项目介绍

2026年11月5日

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Project description

Third-cycle subject: Industrial Economics and Management

The deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has expanded rapidly across public and private sectors. AI-driven technologies—particularly machine learning algorithms and large language models —are becoming integral to knowledge creation, task augmentation, and business analytics. This shift has catalyzed a rise of AI ecosystems, which brings together AI startups, intermediaries, and established enterprises, fundamentally reshaping how employees, businesses, and entire industries function. However, while certain use cases offer efficiency gains, organizations frequently grapple with critical challenges, such as low returns on investment, output unreliability, and pressing ethical dilemmas.

This PhD project aims to critically analyze the organizational implications of AI. The PhD student may explore questions such as, but not limited to: How do organizations mitigate the managerial challenges stemming from the probabilistic nature of AI technologies? How will AI transform the modern industry; and what are the opportunities and risks associated with such transformation? Along with the Big Tech companies and AI giants, what role do startups and intermediaries play in a more responsible transformation towards AI-based economy?

The PhD position is a part of the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society (WASP-HS) is a national research program in Sweden. WASP-HS fosters novel interdisciplinary knowledge about AI and autonomous systems and their impact on humanity and society. WASP-HS enables cutting-edge research, expertise, and capacity building in the social sciences and humanities. For more information, see here.

Supervision: Emrah Karakaya will be the main supervisor and Mats Engwall will be the co-supervisor. Decisions are made on admission. 

Admission requirements

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a second cycle degree (for example a master’s degree), or
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

The applicants must hold, or be in the process of obtaining, a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management, or equivalent.

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6.

Selection

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work,
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach, 
• analyze and work with complex issues, 
• conduct qualitative research methods such as interviews and case-study approach, 
• analyze academic literatures of innovation management, organization studies or/and information systems,
• understand how AI technologies function, and
• communicate in Swedish or willingness to learn Swedish for case study interviews.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal skills. 

Target degree: Doctoral degree

Information regarding admission and employment

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years’ time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

As a doctoral student, you are entitled to a workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement. Read more about Doctoral studies (PhD) | KTH | Sweden.

Union representatives

Contact information for union representatives.

Doctoral Student’s network (Students’ union on KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

Contact information for PhD chapter.

To apply for the position

Apply for the position and admission through KTH’s recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must include the following elements:

• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.Copies of originals must be certified.
• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies, work experience and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long) 
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

Other information

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process.

It may be the case that a position at KTH is classified as a security-sensitive role in accordance with the Protective Security Act (2018:585). If this applies to the specific position, a security clearance will be conducted for the applicant in accordance with the same law with the applicant’s consent. In such cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved following the security clearance.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.