Postgraduate Studies in Chemistry

Postgraduate education (third-cycle) comprise of 4 years of fulltime studies and leads to a doctoral degree. The PhD-studies consists of a number of courses and research for the doctoral thesis. After completing halftime it is possible to conclude with a licentiate degree.
To be admitted to a postgraduate education you need to:
- Fulfill the general entry requirements, i.e. a degree at advanced level (Master's level) or fulfill the requirements for courses comprising of at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits at Master's level, including an independent project of at least 15 credits, or the equivalent.
- Fulfill the entry requirements for the subject specialization in question.
- Have the ability needed to complete the postgraduate education.
Table of contents
Quick links to help you find your way on this page:
Available PhD positions within Chemistry

Like all other vacancies, vacant PhD positions are advertised, and all of our available PhD positions within the Section of Chemistry can be found on our vacancy page.
One study plan - two parts
Details regarding the studies are specified in the study plan for postgraduate studies, which consists of two parts:
- General study syllabus. It describes faculty-wide goals and rules for doctoral programmes, as well as specific provisions for the subject and specialisation. You will find study syllabus for all subjects on the website of the Faculty of Science and Technology.
- An individual study plan, specific for each doctoral student. The plan shall be reviewed by the doctoral student and supervisors at least once a year. You will find a template for the individual study plan on the website of the Faculty of Science and Technology.
You can find information about the different subjects and specialisations in chemistry on our page listing the postgraduate education subjects within chemistry. However, to get a better idea of the different research subjects within chemistry, we recommend that you read about each research programme on our research pages.
Our Postgraduate courses
There are general courses, faculty courses and subject-specific courses at postgraduate level. It is also possible to a course at master level as part of your research education.
Faculty-common courses
- Research Introduction for new PhD-students (3 credits). Contact: Mattias Klintenberg
- Course in research ethics, of at least 2 credits. Information on courses, course opportunities and how to apply can be found at the Faculty website.
- Other common PhD courses are listed on the page for Faculty common PhD courses.
Teacher training courses for all teaching staff
- Academic Teacher Training course (7,5 credits). Information about the course and how to register can be found in the Staff Portal.
Subject-specific courses at postgraduate level (in alphabetical order)
Courses at Department of Chemistry - BMC
- Advanced Analytical Chemistry (15 credits). Contact: Jonas Bergquist
- Advanced Molecular Technology and Instrumentation for Proteome Analysis (2,5 credits). Contact: Masood Kamali and Jonas Bergquist
- Advanced Organic Chemistry (15 credits). Contact: Helena Grennberg (given next time 2022) (syllabus)
- Analytical Data Processing with MatLab (5 credits). Contact: Ingela Lanekoff
- Current Trends in Biochemistry (3 credits). Contact: Ylva Ivarsson (syllabus)
- Enzymology and Bioorganic Catalysis (15 credits) Contact: Mikael Widersten (syllabus)
- General Biochemistry (15 credits). Contact: Mikael Widersten (syllabus)
- Homogenous catalysis (5 credits). Contact: Lukasz Pilarski (syllabus)
- Methods in Metabolomics and Metabolism Analysis (3 credits). Contact: Daniel Globisch (syllabus)
- Modern Methods in Organic Synthesis (10 credits). Contact: Lukasz Pilarski (syllabus)
Courses at Department of Chemistry - Ångström
- Aromaticitet och antiaromaticitet (8 hp). Kontaktperson: Henrik Ottosson
- Basics in Single Crystal X-ray Crystallography (4 hp). Contact: Andreas Orthaber
- Bioinorganic chemistry (10 hp). Contact: Gustav Berggren
- Biomaterials I and II (5 hp each). Contact: Jöns Hilborn
- Demonstrative experiments (5 hp). Contact: Martin Sahlberg
- Elektronparamagnetisk resonans (3 hp). Contact: Ping Huang
- Fluorescence spectroscopy (5 hp). Contact: Leif Hammarström
- Fundamental interfacial processes in electrochemical energy storage devices (10 hp). Contact: Erik Berg
- Inorganic chemistry (10 hp). Contact: Kersti Hermansson
- Inorganic structural chemistry (5 + 2,5 hp). Contact: Cesar Pay Gómez
- Intermolecular Interactions and Self-Associated Lipid Systems (15 credits). Contact: Katarina Edwards
- Materials for electrochemical energy storage (5 hp). Contact: Reza Younesi
- Materials chemistry (10 hp). Contact: Ulf Jansson
- Molecular Electron Transfer (3 to 8 hp). Contact: Leif Hammarström
- Physical chemistry (15 hp). Contact: Erik Johansson
- Polymer physics (5 hp). Contact: Christer Elvingsson
- Polymer chemistry (15 hp). Contact : Jöns Hilborn
- Quantum Chemistry: Beyond the black box (5 hp). Contact: Marcus Lundberg
- Reaction mechanisms (5 hp). Contact: Eszter Borbas
- Research methodology (10 hp). Contact: Jöns Hilborn
- Time dependent statistical mechanics (5 hp). Contact: Christer Elvingsson
- X-ray diffraction from thin films (7,5 hp). Contact: Mikael Ottosson
Courses at master level that can be relevant for PhD-students
Department of Chemistry - BMC
- Advanced Mass Spectrometry (15 credits)
- Applied Analysis of Complex Samples (15 credits)
- Chemical Molecular Design (10 credits)
- Computational Chemistry for Biological Macromolecules (10 credits)
- Mass Spectrometry (7,5 credits)
- Molecular Recognition in Biological Systems (10 credits)
- NMR Spectroscopy 1 (5 credits)
- NMR Spectroscopy 2 (5 credits)
- Proteomics and Metabolomics (5 credits)
- Separation and Mass Spectrometry (15 credits)
Department of Chemistry - Ångström
- Advanced electrochemistry (10 credits) (Contact: Leif Nyholm.)
- Laser Spectroscopy (10 credits) (Contact: Jacinto Sá.)
- Statistical Thermodynamics: Theory and Simulation Methods (15 credits) (Contact: Christer Elvingson.)
- Chemical Bonding in Molecules and Materials (5 credits) (Contact: Amber Mace.)
- Physical Organic Chemistry (15 credits) (Contact: Eszter Borbas.)
- Biomaterials II (5 credits) (Contact: Jöns Hilborn.)
- Computational Quantum Chemistry for Molecules and Materials (10 credits) (Contact: Chao Zhang.)
- Chemical bonding and computational Chemistry (10 credits) (Contact: Chao Zhang.)
- Photochemistry (10 credits) (Kontaktperson: Reiner Lomoth.)
- Renewable Energy Technology and Society (5 credits) (Kontaktperson: Henrik Ottosson.)
- Catalysis (5 credits) (Contact: Gustav Berggren.)
- Batteries for electromobility (7,5 credits) (Contact: Guiomar Hernández.)

Contact concerning postgraduate studies
If you have questions concerning the courses given, or if you want to take a master course as part of your research education, contact the director of studies at the respective department.
Chemistry - BMC
- Director of studies for postgraduate studies
Daniel Globisch (daniel.globisch@kemi.uu.se, tel. 018-471 4030) - Postgraduate administrator
Eva Ohlsson (eva.ohlsson@kemi.uu.se, phone: 018-471 3670)
Chemistry - Ångström
- Director of studies for postgraduate studies
Ann Magnuson (ann.magnuson@kemi.uu.se, phone: 018-471 6582) - Postgraduate administrator
Eva Larsson (eva.larsson@kemi.uu.se, phone: 018-471 3720)
If you are interested in becoming a doctoral student or have already begun your studies, you will find a lot of useful information on the Faculty of Science and Technology's (TekNat's) pages about postgraduate education.
Sweden's United Student Unions, SFS, has produced a handbook for doctoral students in English, see: PhD Handbook.