Admission requirements
To be admitted to a doctorate programme, you must have a strong academic background from your previous studies, i.e. the average grade should normally be B or better from your master's degree programme (120 credits) or equivalent education. The calculation of the average grade should be weighed against the credits for each course and for the master's thesis.
If you have taken your education abroad, you may take the initiative and contact HK-dir for approval of the education. Otherwise, an equivalent assessment will be made as part of your application process.
In cases in which an applicant’s previous education has been evaluated using pass/fail grades, the suitability of the applicant for a PhD programme will be determined following an individual assessment.
English language requirements for PhD equals the requirements for master students.
Funding
When applying for admission, you must document how your research education and doctoral project will be funded. The majority of INN's PhD candidates are employed at INN as research fellows. PhD vacancies are published on INN’s website.
All applications for PhD positions are processed through the JobNorge portal. The vacancy text, application form, and the relevant faculty’s guidelines will specify the documentation requirements for each position.
Other sources of funding
It is also possible to apply for admission to research education with alternative funding. You can obtain funding through various scholarships and grant schemes. The Research Council of Norway offers support to enterprises in the private and public sector with employees who wish to undertake a doctorate.
For more information, read more about these schemes on the Research Council’s website:
- Industrial PhD Scheme – Doctoral Projects in Industry
- Public Sector PhD Project – Doctoral Project in the Public Sector
If you apply for admission to a PhD programme with funding other than a fellowship position at INN, you must document this when applying for admission. The funding must be valid for the entire admission period (three years) and all financial matters related to the doctoral course of studies must be clarified between the funding party and INN before the application for admission can be approved.
INN requires normally that external funding covers an amount equivalent to the Research Council's former rates for fellowship grants. The rate for 2025 was NOK 1.3 million per year for the funding of doctoral fellows. This includes salary, payroll tax, social security costs, operation funds and funds for foreign stays. For all applicants who are not fully funded through scholarship schemes, documentation is required showing that at least 50 percent of the working hours of the doctoral degree programme can be used for research education, and that at least one year may be devoted to full-time studies.
There is an ongoing admission to all PhD programmes at INN. In addition, the same requirements for prior knowledge and application content apply to you who have external funding, as for those who are appointed as research fellows at INN.
Language
Pursuant to the Regulation relating to Universities and University Colleges Act, § 3-19 (5) Research Fellow: INN offers free Norwegian language training if the employee does not possess skills in Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish at level A2 upon employment. The aim is for the employee to achieve Norwegian language proficiency at a minimum of this level.
Admission of research fellows to a PhD programme at INN
For the PhD programme in Teaching and Teacher Education (TTE), placement in a research fellow position and admission to the PhD programme are implemented in a single process. That is, the applicant who is hired for a position is also automatically granted admission to the PhD programme. The appointment process for TTE therefore often requires that the applicant has prepared a detailed project description before appointment.
For the other PhD programmes, appointment as a research fellow and admission to the PhD programme are two separate processes. You must first apply for a published vacancy, and then apply for admission to the PhD programme. However, appointment as a research fellow is conditional on the PhD candidate applying to the relevant PhD programme within three (3) months of employment. If no admission agreement has been signed within six months, INN as the employer can terminate the employment contract.
The faculties / programme committees make the decisions regarding admission to the PhD programmes.
Application for admission
An application for admission to a PhD programme must contain:
Documentation of the education and / or work experience that will form the basis of the admission (normally a diploma and CV) and documentation of funding.
A project description that includes:
- An academic account of the research project (project description)
- Documentation of special needs for academic and material resources
- Plan for stay at another institution, including abroad
- Plan for academic dissemination
- Information regarding potential intellectual property restrictions to protect the rights of others
- Plan for the training component, including training aimed at entrance qualification in accordance with the Qualifications Framework
- A suggestion for at least one supervisor as well as indication of affiliation with an active research environment
- An account of possible legal and ethical issues that the project raises, and how these can be clarified. It should be stated in the application whether the project requires the approval of research ethics committees, other authorities, or the consent of private actors (informants, patients, parents, etc.).
Applicants are admitted to PhD programmes at INN on an ongoing basis. An application with compulsory attachments must be submitted to the PhD coordinator / R&D advisor at the relevant PhD programme. All diplomas must be originals or legally certified copies.
Admission agreement
The admission agreement governs the PhD candidate’s, the supervisor’s, and INN's rights and duties during the agreement period.
Once you have been admitted to a PhD programme at INN, you will receive an admission agreement in two copies. The first part of the agreement (Part A) is between the PhD candidate and INN (represented by the dean at the faculty). The second part (Part B) is a supervision agreement. This must be signed by the PhD candidate and supervisor(s).
PhD candidates with funding from, or other contributions from, an external party are sent a separate agreement between the candidate, the PhD programme and the external party (Part C).
The agreement must be signed by all parties. A signed copy will be sent to the PhD coordinator, while the candidate will retain the other signed copy.
The admission period
In the admission agreement, the agreement period is set with a start date and end date. These are usually overlapping with the start date and end date for the funding of education. In case of approved delays, the contract period is extended accordingly. INN may extend the contract period after a justified application. By granting an extension, INN can add further conditions to the extension.
Application form for extension of the PhD agreement can be found on the page for PhD forms.
Following the expiry of the agreement period, the parties' rights and duties will be terminated in accordance with the PhD agreement, so that the PhD candidate may lose her/his right to supervision, course participation and access to INN’s infrastructure. The maximum duration for the PhD studies outside of approved leave and compulsory work is six (6) years. The candidate may, however, apply for permission to submit her/his doctoral thesis for evaluation for the PhD degree after the admission period and/or the maximum duration for PhD studies has expired.
The candidate and INN can agree that the PhD education will end before the agreed time. This can be done through voluntary termination or forced termination.
Get started quickly
It's important that you get started quickly with the PhD work. Below you can find INN's regulations for PhD. We recommend to contact the library during your first working week.
Regulations and guidelines
- INN's PhD regulations and the PhD programmes' supplementary guidelines can be found on the page for organization and regulations for the PhD programmes
- The research ethical guidelines that apply to your academic field.
Library
The library courses in:
- training in relevant tools
- search in databases
- publishing
You can schedule individual instruction at the library here.
Research support
As a PhD candidate at INN, you are offered to get research support that can help you through the PhD period, both in academic questions and regarding administration of your PhD project.
PhD on track helps to support PhD candidates with challenges they may face in their work; from mapping research literature to publishing results.
PhD Forms
All PhD forms mentioned in the chapters above are listed on the page PhD Forms.