Sociology (PHSOS)

STUDY PLAN FOR THE PHD-PROGRAMME IN SOCIOLOGY 2011/2012

The study plan is founded on the Regulations concerning the philosophiae doctor degree (PhD) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), passed by the Board of NTNU on 7 December 2005. The study plan for the PhD Programme in Sociology was authorized by the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management on the 15 January 2011.

The PhD Regulations as well as internal faculty procedures and administrative guidelines that are common to the Faculty's Study Programmes see left the column.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAMME (§ 2 in PhD Regulations)

The PhD Programme in Sociology research is prescribed as 180 ECTS credits (3 years). The final course plan for the PhD Programme is to be shaped in joint consultation between candidate, supervisor and the Department depending on the thesis area of research and the candidate's individual requirements and wishes.

Objective for the PhD Programme in Sociology
The PhD Programme in Sociology aims to develop the candidate's qualifications in work that requires an advanced degree of scientific expertise. The PhD Programme in Sociology consists of two parts, one shorter part constituting the organized academic training component, and the PhD thesis. The whole programme is estimated to three year's full time study.

ADMISSION (§ 5 in Regulations)
The main requirement for admission is a completed Master`s Degree/ Cand.Polit Degree or equivalent in Sociology. Admission may be granted if equivalent competence is documented in other ways.

The applicant must have a weighed average ECTS grade of the Master's Degree (or equivalent education) of B or higher. Applicants who are unable to meet these criteria may only be admitted if they can document that they are suitable candidates for education leading to a PhD degree

In special cases, applicants with other backgrounds than a Master's Degree or equivalent in Sociology may be admitted. Applicants may in such cases be required to attend particular courses as a prerequisite for admission.

Application requirements
Applications for admission are to be made through the application form. The PhD plan, including the project description, is composed in consultation with the applicant's main supervisor. The applicant must therefore make contact with a qualified person at the Department when working on the application.

Admission procedure
The Faculty will consider applications for admission on recommendation from the Department.

Fo procedures for admission and the follow-up of incomplete applications - see Admission.

Decision of admission
The decision concerning admission is based on a comprehensive assessment of the application. Admission to a PhD Programme is formalised by a written contract, in accordance with § 6 of the Regulations concerning the philosophiae doctor degree (PhD) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

PHD PLAN (§ 5.2 in Regulations)

A detailed project description of the research project must be attached to the application. The project description must give an account of which issues that are being considered, approaches to problems, as well as the choice of theory and method. The description of the research project should normally be between 5 and 10 pages.

FUNDING PLAN ( § 5.2 in Regulations)

For applicants who are not fully funded through scholarship schemes, it is normally required that 50% of the working hours during participation in the PhD Programme may be used for study, and that a minimum of 1 year can be allocated to full time studies.

SUPERVISION (§§ 5.2 and 8 in Regulations)

Work on the PhD thesis constitutes active research under supervision. The supervisor's total use of time is stipulated to 210 working hours for the entire period. This is equivalent to approx. 70 working hours per year for 3 years. In addition to the contact period stated between candidate and supervisor, these hours include preparation, reading, complementary work etc. If a supplementary supervisor is appointed, the number of working hours must be divided between the principal and supplementary supervisor.

Procedures for the appointment and changing of supervisor(s) - see Supervision .

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT ( §§ 5.2 and 7.2 in Regulations)

A plan for the meeting of residency requirements is to be presented in the application and in the agreement on supervision. In certain instances, the Department may grant dispensation from the residency requirements.

ACADEMIC DISSEMINATION (§§ 2, 4 and 5.2 in Regulations)

The dissemination requirement consists of the candidate's formulation of a paper which is to be presented and discussed at an international academic conference.

REPORTING (§ 9 in Regulations)

The candidate and supervisor are to deliver separate annual reports on progress, in accordance with the PhD plan. Procedures for submission and processing of candidate and supervisor reports - see reporting.

ORGANIZED ACADEMIC TRAINING (§ 7.3 in Regulations)

Objectives of the organized academic training

The organized academic training has a prescribed duration of one semester's full time work. The organized academic training component must be completed and approved before the candidate may submit the thesis to the Faculty for assessment.

Structure and implementation

A plan for the organized academic training component, composed in consultation with the supervisor(s), should be included in the candidate's application. It is recommended that the organized academic training is completed at an early stage of the Programme. The candidate is responsible for signing up for courses within the given deadlines. External courses that are to be a part of the organized academic training must be approved by the Department. For procedures concerning the signing up for courses and approval of external courses - see "organzed academic training".

The total work load per ECTS credit is normally the equivalent of 29 hours. The organized academic training component must in total cover at least 30 ECTS credits, of which 20 ECTS credits must be selected from the PhD catalogue. Contact the Department for further information on the national cooperation between the sociology departments at Norway's universities concerning the organized academic training. Applications for changes in the accepted plan for the organized academic training component will be determined by the Department on recommendation from the supervisor.

The organized academic training component consists of three elements:

a. The Theory of Science, 10 ECTS credits

b. Methodological courses, 10 ECTS credits

c. Theoretical/substantial courses, ECTS 10 credits

Under ‘a' the Department offers the course SFEL8000 Theory of Science for the Social Sciences, which is a joint course for all PhD candidates at the Faculty of Social Science and Technology Management. Under ‘b' the Department offers the course SOS8515 Advanced Social Statistics and SOS8516 Qualitative Analysis each autumn semester, and the course SOS 8003 Applied Social Statistics in the spring semester. Contact the Department for further information.  Under 'c' the Department offers a number of theoretical/substantial courses, see course list below. Each course is credited by 10 ECTS provided they are passed with a grade B or higher and are not part of the candidate's Cand.Polit./Master's Degree. Courses must normally be completed after admission to the PhD Programme.

Courses that are to/may be part of the PhD Programme in Sociology:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester
The Theory of Science/Methodological Courses:
SFEL 8000	Theory of Science for the Social Sciences	10	A/S
SOS 8515	Advanced Social Statistics	10	A
SOS 8516 SOS8003	Qualitative Analysis Applied Social Statistics	10 10	A S
Theoretical/Substansial Courses:
SOS 8501	Work and Organization	10	A
SOS 8503	Culture and Media Sociology	10	A
SOS 8504	Welfare, Inequality and Integration	10	A
SOS 8505	Sociology of Family and Childhood	10	A
SOS 8506	Applied Sociological Theory	10	A
SOS 8514	Rural studies	10	A

The courses are offered when there are available teaching resources. The courses are normally offered each academic year.  If 6 or fewer students sign up for a planned course in the series SOS8502-SOS8516 during the first 2 teaching weeks, the course will be offered as an instructed reading course.

Seminars and courses that may replace the courses above must be approved by the Department. Individual curricula may be approved as part of the organized academic training component, if access to research seminars makes it difficult for the candidate to assemble a course programme that complements the work with the thesis within a reasonable time frame. Form of evaluation is normally a research paper.

 THESIS (§ 7.4 in Regulations)

Requirements for the thesis and rules for evaluation are given in Regulations concerning the philosophiae doctor degree (PhD) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), which can be found on the Faculty's web pages.

Supplementary requirements for article based theses

1. Level

The level of the thesis should be the same for monographies and article based theses. The articles should meet the standard for publishing in acknowledged professional journals with peer review.

2. The numbers of articles

The thesis should normally consist of at least three articles of normal scope. If there is co-authors for one or more of the articles, the candidate must be the main author, and have extensive professional responsibility for the majority of the articles that will be a part of the thesis.

3. Summary

The candidate must be the sole author on the summary in the thesis. The summary should put together the issues and conclusions addressed in the thesis. Herein lies a summary of the thesis' contribution to its field of research.

4. Guidelines for co-authorships

If the articles in the thesis have co-authors, the Vancouver-rules will apply.

a) Substantial contribution to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.
b) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
c) Final approval of the version to be published.

A statement of the co-authorship, where the candidates' contribution is identified, must be a part of the preface of the thesis.

FINALIZATION

Procedures for submission, appointment of an evaluation committee, the committee's report and assessment of the thesis, revision for new assessment, trial lecture and public defence, as well as conferment of the PhD Degree - see "Thesis and finalization".

Overview over PhD level courses offered at the Department:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester
SFEL 8000	Theory of Science for the Social Sciences	10	A/S
SOS 8003	Applied Social Statistics	10	S
SOS 8501	Work and Organization	10	A
SOS 8503	Culture and Media Sociology	10	A
SOS 8504	Welfare, Inequality and Integration	10	A
SOS 8505	Sociology of Family and Childhood	10	A
SOS 8506	Applied Sociological Theory	10	A
SOS8514	Rural Studies	10	A
SOS 8515	Advanced Social Statistics	10	A
SOS 8516	Qualitative Analysis	10	A
POL 8502 *	Causes of War	10	A
POL 8503	International Political Economy	10	A
POL 8507	Policy Analysis	10	A
POL 8508	Foreign Policy	10	A
POL 8509	Media, Opinion and Political Behaviour	10	A
POL 8510	East European Systems since 1740	10	A
POL 8511*	The Catholic and Protestant Churches in World Politics	10	A
POL 8512	The Soviet Union and Russia since 1917	10	A
POL 8513	Political Economy	10	A
POL 8515	Comparative and International Politics in Japan and East Asia	10	A
POL 8516	The European Union	10	A

* The course is not being taught in 2011/ 2012.

The courses are offered when there are available teaching resources. The course is normally offered each academic year.  If 6 or fewer students sign up for a planned course in the series SOS8502-SOS8516 and POL8502-8516 during the first 2 teaching weeks, the course will be offered as an instructed reading course. 

Be aware that the following PhD courses overlap with Master's Degree courses.

SOS8003: SOS3003  10 credits

SOS8003: SOS3005     5 credits

SOS8003: IDR 3024  10 credits

SOS8003: SOS3010  10 credits

SOS8003: SVSOS316           10 credits

SOS8501: SOS3501   10 credits

SOS8502: SOS3502  10 credits

SOS8503; SOS3503   10 credits

SOS8504: SOS3504   10 credits

SOS8505: SOS3505   10 credits

SOS8506: SOS3506   10 credits

SOS8515: SOS8001  10 credits

SOS8515: SOS3507   10 credits

SOS8515:SOS3507 (v2)        10 credits

SOS8516: SOS8001  10 credits

SOS8516: SOS3507   10 credits

SOS8516: SOS3507(v2)        10 credits

POL8502: POL3502   10 credits

POL8503: POL3503   10 credits

POL8507: POL3507  10 credits

POL8508: POL3508  10 credits

POL8509: POL3509  10 credits

POL8510: POL3510  10 credits

POL8511: POL3511   10 credits and SVPOLX1/02 10 credits

POL8512: POL3512  10 credits

POL8513: POL3513   10 credits

POL8515: POL3515  10 credits

POL8516: POL3516  10 credits