Application for PhD scholarships
On the individual graduate school websites you can find detailed information about application
announcements and deadlines as well as application procedures and guidelines.
PhD projects:
- Individual projects: You can apply for admission to a graduate school based on your academic record and a project proposal prepared by you.
- Specified projects: You can apply for a number of specific PhD positions with predefined project descriptions. Predefined projects are announced on the individual graduate school websites.
Financial support:
- Enrolment in the PhD programme requires available funding for the entire PhD programme.
- You can apply for scholarships in connection with your application to the PhD programme.
- You can apply as a self-financed student. You must document your external funding sources.
For more information about admission, read the folder PhD Admission's Guide (pdf)
You can facilitate the application process by obtaining national recognition of your degree via the Danish Agency for International Education.
Several types of PhD scholarships
Aarhus University offers several types of PhD scholarships: three-year, four-year and five-year scholarships. The Industrial PhD programme is another option.
3-year PhD fellowships
To be considered for a 3-year PhD fellowship, you must have passed a qualifying examination that corresponds to 300 ECTS credits (e.g. a Bachelor’s degree allocated 180 ECTS credits and a Master’s degree allocated 120 ECTS credits). The recipient is employed as a PhD research fellow for three years and gets a monthly salary of approximately DKK 25,400 incl. pension and holiday pay.
4-year PhD scholarships
To be considered for a 4-year PhD scholarship, you must have passed a qualifying examination that corresponds to 240 ECTS credits (e.g. a Bachelor’s degree allocated 180 ECTS credits as well as Master’s degree examinations that correspond to 60 ECTS credits, or a Master’s degree allocated 240 ECTS credits). A 4-year PhD scholarship consists of two parts. For the first two years (part A), the recipient gets a monthly payment of approximately DKK 9,700. For the last two years (part B), the recipient is employed as a PhD research fellow and gets a monthly salary of approximately DKK 25,400 incl. pension and holiday pay. In the transition from part A to part B, a Danish Master’s degree is obtained. The transition from part A to part B also requires that part A has been satisfactorily completed.
At some of the university's graduate schools, students may apply for admission to a PhD programme immediately after completing the Bachelor's programme (the so-called 3 + 5 or Bologna Danese track).On completion of a Bachelor’s degree, talented students are admitted directly to a programme which combines a Master's programme with the first year of a PhD programme.
The Industrial PhD programme
An Industrial PhD project is a three-year business-oriented PhD programme funded by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. On this programme, the doctoral student is employed by a company and enrolled in a doctoral programme at a university at the same time.
The company receives a monthly salary subsidy of DKK 14,500 from the ministry, while the university's expenses are covered (in relation to supervision, for example). The PhD student works full time on the project and divides his or her time equally between the company and the university.
Contact AU Outreach for more information on how to get started on an industrial PhD project. Read more about the programme on the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation website.
- Foto: Roar Paaske / AU-Kommunikation
