PhD Information

Tutorials, how-to’s and recommendations for PhD students!

Note that it is reasonably easy for students of both SU and KTH to get credits for courses at either of the two, and Uppsala University. But always make sure that it is possible when signing up.

KTH

Course Work

Requirements

From the the physics doctoral program info page:

The coursework may consist of lectures, literature studies, problem-solving, and active participation in seminars, and must include at least 30 credits for a licentiate degree and 60 credits for a doctorate degree.

In the case of a doctorate, a minimum of 45 hp of the total course component (60 hp) must be at third-cycle level and in the case of a licentiate degree, a minimum of 50% of the total course component must be at third-cycle level.

Note: “third-cycle level” here refers to post-graduate/PhD level courses.  Some courses are given both at first/second cycle level and third cycle level (basically the same course, different name). So at the start of the course you should make sure you register for the PhD course. The general rule is that courses have the course code format SIxxxx and FSIxxxx for undergraduate and postgraduate level, respectively.

Finding Courses

The info page above provides the links to get you started with planning your course work. Some of the more useful links are listed below.

Defense Know-How

Licensiate Thesis

The necessary documents to fill out you find in the KTH intranet. The licentiate process is in many steps quite similar to that of the dissertation.

Timetable

A time table for PhD defences is available here.

Who Is Responsible For What?

In the timetable you find the following terms:
Respondent = That’s you, defending the thesis.
PA = ProgramAnsvarig = Head of the PhD program.
FA = ForskarutbildningAnsvarig = Director of graduate studies.
SCI kansli = SCI Offices.
Find out who these people are and what they should do when!

“Distributionslista”

This is  a weird, but seemingly mandatory thing you need to do. You write a list of all people or institutions that should get a copy of your thesis. These should be written down in a specific form,  (see link to page with all the forms above). The Head of Department/”prefekten” (find out who that is!) needs to sign it before you hand it in to the PA.
Who should you send the thesis to? You can send it to all relevant institutions in your field. E.g. Biochemistry departments in all Universities in Sweden you find relevant, to the departments in your specific field e.g. those working with ion channels etc. Some  are also mandatory (?), such as distributing it to the opponent, the KTH library, etc. (these should be listed in the form).

Thesis Formatting: A Latex Template

It’s unclear what the rules for the thesis format is, or if there are any, but if you write in LaTeX simply use a template and you should be fine and don’t have to think about it. You can leech off of the CSC school’s template and instructions: http://system.csc.kth.se/misc/tex/kthesis/kthesis.pdf. They have defined a LaTeX document class for this purpose. You might have to install a LaTeX package to make it compile but it should work quite smoothly. There is also a template for the “spikblad” (see section below). The document class files are uploaded as a file on this page (see bottom) in case the above link breaks.

Spikblad

Spikblad is the loose piece of paper you put after the first page in your thesis. It is also the piece of paper you could spread to people without handing them over your whole thesis (e.g. as invitation for your dissertation date, includes the abstract all all relevant data to find you on your big day). You can physically nail (“spika”)  your thesis in the KTH Main library (about 3 weeks before the defense, compare tidplan).

Thesis Numbers

The TRITA, ISSN and ISRN number you get from the PhD responsible at Studentexpedition at KTH.  Look for someone relevant to email and ask about the procedure at the KTH physics administration. Bring your title of the thesis there and tell them you want the numbers for your dissertation. The numbers are also needed for the licentiate thesis.
The ISBN number you get from the KTH library. You can apply online. Best thing is probably to google “kthb isbn”. Note that you will need your KTH id which is not equal to your KTH username. If you try applying without filling it in or filling in something in the wrong format you’ll get the directions for finding your id.

Example numbers from a thesis:

TRITA FYS 2012-77
ISSN 0280-316X
ISRN KTH/FYS/--12:77--SE
ISBN 978-91-7501-498-2

Printing at Universitetsservice

Make sure to have a front page picture (if you like) and bring everything as PDF. It makes sense to have one PDF for the thesis and one for each paper to include. They ask you things like the thesis numbers, the “Program” you are in. In our case this is for instance “Biological Physics”, but since it is confusing in the department with the names of “Physics”, “Theoretical Physics”, “Biological Physics”, “Mathematical Physics” etc. make sure to have you right subject on the front page.
Additional they want to know which pages should be in color (prepare the list beforehand to save time).
Each time you bring the new files, the print you a “sample” of your thesis for proof-reading. For each sample you have to check if everything looks fine, and then sign a document if so. If you signed it goes into production, if you find errors (typos or just things they made wrong), you have to tell them, they will correct it. They will create a new sample print out, and you have to check again. This goes so long until you are happy with it.

Visit Universitetsservice’s (US’s) website for contact info: http://www.us-ab.com/

DIVA and Copies for the KTH Library

When your thesis is finished and approved by the SCI school you can submit it to DIVA: http://www.kth.se/en/kthb/publicering/diva/registrera-i-diva-1.326238. There you upload the whole thesis as PDF, add the abstract and title etc.
Additional you need to submit the Agreement form to the library: http://www.kth.se/polopoly_fs/1.269489!/Menu/general/column-content/attachment/media_agreement.pdf including four copies of your thesis send by internal post of KTH to the library, or why not just bring it once you nail the thesis. I guess nailing is just possible with the Ph.D. thesis and not the licentiate thesis, but you can try :D.

Registering All Courses in Ladok

For finishing a degree you need to have a specific amount of hp/ECTS points.

  • Licentiate: 30 hp
  • Dissertation: 60 hp

All courses have to be registered in Ladok under “forskarstudent”. The national credits are not confirmed for the doctoral level. In case you take a course at KI or Stockholm University you need to transfer your national credits to your forskar level. To do so you need to fill out the transfer document you find somewhere at KTH intranet and let it sign by the Head of Department (?). Then hand it in to Åsa Cederlund (Studentexpeditionen KTH).

After you have all courses worth 60 hp transferred in your forskar level ladok you can apply for getting your degree document. Your supervisor needs to sign that you passed the defense document and send it to the SCI school. Later a person might contact you asking which courses you want to include in your licentiate degree (for instance in case you have done more than the 30 hp). Important is just that you have the right amount of credits to get your degree. So make sure to have them before your defense day ;). It takes anyway a few months before you get your degree document.

Shopping List for the Defense

Traditionally some snacks are served after the (doctoral) defense and hopefully the defendant is not the one responsible for shopping these. The handed down shopping list is as follows:
  • 3-4 packs of crackers (Snittar)
  • 4-5 packs of tunnbröd
  • Philadelphia, smoked salmon or meat and pepparrot (horseradish) for the filling
  • Some vegetarian alternative for the crackers (eg. Västerbotten, or be creative)
  • 2 packs of goat cheese
  • 1 big bag of ruccola
  • Fruit (grapes/melon/etc.)
  • Chips
  • Big trays, plates and glasses for the food, unless these are available at the location (check)
  • Toothpicks
  • Napkins
  • Non-alcoholic drinks (eg. Champis or Pommac)

Scholarships

Usually scholarships and stipends are announced in the beginning of the semester (Sep-Oct and Jan-Feb), but some are open to applications all year. As a PhD student/researcher you cannot apply for the undergraduate stipends. Most of the announcements directed towards this category are travel stipends.

Announcements can be found at

Schools and Conferences

Some reoccurring events that may be of interest are:

Teaching

As a PhD student at the theoretical physics department of KTH you should devote ~10% of your time to teaching (the exact fraction should be stated in your contract). The first year courses are generally expected to be given in Swedish. The courses are distributed ~1 year in advance. If you are interested in teaching a particular course or have general questions, contact the current “studierektor”.  Contact information can be found at the theoretical physics department website.

Examples of courses that have been taught by people from the group:
  • Thermodynamics
  • Vector analysis
  • Quantum mechanics
  • Mathematical methods of physics
  • Computational Methods
To do: is it possible to give a course outside of the theoretical physics department if the course is more relevant for your research?

Your First Steps

  1. Read up on the requirements and expected timeline. The safest way to find stuff out is  probably by googling e.g. “KTH doctoral studies” since the KTH site is confusing and constantly changing.
  2. Browse your personal KTH menu. You can assess the current status of your PhD by logging into your KTH account from any kth.se webpage (a bar should pop up somewhere on the page). There you will find e.g. old and current individual study plans as well as registered and completed courses.
  3. Join a union and get social.
    • The PhD chapter (of KTH): support, information and social events for PhD students.
    • THS, the KTH student union.

SU

To be written.