Faculty rules for advertising PhD positions

• The assessment of applicants for PhD positions is done by the respective supervisors or, in the case of broad advertisements, by appointed experts. The academic assessment is prepared in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the Employment of Academic Staff at Universities and the supplementary faculty rules for the employment of PhD students. The assessments are subsequently approved by the chairman of the respective department’s PhD study committee on behalf of the entire committee.
  
  
• The employment committee consists of the head of the department, the chair of the department’s PhD study committee, and the supervisor, who jointly select the best qualified candidate for the PhD position.
  
  
• Funding must be in place when requesting an advertisement. The funding must be agreed upon with the head of the department.

Based on the above, the Science Faculty Administration has established the following procedure:

1. The department creates the position in HCM, attaching a project description and a funding overview. The advertisement and funding overview must be approved by the supervisor (or grant holder, if different from the supervisor) and the head of the department. The advertisement for approval by the dean.
   
   
2. The complete advertisement is posted on www.sdu.dk in English, and in some cases also in Danish. The job advertisement must be posted for a minimum of four weeks.
   
   
3. PhD positions must be advertised internationally (via Signatur). At a minimum, a shortened version of the advertisement is sent to Nature Online. The short advertisement always refers to the full advertisement on www.sdu.dk – applications cannot be based solely on the short advertisement. The short advertisement is also posted on Jobnet.
   
   
4. Applicants must at least submit the following:
   • Motivation/background for applying for the project
   • Detailed CV
   • Copy of degree certificate
   • Two reference letters, or alternatively, names of referees

   Reference letters received before the application deadline are uploaded in HCM on the individual applicant's profile under Attachments – Internal documents.
   
   

5. Applicants are informed in the advertisement that failure to submit the required material will result in the application not being assessed.
   
   
6. The assessor is notified of access and shortlisting of applicants in HCM. The assessor shortlists the incoming applications. The shortlisting is subsequently sent for approval by the dean.
   
   
7. Applicants who are not shortlisted receive a preliminary rejection letter. The assessor is then sent for consultation with the shortlisted applicants, who have one week to raise any objections to the assessor.
   
   
8. The assessor conducts the academic assessment of each shortlisted applicant and provides an individual assessment for each applicant for the use of the appointment committee, in accordance with the supplementary faculty rules for the employment of PhD students. When assessing PhD applicants, it is sufficient to indicate "qualified" or "not qualified" and write a short academic justification. The deadline for the assessment work is three weeks from the expiry of the shortlisted applicants’ deadline to submit objections to the assessor.
   
   
9. The assessor sends the final assessments to the Science Faculty Administration via e-mail at nat-hr@sdu.dk.
   
   
10. The Science Faculty Administration sends the assessments for approval by the chairman of the relevant department’s PhD committee.
    
    
11. The Science Faculty Administration sends the assessments for consultation with the respective shortlisted applicants, who have one week to comment on the assessments.
    
    
12. The Science Faculty Administration gives the employment committee access to the qualified applicants. The employment committee may decide to invite a number of the qualified applicants for a detailed interview. Once the employment committee has selected the best-qualified applicant, the department sends a request for enrolment and employment to the Science Faculty Administration via e-mail at nat-hr@sdu.dk. The request must be approved by the supervisor (or grant holder, if different from the supervisor) and the head of the department. The head of the PhD school approves the enrolment request, and the dean approves the employment request.
    
    
13. The PhD school prepares the enrolment letter.
    
    
14. The Science Faculty Secretariat sends the employment request to SDU HR based on the enrolment letter.
    
    
15. Applicants who are not offered employment receive a rejection letter.