项目介绍

2026年3月29日

The Department of History of Ideas is a dynamic and prominent research environment with particularly strong research groups in the history of medicine, history of science, and political history of ideas. It is the largest unit in the country within the field and is internationally recognized for its research. Around fifty teachers, researchers, and fellows are active in the department, including 12 doctoral students. For more information, see our website: www.idehist.uu.se.

The department announces a doctoral position in the history of ideas with a focus on the modern history of psychiatry. We offer a highly qualified environment in which you can develop into an independent researcher in this field, even if your previous studies within the humanities or social sciences have had a different orientation.

About the project
This doctoral project is carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Preventive Psychiatry. The project is part of an interdisciplinary initiative to explore concepts of psychiatric illness, notions of risk, and prevention in mental health in historical, contemporary, professional, and popular contexts. The aim is to contribute in-depth knowledge about the changing classificatory frameworks through which psychiatric disorders have been defined and managed from the 19th century to today, as well as how ideas about risk and prevention relate to shifting preventive paradigms.

The dissertation project may, for example, be pursued using perspectives from the history of medicine, science and technology studies (STS), and medical humanities to investigate how ideas about etiology, vulnerability, and responsibility shape approaches to psychiatric diagnoses among researchers, the general public, clinicians, as well as patients and relatives. The research may combine, for instance, large-scale digital text analysis with archival studies, oral history, and ethnographic fieldwork. Ultimately, the project aims to clarify how historical discourses and contemporary practices interact and influence the legitimacy, authority, and social consequences of psychiatric knowledge.

The doctoral student will have access to several strong research environments: the Department of History of Ideas, the Centre for Preventive Psychiatry, and the Centre for Medical Humanities (CMH).

Duties
Doctoral education through employment as a doctoral student comprises four years of full-time study. Attendance at departmental seminars and participation in the everyday academic and social life of the department is required. Duties related to administration and/or teaching may be included (maximum 20%). The period of employment will then be extended accordingly.

RequirementsTo meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must:

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree relevant to research in the history of ideas, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

Applicants must also demonstrate good ability to use English in academic speech and writing. Great emphasis will be placed on personal suitability, such as strong collaborative and communication skills.

Additional qualifications

• Experience with interdisciplinary work, e.g., through studies that include multiple academic fields.
• Experience with one or more of the methodologies relevant to the project: work with historical archives and primary sources, digital text analysis, interviews, ethnographic methods.

We are internationally oriented and welcome applicants with degrees from—and experience of—universities outside Sweden.

Application

Your application may be written in Swedish or English and must include:

1. A personal letter in which you thoroughly describe your motivation for applying to the position and its research focus (max. 2,000 words).
2. A CV detailing your academic progress.
3. A copy of your Master’s thesis.
4. Certified copies of degree certificates, or if your degree certificate is not yet available, a statement from your supervisor confirming that the thesis will be defended during the spring term 2026.
5. Contact information for two references.
6. Any additional documents you wish to include.

Assessment criteria
Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will be assessed based on their ability to benefit from doctoral education. This evaluation is based on an overall assessment of qualifications, the quality of the Master’s thesis, the candidate’s suitability for the specific project, and interviews. A selection of applicants will be invited for an interview.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University’s rules and guidelines.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 2026-09-01 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

Salary is determined according to the local collective agreement for doctoral students. See the current collective agreement: Link to local collective agreement on salaries for doctoral students.

For further information about the position, please contact: Head of Deaprtment Thomas Karlsohn, thomas.karlsohn@idehist.uu.se or Director of PhD studies Frans Lundgren frans.lundgren@idehist.uu.se

Please submit your application by30 April 2026, UFV-PA 2026/915.

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