The purpose of the scheme is to reducecompletion time and to increase the number of doctoral degrees awarded by the faculty. The completion grant should be used as a further qualification measure with the aim of broadening the competence of the PhD candidates. The faculty fully finances the scheme.
The heads of departments are obliged to stay informed about the progress of their PhD candidates, with a view to including the recipients of the completion grant in their plans.
Who is covered by the scheme?
All PhD candidates who submit their doctoral thesis for assessment with a written recommendation from the supervisor within 3 or 3 ½ years after the start of the scholarship period will be offered a 12 or 6-month completion grant, respectively.
The scheme includes PhD candidates for whom HF has employer responsibility, including candidates funded by the Research Council of Norway who are employed at HF. The scheme does not include PhD candidates with 4 years of employment, including 25% work duty.
The scheme does not apply to Dr.philos candidates.
Completion time
The limit of 3 years or 3 ½ years is absolute. This means that you will receive a 6-month grant if you submit after, for example, 3 years + 1 week. Similarly, you will not receive a grant if you submit after 3 ½ years + 1 week.
Any leave or reduced position taken to perform teaching work or other work at or outside the departmnet during the scholarship period will be counted in the total period. Candidates must ensure that such leave does not affect their eligibility for the completion grant from the faculty if they wish to prioritize such a grant. Candidates are still free to take on teaching work during the scholarship period if they are offered it. For example, if you take on teaching work of up to ½ year in total, you will still be able to receive a ½ year completion grant, provided you submit within the 3 ½-year limit.
Periods of sick leave and statutory and contractual leave (maternity leave, care leave, or other welfare leave) will be deducted from the total time from the start of the scholarship and will therefore not affect the individual’s eligibility for the completion grant. This also applies to reduced positions due to care for children and close family.
The completion grant is given for 6 or 12 months. No grants are given for periods shorter than 6 months, longer than 12 months, or for 7-11 months.
Those who wish to receive the completion grant and believe they will be able to submit their thesis within the time limits must notify their department in writing, through the PhD coordinator and PhD leader, no later than 6 months before the planned submission.
Recipients of the grant should, as a general rule, start immediately after submitting their thesis.
Work tasks
The completion grant scheme should benefit both the candidate and the department. The tasks should be relevant to the department and contribute to the candidate gaining relevant experience for their desired career development. The faculty assumes that the tasks during the completion grant period are meritorious and academically relevant, and a written agreement on the content of the work should be made at the start of the agreement period.
The completion grant is an extension of the position as a PhD candidate, not a separate position; completion grant recipients are therefore still employed in an educational position. This implies that tasks that promote the development of competence and the acquisition of new skills should be prioritized, and that completion grant recipients should have closer follow-up than newly appointed researchers, postdocs, or associate professors with similar tasks. It is also important that both the department and the completion grant recipient have realistic expectations; for example, it is natural to expect that completion grant recipients spend more time on teaching preparations than experienced teachers. Completion grant recipients should normally have a mentor. The acquired pedagogical and any administrative competence should be documented and confirmed in writing by the department at the end of the grant period.
The tasks during the completion grant period should normally be planned so that the candidate has about 50% time for their own research and about 50% for teaching or other specific tasks agreed with the department. For completion grant recipients who teach, the distribution of tasks should normally reflect an associate professor’s daily life. Candidates who teach should complete at least 20 hours of pedagogy training. It is important that candidates who do not teach also have a well-balanced workday with an even distribution between free research time and guided tasks.
Examples of tasks
Note that the list is unsorted and not exhaustive, and includes examples of both tasks related to own research and guided tasks performed by agreement with the department, including both teaching and other tasks.
- Teaching tasks, including grading.
- Note: completion grant recipients should gain experience in developing and conducting courses, but should normally not have sole responsibility for a course.
- Quality and development work related to teaching, e.g., participation in evaluation, participation in the preparation of grading guidelines, roles in working groups, program councils, etc.
- Quality and development work in other areas, e.g., tasks related to HF’s strategic goals.
- Work with planning and conducting academic seminars and conferences.
- Designing relevant research projects and/or applications for external funding, including designing postdoc projects, etc.
- Scientific work in continuation of the doctoral thesis, e.g., writing a scientific article.
- Dissemination, including popularization of own research, school visits, participation in public events, etc.
- Work with innovation projects and community contact.
- Internships/practice with public or private enterprises.
- Editorial work, work with publishing, etc. Note: tasks of this nature must be at a sufficiently high academic level, i.e., more advanced than tasks normally assigned to research assistants.
- Committee work and other administrative work.
- Participation in courses, workshops, other training, and career-promoting measures.
It may be relevant to link candidates to academically relevant work at other UiO units by agreement with the department management. The specific content of the completion grant for the individual is agreed with the department's leader.
Starter Kit and university pedagogical education
It is expected that all recipients of the completion grant will participate in the course Starter Kit - Teaching as a PhD candidate, estimated at 20 hours of work.
Recipients of the grant can also apply for admission to LINK’s Program for Basic Competence in University Pedagogy. The entire basic training is estimated at 200 hours of work, with a common introductory part constituting 120 hours. The candidate must, in collaboration with the department, assess whether it is possible to complete all or parts of the course in university pedagogy. In case of high demand, LINK will usually prioritize employees with significant teaching responsibilities when making admissions.
If you do not get a place in or have time to take the entire basic training, you can instead take the module Innovation and your teaching, estimated at 30 hours of work, which is open to all academic staff at UiO, including those who do not have teaching tasks at the time.
Candidates must plan the implementation of training well in advance of submitting the thesis if they wish to take Uniped. For information about courses and registration, see LINK’s website.
Implementation of the completion grant period
HF’s personnel consultants handle the administrative management of the completion grants.
A separate work agreement is drawn up for the completion grant period, or an extension if there is no break between the regular and completion grant periods. The agreement takes effect from the day after the end of the regular scholarship period. The completion grant recipient continues with the salary level they had at the end of the regular scholarship period.
After the defense, the completion grant recipient is entitled to a salary increase if they are still employed at HF, cf. Regulations for salary increase for doctoral degrees.
Before submitting the thesis
The department must notify the personnel consultant two weeks before the expected submission of the thesis. For more information about applying for a completion grant and planning the completion grant period, see the administrative routines at your department.