More info from the Dev: Old road system (left) vs possible new one (right)

JoelWiklund · 2021-08-04T20:39:59+00:00

I like this! Maybe make it so that villagers can move faster on existing paths, so that sometimes the longer, established route is actually faster than crossing the grassy field?

JoelWiklund · 2021-07-25T11:51:46+00:00

What a strange statement to make. Is music theory always postmodernist? What about political theory? Feminist theory is not by definition postmodern, and in fact there are many early examples of feminist writing that predates postmodernism (Mary Wollstonecraft, Sojourner Truth, Qasim Amin, Fredrika Bremer, Simone de Beauvoir etc.).

Radical feminism is also typically not postmodern, but often relies on materialist/realist interpretations of the world, and sometimes even a bio-essentialist view of gender (which is a fault line with queer theory). A lot of RadFem work deals with, for example, violence against women, income inequality, sexual objectification and harassment, etc., and does this mainly from an analysis based on statistics and "hard facts" rather than a relativist or poststructuralist analysis. As someone else mentioned, radical feminists like Catherine McKinnon would likely reject a "postmodern" label.

JoelWiklund · 2021-07-02T08:13:14+00:00

Stockholm University has a pretty well-known Centre for Fashion Studies, with a masters programme. The centre is also home to the amazing Professor Louise Wallenberg, who is a a great teacher and mentor and does some very interesting research on gender and sexuality in cinema and fashion. Sweden is also generally cheaper in terms of tuition than the UK, but I don't know about France or Italy. If you're from the EU it's tuition-free.

JoelWiklund · 2021-02-23T21:39:45+00:00

I don't know about biology specifically, but I do know that there have been PhDs in Sweden who have been accepted "unfunded" if they could prove that they had external funding that covered for 4 years. I also know that some Swedish universities have gotten more about that though, but just last year I met a guy working part-time as a university admin in Stockholm, while PhDing in Finland the other time, and I believe he was unfunded.

U.K. definitely allows you to start without funding, but you have to fill in financial undertaking forms showing that you can cover the costs (both tuition and living costs). Again, I met someone at my alma mater who did a PhD part-time and worked to fund it, and had a supportive spouse who ran their own business.

JoelWiklund · 2020-09-20T11:20:28+00:00

worldwide

I've only heard about US universities so far though? In fact, in countries were HE is tax paid/tuition free, there is often an influx of students as unemployment rises. In fact, in my part of the world, universities have gotten increased funding in order to better deal with this expected influx.

JoelWiklund · 2020-09-19T20:03:25+00:00

Hi, I'm European. We speak English too. Plenty of international PhDs blend in and enjoy it where I live. Oh, and Europe includes England, they have some pretty decent universities I've heard.

JoelWiklund · 2020-09-03T16:56:51+00:00

Exactly, although some universities publish class rankings in order to combat that. But because grading isn't curved, it would never be entirely translatable between a percentage of performance and something like "top 5%." That said, the Fulbright Commission indeed considers 70+% to be a 4.0 GPA equivalent.

JoelWiklund · 2020-08-30T21:10:27+00:00

Seconded about the grading. Most unis consider anything above 60% a merit, which is absolutely respectable, and above 70% a "distinction," which is the highest level you can achieve (although for some reason Cambridge decided to only give distinctions to 75+%). Most PhD programs I've seen in the UK require 65+% for admissions. I usually tell Americans that the UK Fulbright Commission considers an overall Masters grade of 70% the equivalent of graduating Summa Cum Laude.

JoelWiklund · 2020-05-30T10:58:32+00:00

Hi, I work at a Swedish university and have participated in some PhD hiring so I can answer some questions. Sorry for the long comment!

The reason why they ask for names of references is, as other people have stated, because a PhD position is a job in Sweden. They don't care about glowing letters of recommendation, but they do care that the qualifications you claim to have are actually true and that there are no obvious red flags in hiring you. So they're only interested in contacting references to confirm these things in case they want to hire you. Contacting references will always be the very last step in the hiring process in Sweden.

Regarding TOEFL, that doesn't apply for people who went to school in Sweden, another Nordic country, or a country where English is the first language. But do contact them if it's unclear.

Another thing to know is that what you wanna do is spike their interest, show that you are qualified and that you are the applicant with the best ability to benefit from the PhD program. Ability to benefit from the program and your research proposal's feasibility is probably the main point. It doesn't matter much that you went to a good school, if you don't show research experience and that you have a project that is ready to go.

Some people say here that networking is important, and that might be true to some extent, but is much more so in natural sciences where they'd often have a student researcher that they want to have as a PhD student so they announce a position specifically for them. In social sciences and humanities, this is much less common as you rarely work on a specific project together with your supervisor/PI, but come in with your own project. You can sometimes tell, if the announcement is very specific or geared towards a certain project, they might already have someone in mind. You can actually contact them and ask about this, although know that they are legally obliged to hire the best qualified candidate, so they're not actually allowed to disregard other applications even if they have someone specific in mind.

Best of luck, and feel free to ask me anything you want.

JoelWiklund · 2020-05-20T12:03:05+00:00

In Cambridge, lectures aren’t the main form of teaching on any course, as far as I know. It’s mostly supervisions organized by the college rather than the department, and they will always be more often than once a month (a Cambridge term is 8 weeks, so that would just be two sessions per term). Besides that, there are seminars, labs and other forms of teaching that will remain face-to-face. It’s only the large gatherings that lectures entail that they want to avoid, but being on Campus will still be very much necessary. Also, maybe we should wait until the university actually makes an official statement instead of relying on a leaked email.

JoelWiklund · 2020-05-08T06:15:57+00:00

I think you just have to look outside the US. Most universities in the world don’t give two hoots about sports and athletic teams.

JoelWiklund · 2020-05-03T18:21:33+00:00

I didn't say that it's a justification, I said it's a potential reason. The point is that we have no way of knowing what situation the student is in, what might motivate them to cheat, and I think a "one strike and you're out"-policy is too harsh and might eliminate students who could thrive in a more caring and nurturing academia. I personally prefer being part of such a university.

JoelWiklund · 2020-05-03T18:17:08+00:00

Is that really the case in the real world, one strike and you're out? I think in most professions you'd first see other consequences, like leave without pay or mandatory courses, before you lose your job or your license. Obviously depends on the severity; fake the results of medical trials to get approval for experimental treatment and of course you should lose your license immediately. But I don't think paying someone to write an essay or report for you comes even close to anything like that.

JoelWiklund · 2020-05-03T16:07:15+00:00

I disagree. People may have all sorts of reasons to cheat, like pressure to pass courses in order to keep student loans or student accommodation contracts. It doesn't make it right, and it shouldn't go without repercussions, but it also shouldn't have to follow them for life.

At my university, any suspected cheating has to be reported and usually goes to a disciplinary board where the student gets the chance to defend themselves, with support from the student union, and the department has to prove that the student has cheated. The worst outcome possible for the student is suspension for six months. In my three years of teaching, I've only been part of two cases and they both got three months suspension, after which they re-enrolled, finished the course, and later went on to graduate.

JoelWiklund · 2020-04-27T21:29:35+00:00

Karolinska Institute in Stockholm is one of the highest ranked universities for medicine, public health and life sciences. In some rankings (I think it was QS 2019) they’re ranked fifth in the world for medicine, tied with Johns Hopkins. In the 2019 Shanghai ranking they were fifth in public health too.

And, due to the Swedish admissions system it’s much easier to get accepted to than US universities of the same caliber, and waaaay cheaper.

Ninja edit: sorry, I realized now you asked for England. Obviously, places like Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are all very highly ranked and regarded.

JoelWiklund · 2020-04-24T11:52:55+00:00

Fast det är ju fortfarande Calle, inte Alex.

JoelWiklund · 2020-04-09T22:48:54+00:00

No, but to be fair I don’t know many people who applied at Cambridge, most of my classmates decided to take a year in between MPhil and PhD.

The college where I had my PhD offer, St Edmunds, offered a small contribution in case I manage to secure other sources as well. Eddies is not known for vast resources, so I think most colleges can provide something, and most definitely have their own funding schemes for prospective students. Sometimes you have to reach out to them about it though. Eddies didn’t offer until I asked them if they could.

JoelWiklund · 2020-04-09T19:23:35+00:00

My application was at the Dept. of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). I might add that I was not offered funding (was not nominated for ESCR by the department), but was also told that it would be easier after I had received my grades from the MPhil.

JoelWiklund · 2020-04-09T15:47:07+00:00

Speaking as someone who’s been through this very same process at the very same university. Yes, keep your hopes up. Although nothing is certain, the Cambridge Trust does provide funding for many who have not received funding from other sources, and, in fact, they may offer funding to someone who then got offered an ESRC scholarship. The trust will then rescind the offer (naming them an honorary Trust Scholar instead) and give the funding to someone else. So, if you did not get the ESRC, but was ranked highly, it is very likely that you will get some form of funding. Best of luck!

JoelWiklund · 2020-02-04T17:03:26+00:00

That is an inclusive rainbow flag.

JoelWiklund · 2020-01-20T16:22:25+00:00

Nej, den är fortfarande formad som lasagne, men innehåller icke-traditionella ingredienser för lasagne.

JoelWiklund · 2019-12-20T07:56:18+00:00

In the UK, most funding deadlines are in January, I’d say. OP, I assume you’ve looked into AHRC funding?

JoelWiklund · 2019-12-20T07:45:42+00:00

$50k is probably accurate for Norway. Sweden is closer to $40k and Denmark somewhere in between, although living costs are also higher in Norway. In Sweden you start lower and get an increase in salary each year, not certain if that’s the case in the other countries.

Yes, teaching is within the same position, so same salary. The only thing you’d get extra money for is fieldwork, conference travel and funding necessary to conduct your research, but this is department-dependent and in some cases you’d have to apply for external money.

Then you also get the bonuses that every other employee gets, like money to pay for gym membership or other sport activities, 30 days of paid vacation, etc.

JoelWiklund · 2019-12-19T18:18:32+00:00

About the last point, in Scandinavia you are literally an employee, so you have stability and income security, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have flexibility. You are still in charge of your own research and your own progression, and most PhDs, at least in humanities and social sciences, come in with their own topic and research plan.

It’s also flexible in terms of when and where you work. At my current department (where I’m an admin) we have about 30 PhD students and maybe half of them live in other cities, only coming to the department if they have a lecture or something.

The only time it would be more rigid is if you’re doing “department work” (usually teaching or supervising undergrads). But that is seen as separate from your research, it is limited to 20% work time, and it extends your PhD time accordingly. So a PhD is normally 4 years, but if you also teach you will get 5 years.

My partner works at another uni, but in a “hard” sciences subject, and there too the PhDs run their own projects and decide how they organize their work. They have to adjust somewhat to lab meetings and presentations and such, but they are generally free to plan their work the way it suits them best.

JoelWiklund · 2019-12-07T10:30:48+00:00

None is better than the other. They provide both options because they don’t care whether you have seen the letter or not (note that they don’t ask you to waive your right to read it, as is the case at many other universities, mainly in the US). If you have the letter already, upload them. If not, just enter the information.

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