stockholm university phd physics

Doctoral Program in Physics

The Doctoral Program in Physics is organized in six broad research areas and includes studies at doctoral level in Physics, or Biological Physics.

General subject study plans and program description

General syllabus for education at third-cycle level in Physics (pdf 312 kB)

Programme description: Doctoral Programme in Physics (pdf 165 kB)

Research areas

The doctoral program covers a wide range of research areas in physics ranging from basic and theoretical research into modern physics, interdisciplinary research in biological and biomedical physics, to applied and directed nuclear research.

The doctoral program in physics is organized around six broad research approaches and involves studies at the doctoral level in the subject of biological physics or physics with six spezializations:

• Atomic, Subatomic, and Astrophysics
• Theoretical Physics
• Material and Nano Physics
• Optics and Photonics
• Biological and Biomedical Physics
• Nuclear Engineering

In the general subject study plan you can read about the courses that are included in the program.

Doctoral programmes and third-cycle subjects - KOPPS

The objectives of the Doctoral Program in Physics follow the common objectives of postgraduate education according to the Higher Education Ordinance (1993: 100).

These goals are divided into three categories:

• Knowledge and understanding
• Skills and abilities
• Ability to make judgments  and adopt  a standpoint.

A concrete description of how these goals can be met within the framework of the doctoral program are described in the general subject study plan.

Previous knowledge

Basic eligibility complies with the general stated in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993: 100). As a special qualification for admission to postgraduate education in the subject of physics, the applicant must have:

• Completed basic competencies in the area, or
• In some other way, within or outside the country, acquired the corresponding relevant knowledge in the relevant areas.

The application process

In order to apply for a doctoral program, there must be an available doctoral appointment. On KTH's central website, a list of all KTH's vacancies, including doctoral posts, is published.

Read more about Doctoral Studies at KTH

For general questions regarding doctoral studies at KTH, please contact [email protected]

Program Manager for the Doctoral Program in Physics

Administrative support

[email protected]

Department of Physics

Research at the department of physics covers a broad range of topics that range from the fundamental to direct applications; from microscopic to astronomical scales; and from few-particle systems to collective phenomena.

Divisions 

• Condensed matter theory
• Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Astrophysics and Medical Imaging

• Medical Radiation Physics
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Medical Radiation Physics Division

Medical Radiation Physics is a vast and complex translational research topic that deals with radiation physics applied to medicine and biology for medical radiation imaging and radiation therapy. The research areas at the Medical Radiation Physics division span over the beneficial and the detrimental effects of radiation, covering several actual topics in the field of radiation applied to medicine, including diagnostics and radiation therapy, as well as in radiation protection.

The Medical Radiation Physics division is situated at the campus of the Karolinska Hospital in Solna.

Medical Radiation Physics division

Head of division

Iuliana Toma-Dasu

Room: P9:02 025 Tel. +46 (8) 5537 8082 E-mail: [email protected]

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Doctoral studies

Once you have completed your Master’s degree, you can go on to third-cycle studies and specialise in an area you are interested in.

Doctoral (or PhD) studies normally comprise four years of full-time study, corresponding to 240 credits. You spend approximately one year on courses and seminars, and three years on your research project. You compile your research findings in a doctoral thesis. The thesis usually consists of a summary and synthesis together with articles that you have published in international scientific journals. You present and argue for your thesis at a public defence. If your thesis is approved and you have completed all the course components, you can receive your PhD degree.

Doctoral education is based essentially on the knowledge that students acquire during their undergraduate and graduate level studies or equivalent. In addition to the education at basic and advanced levels, the doctoral education in particular develops the knowledge and skills needed to carry out independent research.

The Doctoral education courses provide additional skills and broadening of the scientific outlook. Doctoral students are expected to study some pedagogical courses and to take an active part in seminars. Doctoral students often teach at undergraduate courses.

The PhD students work in close collaboration with their supervisors and colleagues in small research groups, which sometimes belong to larger international collaborations. Travels to conferences, research facilities and visits to other universities are natural ingredients of the education.

The learning outcomes for research studies

The doctoral education strives to educate licentiates and doctors so that they have the ability to conduct both high quality research and work with other advanced tasks in academia, industry and in the community, where research experience is essential. 

PhD studies aim to provide the following:

• Specialised subject knowledge
• The ability to think creatively and critically 
• Training in planning, implementation and evaluation of research tasks and projects
• Practice in presenting research findings, both orally and in writing, to various audiences

Read more about PhD studies at the Science faculty's webpage .

All vacancies at the department of physcis are listed on our job opportunities page

All vacancies at Lund University are posted in Lund university's central website

Undergraduate Contacts

Student Services Specialist

Director Undergraduate Studies

choosingphysics [at] stanford.edu (Pre-Major Advising)

How to apply

Last updated: 4 December 2023

Eligibility Requirements

• Current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are eligible to apply. Current sophomores and juniors must be declared Physics or Engineering Physics majors by the application due date. 
• Co-term students who do not have their B.S. degree and have not yet entered the graduate part of their program are also eligible to apply.
• See  FAQ page  for detailed eligibility requirements for rising 5th-year or coterminal students.
• Current juniors who have previously been funded through this program must apply for a  Major Grant  —  start now!

Application Process

We have a two-part application process, as detailed below.  All applicants will be notified of a yes/no/waitlist decision by the end of March. 

Part 1 (informational) was due noon on Friday, January 19, 2024.

In the first part of the application process, you will fill out an online application form. The form will ask questions about your background, experience, and interests. You do not need any prior experience to participate in the research program. This application is informational; your answers will be used in a match-making capacity only, not as a metric to determine who is accepted to the program. Based on your responses, you will be matched with a faculty mentor, either with our help and/or by contacting faculty mentors on your own (see  the Research Positions page  for suggestions to help identify a faculty mentor).  All students must submit this part of the application, even if you have already identified a potential faculty mentor.

Part 2 (project and mentor specific) is due noon on Friday, February 23, 2024.

Part 2 of the application will require a short (1 page) statement named Lastname_Firstname_summary.pdf, e.g., Carbajal_Elva_summary.pdf.  This summary statement  file should include the following: 

1. A brief summary of your proposed research project.  Include a description of:           a) the overall physics goal of the project and b) what you will be working on for the project,  as best you understand it now. 2. A description of what you hope to learn and/or accomplish this summer. 3. New due to COVID: If your project is not compatible with remote work, you will also need to submit a suitably altered project description that can be completed remotely.

In addition, you will be asked to submit:

• Your unofficial transcript downloaded after January 26, i.e., after the Winter drop/add deadline with grades through Fall 2023; name this file as Lastname_Firstname_transcript.pdf e.g. Carbajal_Elva_transcript.pdf
• The Faculty-Mentor Agreement   is available as a view-only Docx file that you should download, have your faculty mentor sign, save as a pdf, and then you upload it with the other documents for Part 2.  Name this file as Lastname_Firstname_FMA.pdf e.g. Carbajal_Elva_FMA.pdf

Faculty Mentor

Prior to submitting the Application, you need to find a faculty member to be your research mentor for the summer. Many faculty members make positions available for undergraduates to do research over the summer. Refer to the table of available positions at  Undergraduate Summer Research Positions  to find potential projects and faculty members with whom you may be interested in working.  The table also includes information on skills or coursework needed (often minimal!), whether at least one project is suitable for beginning students, etc. You are encouraged to contact faculty members directly to discuss available opportunities. In addition, for students that request it, we plan to help you identify potential faculty mentors based on the answers to part 1 of the application.

Note that this table of available positions is only a list of suggestions—you may work with any faculty member in Physics, Applied Physics, or SLAC.

Those who wish to work with faculty in the School of Engineering should apply to that faculty member's department; see this  SoE REU webpage  for information.

What to Submit: 

• Part 1 ( due by noon on January 19, 2024 ): Online Application form. All students must complete this form.
• A one-page description/abstract of the research work you will do this summer as you currently understand it.
• A copy of your unofficial Stanford transcript through Fall Quarter 2023.
• A signed 2024 Faculty Agreement Form.

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Subject representative

Head of subject:  Sten Hellman   [email protected] Director of Studies:  Michael Odelius   [email protected]

PhD studies at the Department of Physics

General syllabus for doctoral studies in Medical radiation physics, PDF (Swedish) General syllabus for doctoral studies in Medical radiation physics (English)

PhD studies

The programme leads to a licentiate or doctoral degree. All PhD positions at Stockholm University are announced here.  

Last updated: October 17, 2022 Page editor: Lina Enell Source: Faculty of Science

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PhD in Physics

• Admission Board

Application deadline: Jun 17, 2024 at 11:59 PM

Call for Applications

• Call for applications
• PhD Programme Table

Doctoral programme start date: Nov 01, 2024

Appointed by RD n. 802 Prot. n. 0143275 of May 23rd, 2024

Alessandro Gabrielli

Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "Augusto Righi" - DIFA

Viale Berti Pichat 6/2 Bologna (BO)

[email protected]

Attachment 1

Attachment 2, attachment 3.

Master's Programme in Physics

• 120 credits cr.
• Gå till denna sida på svenska webben

Four study paths are proposed: Particles and Cosmos, Quantum matter, Atomic-Molecular-Optical physics and finally General Physics. These reflect the areas of expertise of our researchers. General Physics is proposed to students who wish to keep a general profile or have not yet decided a profile area. Strong R&D oriented master projects are proposed.

The programme covers detector physics and data analysis, quantum information, nanotechnology, particle physics, cosmology, atomic, molecular, laser and attosecond physics, and has ramifications to domains such as astrophysics, atmospheric science, molecular biophysics and astrobiology.

Fyra studiegångar

Du kan välja mellan fyra aktuella studiegångar Partiklar och Kosmos, Kvantmateria, AMO-fysik och Allmän fysik. Studiegångarna som beskrivs nedan är flexibla och kan anpassas utefter dina intressen. Tryck på pilen under bilderna och läs mer!

Partiklar och Kosmos

I studiegången Partiklar och Kosmos djupdyker du i fysiken som spänner från det oändligt lilla och det oändligt stora; från kvarkar, leptoner till universums grundläggande lagar och till universums största strukturer. I denna studiegång ingår bl.a. kurser i allmän relativitetsteori, kosmologi, kärn-, partikel- och astropartikelfysik.

Detaljerad information om studiegången Partiklar och Kosmos, inkl. kurspaket.

Kvantmateria, Kvantoptik och Kvantteknik

I studiegången Kvantmateria, Kvantoptik och Kvantteknik förbereder du dig för FoU-arbete inom moderna applikationer av fasta tillståndets fysik. Du får lära dig mer om fasövergångar, symmetrier och kvantfenomen som uppträder i kondenserad materia.

Detaljerad information om studiegången Kvantmateria, Kvantoptik och Kvantteknik, inkl. kurspaket.

AMO-fysik (Atom- och molekylfysik samt optik)

Modern AMO-fysik bygger på den snabba utveckling som skett det senaste årtiondet och som utnyttjar växelverkan mellan ljus och materia från atom- till molekylnivå med syftet att förstå och manipulera atomer, molekyler och ljus.

Detaljerad information om studiegången AMO-fysik, inkl. kurspaket.

Allmän fysik

Studiegången allmän fysik, balanserar experimentell och teoretisk fysik och täcker ett brett spektrum av av ämnen vid forskningsfrontlinjen . Studiegången är särskilt relevant för studenter som ännu inte bestämt sit profilområde vid programmet början.

Detaljerad information om studiegången Allmän fysik, inkl. kurspaket.

Programme overview

The programme represents two years of full time studies (120 credits), out which 30, 45 or 60 credits are allocated to the master thesis project. Within the programme there is a lot of freedom to choose the courses that best suit your interests and your physics profile. There is also room for you to broaden your competence thanks to a large number of facultative and optional courses.

Topical study paths "Particles and Cosmos", "Quantum Matter", "AMO-physics" and "General Physics" are proposed to guide you towards broad research directions; you can either choose to follow them or tailor your own path by selecting your courses from the lists below.

Detailed information about the Particles and Cosmos study path, including course package.

Detailed information about the Quantum Matter study path, including course package.

Detailed information about the AMO-physics study path, including course package.

Detailed information about the General physics study path, including course package.

With a combination of mandatory, eligible and optional courses you acquire a solid base in analysis of data, experimental physics and experimental methodology. This is complemented by at least one theoretical course. The last phase of the programme consists of the master thesis project. We offer the possibility to carry out long projects, up to one year. Knowledge and skills acquired in the programme find applications in many areas of industry and research.

1st Semester

Programming techniques II, 7.5 credits, DA4007 Statistical Methods in Physics, 7.5 credits, FK7061 Eligible courses*, 15 credits

2nd Semester

Eligible courses*, 30 credits

Optional courses**, 0, 15 or 30 credits (the Physics Degree Project could start already on the 1 semester)

Physics Degree Project, 45 credits, FK9002 (or Physics Degree Project, 30 credits, FK9001 , or Physics Degree Project, 60 credits, FK9003 ).

*Eligible courses

At least one of the experimental courses:

Physical Measuring Techniques,  7.5 credits, FK7063 Detector Physics 7.5 credits, FK7056

At least one of the theoretical courses:

Analytical Mechanics, 7.5 credits, FK7049 Elektrodynamics, 7.5 credits, FK7045 Statistical Physics, 7.5 credits, FK7058

Between 15 and 22.5hp of eligible courses, depending on the study path.

**Optional courses:

In order to give you the ability to customise the programme to your interests and needs, you have the possibility to choose among a number of optional courses. The optional courses represent in total 15 to 45 credits, depending on the scope of the master thesis project. The optional courses can be chosen freely among all the physics courses proposed at Stockholm University.

Independent project

The master thesis project usually starts during the second year, but may start as soon as you have earned at least 45 credits of advanced courses in physics.  The project is usually carried out in one of the research groups of the physics department. The master thesis project may also be carried out at a different university or in a company. During the master thesis project you are given the opportunity to participate to the activity and life of the research group. You work with a research question in a professional research environment where you are in contact with graduate students and researchers. While still a university environment, it provides a unique opportunity to dive deep into a professional environment and develop important soft-skills (independence, perseverance, problem solving, critical thinking, communication, troubleshooting...) before going further to industry or graduate studies.

How to apply

Application is done through universityadmissions.se.

Please note that you need to apply to specific study paths (you can apply to several but have to rank your choices).

When submitting you application make sure you have uploaded all required documents. Read more here: https://www.universityadmissions.se/documents

We at the Department of Physics do not require any additional documents such as CV, letter of recommendation or motivation letter. You will be contacted by us if we need further documentation.

More information

Before starting the Master’s programme you should have passed a course/courses covering the following areas of quantum mechanics:

• Basic concepts and methods in non-relativistic quantum mechanics
• the Schrödinger equation
• The wave function and its interpretation
• One-dimensional potentials
• The free particle
• The harmonic oscillator, ladder operators
• Matrix representation
• The uncertainty principle
• The formalism of quantum mechanics
• Schrödinger equation in three dimensions
• The hydrogen atom and hydrogenic atoms
• Angular momentum and spin
• Many-particle systems, in particular atoms
• Time-independent and time-dependent perturbation theory, fine structure, Zeeman effect, emission and absorption of radiation
• Variational calculus

Watch our Webinar about our Master's Programmes in Physics. In the Webinar you will learn more about our programmes, meet the programme coordinator, mixed with interviews with students and alumni. The Webinar is found on the Stockholm University central web page for Webinars on-demand about our Master’s programmes . It is called "Master's Programmes in Physics".

Meet our teachers

All teachers on the master programme are engaged researchers. The department of physics houses both theoretical and experimental research. The availability and access to top-level experimental facilities where our researchers are active is also a strong asset to the master programme and provide a wide range of master thesis project opportunities: particle physics with ATLAS (Higgs physics, dark matter...), anti-hydrogen experiment ALPHA and GBAR at CERN, interaction between ions at the DESIREE storage ring in Stockholm (atomic and molecular physics), neutrino astrophysics with IceCube at the south pole (astroparticle physics), Xenon1t at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy (Dark matter), FAIR in Darmstadt (atomic and nuclear physics), Free Electron Laser XFEL in Hamburg (molecular physics), control of fusion plasma at ITER (instrumentation physics), studies cosmic background radiation and supernovas with modern astronomy facilities, and more.

Career opportunities

A master degree in physics opens up industry and institutions working with research and development, as well as doctoral studies. Many large experiments are carried out internationally and a master degree in physics from Stockholm University opens up job opportunities at international laboratories, including the upcoming international facilities MAX IV and ESS in the south of Sweden. There is an increasing worldwide need for academics with advanced knowledge in physics. Among relevant areas we find research, development and usage of detectors and sensors, analysis of experimental data, energy production, applications of laser technology, instrumentation for medical applications, nanotechnology, telecommunications, photonics, quantum information...

An internship is a great way to test your skills and gain work experience in a real-world environment. During your master studies, you can add an internship course and get the chance to experience working life before you graduate. You can choose a course of 7.5 ECTS or 15 ECTS depending on how long you want the intership to be. You can find more information via the links below.

Internship in Physics, 7.5 ECTS (FK8026)

Internship in Physics, 15 ECTS (FK8039)

Academic advisor at the Department of Physics:

[email protected]

Programme responsible:

Prof. Christophe Clement , e-mail: [email protected]

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