The PhD education has a nominal duration of 3 years of full-time study (180 credits), and includes required coursework or similar academic training comprising a minimum of 30 credits. The most important component of the PhD education is an independent piece of research carried out under active academic supervision.

On these pages you can read more about

• Conditions for admission to a PhD programme
• How to apply
• Requirements for the academic training plan
• What to submit after acceptance to the PhD programme

Conditions for admission

• Qualifications

  Applicants for the PhD programmes at the Faculty of Natural Sciences must have a relevant master's degree or equivalent education, with a strong academic record. The Faculty may approve other, comparable qualifications as the basis for admission.

  Applicants are required to have a weighted average grade of B or higher (in accordance with NTNU's grading system) in the two last years of their master's degree (equivalent to 120 ECTS).

• Funding

  Before you can apply for admission to one of the PhD programmes, the funding of the study period, including running costs, must be confirmed.

  Read more about funding requirements at NTNU

• Residency requirement

  Candidates with external funding or an external workplace must reside at NTNU for at least one year of their PhD education.

How to apply

There are no fixed application deadlines for these programmes.

Application form for admission to the PhD programme (PDF)

• Plan for academic training

  As a part of the application form, a plan for academic training must be described.

  Requirements for the academic training plan at the NV faculty

  As a PhD candidate you normally do not have the right or obligation to pay a semester fee. However, PhD candidates who take courses not included in their required coursework must pay the semester fee. If you want to take courses not included in your PhD study, you have to apply for this using Søknadsweb. When your application is granted you should be able to generate the invoice in Studentweb. If you encounter problems with this, please send an email to studentweb@adm.ntnu.no.

• Supervision

  The Faculty appoints academic supervisors. As a general rule, the PhD candidate is to have at least two academic supervisors, of which one will be designated as the main supervisor. The main supervisor must be appointed at the time the candidate is admitted.

  All academic supervisors must hold a doctoral degree or equivalent qualification in the relevant research field and must be active researchers. At least one of the appointed supervisors must have previous experience as main supervisor for a PhD candidate.

• Project description

  A complete or preliminary project description must be submitted together with the application.

  A complete project description (5-10 pages) must be submitted no later than three months after admission and should include:

  • Statement of the topic, viewed in light of international research in the field, with references to literature.
  • Amplify the approach to the problem. What are the aims of the scientific examinations undertaken? Which methods will be used?
  • Risk evaluation of the project.
  • Time schedule for the study

After acceptance

• Agreement concerning admission

  When the candidate is admitted to a PhD programme, the admission is to be formalised by a written agreement:

  Agreement concerning admission to the organised PhD programme

• Duty work

  Candidates who have duty work as a part of their employment, must submit a plan for this work. One year corresponds to 1680 working hours. In the 7th semester the work load cannot be more than 50%. Duty work will not be accepted in the 8th (last) semester.

  Regulations for the required duties and employment conditions of PhD candidates at NTNU