Responsibilities and tasks

For each research subject, there is a research education coordinator. The responsibilities of the research education coordinator are as follows:

• Monitor the general syllabus (ASP) for the subject.
• Ensure that the subject specific courses included in the syllabus are relevant.
• Be responsible for appointing institutional representative.
• Ensure that a study funding plan for the entire period of study is in place.
• Ensure that adequate resources are available for the implementation of research education.

Your supervisor is your guide through your doctoral studies. The individual appointed as the primary supervisor should possess the equivalent of the Swedish  docent degree and demonstrate both scientific and pedagogical competence. As a general rule, the primary supervisor should hold a permanent teaching position at Lund University. 

In addition to your primary supervisor, you will always have at least one co-supervisor. The co-supervisor can be employed at Lund University, a company, or another academic institution.

You, together with your supervisors and the department representative (IR), will plan your doctoral studies and record this in your Individual Study Plan (ISP).

Your primary supervisor typically acts as the Principal Investigator (PI) for your project and is often the person who has applied for, and been awarded funding, to carry out your research task.

The role of the department representative (IR) is to represent the department in relation to individual doctoral students and their supervisors and to ensure that the university's and the doctoral students' commitments are fulfilled in the educational project.

The tasks of the department representative include:

• After consultation with the doctoral student and their supervisor, proposing an individual study plan to the head of department.
• Being responsible for convening and participating in each ISP (Individual Study Plan) meeting for the purpose of monitoring the individual study plan. When necessary, suggesting changes to the plan, such as including specific courses or credit-bearing elements in the doctoral student's education.
• Upon the doctoral student's request, proposing decisions regarding credit transfers to the director of doctoral studies.

Additionally, for the Faculty of Science:

• Ensuring that all course credits and mandatory requirements, as planned in the individual study plan, are completed before the doctoral thesis defense or licentiate seminar, and that the university fulfills its commitments in the doctoral student's research education. Making a notification of the thesis defense or licentiate seminar to the Vice Dean. (At LTH, the supervisor does this via the thesis defense system.)
• When all courses are completed, reporting this in Ladok. (At LTH, the supervisor is responsible for this.)

At KILU, the department representative is responsible for conducting development discussions (utvecklingsamtal) with the doctoral student. This can be held in conjunction with the ISP meeting.

As the highest-ranking official within the department, the head of department (Prefekt) holds the overall responsibility for doctoral education. The head of department can delegate a number of tasks but still needs to make decisions and sign various documents.

Among the tasks that the head of department cannot further delegate are:

• Deciding on the admission of a doctoral student
• Approving the Individual Study Plan (ISP)
• Appointing supervisors for doctoral students
• Deciding on the salary for a doctoral student
• Making a decision (LTH) or proposing to the dean (Faculty of Science) the appointment of the department representative

Many of these matters are prepared and reviewed in various instances before the head of department makes the decision.

Within the department, there is a director of studies for doctoral education who is responsible for monitoring the quality of doctoral education.

Some of the responsibilities of the director of doctoral studies include:

• Ensuring the general study plans for doctoral education subjects.
• Coordinating the work of department representatives.
• Reviewing course syllabi before they are approved by the doctoral education board.
• Working to ensure that there is an adequate range of courses within the subject area and that course evaluations are conducted for the courses offered.
• Being available as a conversation partner and advisor to handle various conflicts within doctoral education.