Your research plan is evaluated based on the following criteria which are stated in the General Study Plan for the PhD programme in Education.

1. Stringency of the research question and analysis of earlier work and of the research plan.
2. Familiarity with the research area of the intended research plan.
3. Methodological and theoretical understanding and the degree to which reflexivity is reached in the texts.
4. The qualities of planned research in relation to what it contributes to the discipline.
5. Ability to express themselves both written and verbally in an academic setting. 
6. The planned study’s feasibility within the allotted time. 

Criteria 1

The first criteria carries the greatest weight when the evaluators read through the research plan. One could say that that the research question as well as the aims of the research plan sets the tone for the reading of a research plan. You should briefly describe, from a theoretical perspective, which phenomena/field of study you intend to investigate as well as how your work will contribute to this area. We will evaluate how you have formulated your aims and if your research question(s) could lead to credible results. In formulating the aims of your study, you will demonstrate your academic abilities or it will reveal a lack of rigor. In the research questions and aims you will demonstrate your ability to plan a research project within the field of pedagogy in relation to pervious research.

If the research questions or aims are unclear or too broad and do not reflect a theoretical nor methodological perspective, the research proposal will be scored much lower on both this first criteria as well as other following criteria. It is very rare for an application to receive low point values on the first criteria and then higher point values on the remaining criteria. The aims and research questions as well as the description of phenomena/field of study should be your main focus and take the most time when developing your research plan.

Be aware that a general or completely descriptive aims and research questions will most likely receive lower point values than analytically formulated questions and research interests which demonstrate the ability to investigate complex phenomena.  

Criteria 2

In this criteria an applicant should demonstrate familiarity with the pedagogical research relevant to the chosen phenomena/field of study. You should provide evidence that you have read relevant literature and should include relevant and current references/research in your research plan. In this way, you should show that you have conducted a systematic literature review of your chosen phenomena/research question. Another aspect that will be evaluated within this criteria will be your ability to argue that your research, in relation to current publications, is necessary within the field. It is therefore also important that your research connects to one or more of the research groups at the department so that we can provide a research environment and supervision which relates to your interests. http://www.edu.su.se/english/research

Criteria 3

Here we evaluate your ability to choose a theoretical perspective and methodology that will help you reach your research goals, specified in your aims, and that can be used to answer your research questions. You should also demonstrate that you can discuss and argue/reflect over the other theories and methodologies that you considered using and why you have selected those stated in your research plan. In addition, use theory to identify and define the aspect of the phenomena/field of study that you intend to study. We will assess if you use relevant references related to the theory/perspective and method you intend to use, as well as if you use theoretical terms in an adequate and coherent manner. 

Criteria 4

Here you should demonstrate the need for new knowledge in relation to pedagogy as a discipline, as well as your creative abilities. Your interest in pedagogical research can be scientific/theoretical or empirical. You can choose a research question that leads to the further development of pedagogy as a discipline or a research question which is empirically grounded in an area. We will assess your ability to present arguments in support of your research and if the aims can in fact be reached in the way you have designed your study. It is therefore important to not only describe your plans for your questionnaire, literature review, or interviews; you should try to find an analytical and research perspective connected to the phenomena you will study which can be substantiated in the theoretical focus of your research question. In Swedish pedagogical research, it is important to not base your research question or phenomena in what can be found in political or administrative arenas, rather it should be grounded in a research perspective.

Criteria 5

In this criteria we assess your ability to express yourself correctly in an academic setting in English and/or Swedish (Previous degree projects must be written in English or Swedish. Those written in Swedish must include an abstract in English. Applicant interviews are conducted in either English or Swedish, depending on the language ability of the applicant. The abstract test is written in English only). We assess your verbal and written language abilities in how you are able to communicate in clear and concise manner and if you have followed the expected academic conventions such as referencing and the defining of terms.

Criteria 6

Here we conduct an overall assessment of if the study can practically be completed during the allowed 4 year PhD period (or 2 years for a licentiate degree) and with the supervision resources that the department can offer as well as within the research group the study is connected to. 

Please note that if you are planning to conduct data collection abroad, you must locate external financing to cover your travel costs. The department is not able to cover these costs. It can also be difficult to combine lengthy data collection projects with required course work so be sure to consider if your research plan will be possible to complete with the time allowed. 

We do not accept PhD applicants who plan to visit/collect data in countries or regions included on the Swedish Foreign Ministry travel warning list: http://www.regeringen.se/uds-reseinformation/ud-avrader/

In addition, we do not accept PhD projects which require interpreter services. 

Those applicants who move on to the second round of review will be contacted for an interview where they will asked to describe their project in English and will need to write an abstract of an article in English, within an hour time limit, thereby further demonstrating their academic abilities in English.

Where can I find inspiration for my research plan?

To begin with, read through some of the recently published dissertations in Stockholm University's database DiVA

You may also want read about the most recent PhD defences at the department: Public defence of doctoral theses