recruited as part of MDU's investment in research on higher education pedagogy. This research broadly concerns the conditions for student learning in higher education. At MDU, the research is organised in three profile areas:

Work-integrated learning in higher education

Teaching and educational leadership in higher education

Student participation and academic literacies

One development area for the research environment is work-integrated learning in higher education. This profile area studies how students, teachers, professionals and organisations learn and develop in and between educational and workplace contexts. It includes the conditions for workplace-based learning, cross-boundary collaboration and the development of professional knowledge in, for example, nursing, teacher and engineering education.

The research is carried out in close collaboration with regional and municipal organisations, business and educational organisations. Through these collaborations, knowledge is developed about how higher education and working life can jointly meet societal challenges and contribute to sustainable development, innovation and lifelong learning.

The position leads to a licentiate degree in didactics with a focus on higher education pedagogy. The duties consist mainly of doctoral education and carrying out your own research project. The doctoral student is also expected to take an active part in and contribute to the further development of the higher education pedagogy research environment at MDU. The workplace is Campus Västerås, with at least three days a week on site.

Focus of the thesis project

The thesis project should address a question in higher education pedagogy. Project plans that investigate the nature and conditions of students' work-integrated learning are particularly welcome.

Admission to doctoral education requires general eligibility and the specific eligibility required for the subject, and that the applicant is otherwise judged to have the ability needed to benefit from the programme.

General eligibility for doctoral education (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7, Section 39) requires that the applicant:

has a second-cycle degree,

has completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are at second-cycle level, or

has otherwise acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad.

This advertisement is shortened. To see the full advertisement, including specific eligibility and selection criteria, go to https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/jobba-med-oss/lediga-jobb

Apply by clicking the "Apply" button on the official posting.

As the applicant, you are responsible for ensuring that your application is complete as described in the advertisement and reaches the university by the deadline. Attach the documents requested to prove eligibility and to support the assessment of qualifications. Degree certificates and/or transcripts must always be attached and must be officially issued by the institution.

Documents may be written in Swedish or English. Documents on qualifications (certificates, grades and diplomas) in other languages must be translated into Swedish or English by an authorised translator, and a copy of the original document must always be attached.

If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit to stay in Sweden and study, and the studies require physical presence at Mälardalen University, the university reserves the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot show a valid residence permit for the studies by the start date.

We welcome your application!

Saco-S mailto:saco-s@mdu.se

Susanne Meijer ST-OFR/S, tel: 021-10 14 89

We decline all contact from sellers of advertising. We have already made our strategic choices for this recruitment.