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Guidelines for cooperation agreements concerning Industrial PhD and Public Sector PhD

Admission to the PhD programme for Industrial PhD/Public Sector PhD candidates require a cooperation agreement and funding from the Research Council of Norway. Application for admission and preparation of a cooperation agreement should be organised at the same time.

Please note that this is an English translation of the Norwegian guidelines. For all legal purposes, see the original guidelines in Norwegian.

Entering into a cooperation agreement

In connection with an application to the Research Council of Norway, the applicant must attach an appoved cooperation agreement with the faculty. A template for this agreement can be found on the Research Council's website. The applicant must therefore sign the agreement, attach the project description and send it to the faculty for approval first. 

It is recommended that the preparation of the cooperation agreement proceeds as soon as the allocation from the Research Council has been made, based on the relevant agreement template. Using the agreement template as a starting point, the legal formalities should go smoothly. Some negotiations can be made regarding coverage of costs (office space, personnel costs and faculty/institute costs). The faculty may have objections to the proposed supervisors. 

The cooperation agreement should normally be drawn up and signed by all parties before applying for admission to the PhD programme. The cooperation agreement does not take effect before the candidate’s application has been approved.

See UiOs information (in Norwegian)

Coverage of costs

Based on recommendations given in a note from the national working group appointed by Universities Norway (UHR) (The Industrial PhD scheme: Cost estimates and funding of supervision and admission at degree awarding higher education institutions, Oslo 2015), the following is recommended as guidelines:

  1. The candidate’s salary and social benefits are covered by the company, throughout the entire period, partly funded by the Research Council of Norway.
  2. Other direct costs (e.g. mobile phone, home internet, travel, conferences) are covered by the company, throughout the entire period.
  3. Use of laboratories and research infrastructure are covered by the company (space rental costs).
  4. The University of Oslo (UiO) covers supervision costs as part of UiO's employees’ teaching time/research time. UiO does not cover the costs of external supervisors. Supervisor costs are incurred throughout the admission period. (The norm at the Faculty of Medicine for a principal supervisor is 80 hours maximum per annum for 3 years (totaling 240 hours). 
  5. Direct and indirect costs (overhead costs) are covered by the company. The company may apply to have this wholly or partially funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The current annual rates for UiO's costs can be found in this document (pdf). Updated rates will be sent to the applicant after the letter of intent has been signed. 

The rates will vary somewhat depending on where the candidate resides (requirement of at least one year with the company and UiO respectively). With the exception of office space costs, opponents and printing, costs run throughout the entire admission period. Costs related to office space should be viewed in conjunction with any office space at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) so that this is not double billed.

The parties themselves fill in their costs in the budget set up in the cooperation agreement.

If the project extends beyond the contract period, the coverage of indirect and direct costs during the extension period must be agreed upon separately.

Questions related to UiO's costs can be directed to forskerutdanning@medisin.uio.no.

Supervision

The principal supervisor should, as a rule, be employed at UiO, either in a full time academic position or in a part time position (normally as associate professor). Exception to the rule of employment can be made and the principal supervisor can be employed at another institution or company. All supervisors must have a doctoral degree as well as first-level qualifications. In order to be appointed as a principal supervisor, he/she must have already been a co-supervisor and must have supervised at least one candidate to public defence previously. Those who do not meet the necessary requirements to be a supervisor can be given a role as mentor. Only one principal supervisor can be appointed –the other supervisors are co-supervisors.

When selecting a principal supervisor, the following must be taken into account

  1. Necessary academic ties to UiO’s academic environment
  2. Necessary supervisory competence in the various phases of the project/PhD education
  3. Supervisor’s availability in light of where the candidate spends his/her time during the various project phases

It is recommended that the process of finding supervisors and necessary agreements concerning supervision is initiated as early as possible. The supervisory roles must be clarified before application for admission is sought.

It is also recommended that a supervisory plan for the project is included in the project description.

Ethical guidelines

Ethical guidelines for supervisory relationships

Information from The Research Council of Norway

How to submit an application

See information above. When the application to the Research Council has been granted, the applicant must apply for admission to the PhD programme at the Faulty of Medicine via Søknadsweb.

More information about application for admission

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Published July 6, 2017 10:37 AM - Last modified Dec. 28, 2023 10:31 AM