Post doc in Sweden

Although many doctoral candidates, at the end of their doctoral studies, doubt that there will ever come a day when their theses are completed, defended and approved, this will happen and then it will be time for new challenges. For most people this means a postdoc position at a foreign or national university or research institute.

Postdoc employment in Sweden
In order to make it easier for doctoral candidates to gain qualifications SULF, via Saco-S, has established a collective agreement for fixed-term employment in postdoctoral positions. In this collective agreement postdoctoral positions are defined as individuals employed primarily for research tasks who have earned a doctorate or a foreign degree equivalent to a doctorate. The doctorate must have been awarded no more than three years before the expiry of the application period, unless there are special circumstances applying.

These are temporary positions, they are to be advertised and are normally full-time for two years. Appointments may be extended if there are special reasons such as sick or parental leave, clinical service, elected positions in unions or other similar circumstances.

Duties will mainly consist of research, mainly being defined as at least 80 percent.

Postdoc abroad
Postdoctoral positions abroad are, unfortunately, usually funded by scholarships which is disadvantageous as concerns insurance coverage, access to parental leave and does affect the social insurance cover provided. However Swedish universities do employ and send researchers abroad and some foreign universities do employ postdocs. Read more about being posted abroad here.

Any stay abroad, regardless of employment terms or scholarship, should always be preceded by close contact with the Social Insurance Agency, Akademikernas a-kassa and SULF.

Postdoc in Sweden
If you have come to Sweden to conduct a postdoctoral period with or without employment, please feel free to contact us for advice.