Doctoral student in private, private international, or procedural law

This is an English version of the Swedish original, which will prevail in cases of discrepancy.

The Faculty of Law invites applications for a doctoral student position in 

• Private law,
• Private international law, or
• Procedural law.

The field of private law consists of legal norms that regulate relations between private legal entities, as well as legal relations between public and private legal entities based on voluntary legal acts. It includes, in particular, areas such as contract law, corporate law, tort law, family law, law of obligations and property law, but also areas such as labour law, real estate law, intellectual property law, competition law and consumer law.

The field of private international law covers the part of the legal system that regulates the choice of law in disputes of an international nature, the jurisdiction of courts and the enforcement of judgements.

The field of procedural law covers civil procedure, which deals with how disputes are settled in court or through alternative dispute resolution, and criminal procedure, which deals with how offences regulated by criminal law are investigated, prosecuted and tried in court.

The research project should be relevant to one of the research environments that exist within these fields.

Job assignments

According to Chapter 5, Section 2 of the Higher Education Ordinance (Högskoleförordningen), those appointed to doctoral studentships shall primarily devote themselves to their studies. Those appointed to doctoral studentships may, however, work to a limited extent with educational tasks, research and administration. Before a doctorate has been awarded, however, duties of this kind may not comprise more than 20 per cent of a full-time post.

The researchers and teachers at the Faculty are expected to contribute to a dynamic research environment as well as to other Faculty activities, and to perform work primarily in the workplace provided by the Faculty.

Eligibility/Entry Requirements

Only those who are or have been admitted to third-cycle courses and study programmes at a higher education may be appointed to doctoral studentships. (Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, Section 3.)

A person meets the general entry requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if he or she:

1. Has been awarded a second-cycle qualification,
2. Has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or
3. Has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad. (Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 7, Section 39)

The special requirements are fulfilled by those who have completed a law programme and obtained the degree Master of Laws (juris kandidatexamen/juristexamen). The special requirements may also be fulfilled by those who can demonstrate other educational or particular professional experience where this is judged to provide the necessary qualification for doctoral studies comparable to that provided by the degree of Master of Laws (juris kandidatexamen/juristexamen) regarding both the subject for doctoral study and general legal education of importance for that subject.

The applicant must have obtained the degree of Master of Laws or the equivalent no later than March 19, 2025.

Basis of Assessment

For regulations concerning employment of Doctoral Students etc, see Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 Sections 1-7. For regulations concerning admission to third-cycle courses and study programmes, see Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 7 Sections 34-41.

Admittance of a doctoral student is based on an assessment of the candidate’s ability to benefit from third-cycle studies (Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 Section 5, Chapter 7 Sections 35, 41).

The applicant’s ability to benefit from third-cycle studies and research will be assessed with reference to the following selection criteria stated in the general syllabus for third-cycle studies at the Faculty of Law, which are given in no particular order of importance.

The applicant’s general competence:

• Quality and content of the applicant’s previous written work, such as a master’s thesis
• Ability to participate actively in the faculty’s research environment
• Relevant educational background and grades/grade average
• Relevant work experience

The scientific quality of the project description:

• Ability to describe, question and discuss the current state of research
• Sufficient clarity and logical coherence in the formulation of the aim and the research questions
• Stringency of legal reasoning and analysis
• Adequate selection of methods and theory
• Capacity for creativity and innovation in the formulation of the research questions and approaches
• Linguistic comprehensibility and formal aspects

Appointment Procedure

The application should be submitted through Varbi Lund University job application portal.

Your application should contain a curriculum vitae, grade transcripts, project description, a master thesis or similar degree projects, one or two references (manager, supervisor etc.) and other documents that you wish to submit.

The project description, enclosed in the electronic application, must not exceed 15 000 characters including spaces, footnotes, list of references etc. (any text that exceeds the limit will not be considered) and must be written in English, Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian (see Guidelines for Project description)

The Committee on Doctoral Education will call a limited number of candidates to interviews to be held on 7 May 2025, either by personal or digital meetings. Notification regarding who will be called for an interview is given no later than 17 April 2025. The interview will be based on the project description and is intended to deepen the committee’s knowledge of the applicant and the applicant’s ability to complete doctoral education.

Type of employment

Limit of tenure, four years according to Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 Section 7.