Supplementary guidelines for the PhD in Health Sciences
The supplementary guidelines for the doctoral program in health sciences are given based on regulations on the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D) at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University of 28 August 2012 (hereafter referred to as the Ph.D regulations) and the university's common regulations for the Ph.D degree approved by the study committee at OsloMet, 16.10.2012. The guidelines have been adopted by the Faculty of Health Sciences 23.10.2012.
Scope
Ph.D candidates who have been admitted to the doctoral program in health sciences at the Faculty of Health Sciences, OsloMet, are obliged to familiarize themselves with the content of the Ph.D regulations and regulations for the Ph.D programs at OsloMet, including the supplementary guidelines for doctoral study in health sciences.
Responsibility for the Ph.D program
The Faculty of Health Sciences has the academic and administrative responsibility for the doctoral program in health sciences. All individual cases related to the doctoral program must be addressed to the Ph.D administration at the faculty, which will prepare cases for the faculty's doctoral committee.
Terms of admission
Conditions for admission are regulated by § 2-1 in the Ph.D regulations. To be admitted to the doctoral program, the applicant must have completed a bachelor's degree (180 credits / ECTS) + master's degree (120 credits / ECTS) or equivalent education. Documentation for the education that is to form the basis for the admission must be a certified copy of the original diploma.
Application for admission and formalities in connection with admission
An application for admission to the doctoral program is sent to the Ph.D administration at the Faculty of Health Sciences. The application form must be completed and enclosed with all necessary documentation. Requirements for the content of the application and processing of applications for admission are described in the Ph.D regulations §§ 2.1 - 2.4 and «Guidelines for processing applications for admission to PhD programs» in the university's common regulations for the Ph.D degree. Incomplete applications will not be processed.
Admission decisions are based on an overall assessment of the application. The doctoral degree committee at the Faculty of Health Sciences at OsloMet decides on applications for admission.
Admission to the doctoral program in health sciences is continuous. Admission is formalized, in accordance with § 2-6 of the Ph.D regulations, in the form of a written agreement between the Ph.D candidate, supervisor (s), and the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Applicants with a background from the Research Program in Health Sciences (Forskerlinje) who have completed the training component before applying for admissions to the Ph.D program, are exempt from the rule that 20 credits must be taken after admissions and exempt from the rule of the 2 years age limit on courses at the date of admission. Other applicants who have completed parts of the training component at OsloMet 12 months prior to admissions may also be exempted from the main regulation. Applicants may nevertheless, be required to complete new courses if it is academically justified in relation to the learning objectives for the Ph.D and the project's theme and/or method. The assessment of this will be done in connection with admissions.
Supervisors and guidance
The main supervisor shall have the main academic responsibility for the Ph.D candidate and shall, as a general rule, be employed at OsloMet. In addition, the Ph.D candidates must, as a general rule, have a co-supervisor from OsloMet or another institution. In the case of an external main supervisor, a co-supervisor shall be appointed at OsloMet. It is the faculty's doctoral degree committee that approves supervisors.
The Ph.D candidate and supervisor (s) must each submit an annual progress report that is being assessed and approved by the doctoral degree committee at the faculty. Supervision of the dissertation shall ensure that the project is in accordance with research ethics frameworks and contribute to the design of issues and quality in the methods used.
In each semester, on the first supervision meeting, the candidate and the supervisor shall make a timetable and outline for upcoming meetings. The supervision hours include preparation, conversation with the Ph.D candidate, and follow-up work. Requirements for supervisors, supervision obligations, and rights are regulated by the Ph.D regulations §§ 3-1 to 3-3 as well as the university's common regulations for the Ph.D degree.
Structure of the doctoral program
The doctoral program is a full-time program that runs over three years or four years with 25% compulsory work.
The research education is divided into two parts and consists of a training part of 30 credits in addition to the research part (dissertation) of 150 credits.
The training part in health sciences shall support the Ph.D candidate's research and competence development. It consists of courses that provide theoretical and methodological training for the completion of the dissertation work. The courses PHVIT9000; Health Sciences I and PHVIT9100, Health Sciences II are mandatory. In addition to this, the PhD candidate must choose courses with relevance to the dissertation.
The doctoral degree committee decided in 2017 that generic courses cannot be included as part of the training component. The training component must be professionally and methodologically applicable for the candidate's PhD project. All courses in the training component must be at a PhD course level and approved by the doctoral degree committee.
The PhD candidates can be granted credits for research stays abroad in connection with the work on the dissertation. If a candidate is granted the maximum of 5 credits, such a stay can replace an optional subject. Accounts of less than 5 credits that are not included as a course/replacement in the doctoral program will appear on a separate transcript. The PhD candidate must apply for a grant of credits to the doctoral degree committee at the Faculty of Health Sciences before the research stay is carried out. After the stay, the PhD candidates must submit a report so that the doctoral degree committee can assess whether the stay has been carried out in accordance with the application. An agreement must be in place to ensure that the PhD candidate participates in an active research environment in the foreign institution, and has the necessary infrastructure needed in connection with this.
Guidelines for article-based dissertations
This guideline is indicative of article-based dissertations. For all joint projects, the Ph.D candidate must submit signed declarations of collaboration in which the Ph.D candidate's independent contribution is described.
1. Articles versus monograph
The dissertation can be written as a collection of articles or as a monograph.
2. Number of articles
The dissertation must consist of at least 3 articles. If the supervisor (s) is of the opinion that more than 3 articles are needed to ensure the quality of the dissertation, more may be required. As a general rule, the PhD candidate must be the first author of at least two of the articles included in the dissertation. Where the PhD candidate is not the first author, he or she should have made a significant contribution to data collection, interpretation of results, and article writing.
3. Publishing
At least one of the dissertation's articles must be approved for publication at the time of submission of the thesis.
4. Coherence
The dissertation must form a whole that shows scientific overview and maturity as well as the ability to penetrate scientific issues. The introduction (”kappe”) of the dissertation shall present a critical review of updated literature and at the same time show where the research front stood when the project was initiated. The Ph.D candidate must demonstrate his/her competence in evaluating their results against previous research and theory. Furthermore, the dissertation must clarify the theoretical and practical implications of the Ph.D work. The introduction must be academically updated and normally comprise 40-70 pages. The Ph.D candidate must be the sole author of this.
Submission of dissertation and assessment
When submitting the dissertation, the Ph.D candidate must submit "Application for presentation to the doctoral examination at the Faculty of Health Sciences, OsloMet - metropolitan university" with the necessary attachments as described in the Ph.D regulations § 6-1. This must be addressed to the Ph.D administration at the faculty.
The supervisor (s) must submit a proposal of an adjudicating committee. The proposal must be justified and show how the committee as a whole covers the research field of the dissertation. The proposal is formulated on a separate form and sent to the faculty's Ph.D administration. Before this, the proposed members must have been requested and have agreed to sit on the adjudicating committee. Furthermore, each member must sign a declaration of impartiality which must be attached to the form with the proposal. It is the faculties' doctoral degree committee that appoints the adjudicating committee and approves recommendations from the adjudicating committees.
Assessment of the degree Ph.D in health sciences is regulated by the Ph.D regulations §§ 6-1 to 6-8 as well as «Guidelines for assessment of the degree Philosophiae doctor (Ph.D)» in the university’s joint regulations for the degree Ph.D.
Ph.D in health sciences is awarded based on:
- approved training part
- approved scientific dissertation
- approved trial lecture on a given topic
- approved public defense of dissertation (disputation)
The dissertation is printed in at least 35 copies in the faculty's standard format. The candidate should contact the Ph.D advisor at the Faculty for assistance. The dissertation must be publicly available no later than 14 days before the public defense.
Contact
phd-hv@oslomet.no if you have questions.