Doctoral candidate salaries

Salaries for doctoral candidates vary not only between higher education institutions, but also between different subjects. At most higher education institutions, SULF and Saco-S have signed local collective agreements on salary levels for doctoral candidates. These agreements usually regulate minimum starting salaries and salary development during the period of employment. This salary development is linked to either length of employment or study results.

SULF prefers increases linked to length of employment rather than study results, partly to avoid difficult assessment scenarios, which may also vary within a higher education institution, and partly because the study achievement model disadvantages women, (because they tend to take more parental leave than men), and doctoral candidates who teach.

Additionally, salaries are often increased in connection with salary reviews.

Most agreements allow for salaries to be set at a higher level than the specified minimum level if you can provide compelling reasons, for example relevant professional experience, previous qualifications, educational background or market pressures, (i.e. difficulties in recruiting doctoral candidates), and if the employer then agrees.

You can find local collective agreements here (in Swedish). You can search according to the doctoral candidate ladder and higher education institution you are interested in. You can also read SULF’s salary statistics for doctoral candidates if you log in to the website.