The PhD Programme at the Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities offers fully funded PhD positions across a wide range of humanities disciplines. The programme is designed to be completed in three years and combines independent research with a course component worth 30 ECTS credits. You will become part of an established research environment with clearly defined frameworks for academic progress and quality assurance.

Educational Requirements

As a general rule, you must hold a five-year Norwegian master’s degree and have obtained a grade of B or higher on your master’s thesis to qualify for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Humanities. If you do not hold a Norwegian master’s degree, you must be able to document a degree that is equivalent or comparable.

To be considered equivalent, a foreign master’s degree must have the same scope as a Norwegian master’s degree (three years of undergraduate study plus two years of master’s study, or 300 ECTS credits) and include a master’s thesis worth a minimum of 30 ECTS credits. A five-year programme of study that includes at least one year at master’s level may also be approved as equivalent. The criteria for such assessments are determined by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir).

In exceptional cases, qualifications that HK-dir does not consider equivalent to a Norwegian master’s degree may still provide a basis for admission if the Faculty, following an individual assessment, concludes that the qualification is academically comparable. To assess whether a qualification may be regarded as academically comparable, applicants must provide documentation demonstrating that it offers learning outcomes broadly equivalent to those of a corresponding Norwegian master’s degree.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide satisfactory documentation. The documentation will be assessed by an academic committee. 

Only applicants who present a research project of satisfactory academic quality will be considered.

Funding Requirements

In addition to meeting the academic requirements, applicants must be able to document full funding for the equivalent of three full-time years of study and access to the necessary operating funds.

The vast majority of PhD candidates at the Faculty of Humanities are funded through employment in a doctoral research fellowship position. These are temporary appointments lasting three to four years, of which three years are reserved for work on the PhD. In most cases, the fourth year is devoted to other career-development activities assigned by the employer.

The Faculty of Humanities may also admit candidates employed in doctoral research fellowship positions at other institutions that do not offer their own PhD programme, as well as candidates whose studies are funded by their employer through arrangements such as paid leave, research and development time, or similar schemes.

For all candidates, the maximum period for completing a PhD degree is six years. In practice, this means that the planning and funding of a PhD project cannot be based on less than 50 per cent full-time study.

Overview of vacant positions at the University of Bergen (external link)

Public Sector PhD

Through the Public Sector PhD scheme, public sector employers may apply to the Research Council of Norway for financial supprt for an employee to carry out a doctoral research project. Candidates whose studies are funded through this scheme may apply for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Humanities.

Information about the Public Sector PhD scheme (external link)