One doctoral studentship in Media Technology at Södertörn University in collaboration with Umeå University

Huddinge, Sweden

2026-06-03 (Europe/Stockholm)

Södertörn University is a higher education institution in Stockholm that conducts education, research and collaboration with the surrounding community for sustainable societal development. Education and research are conducted in the humanities, social sciences, technology and natural sciences. The university also provides police and teacher education programmes with intercultural profiles. A significant amount of our research is multidisciplinary and specialises in the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe. At Södertörn University we combine subjects, perspectives, people and experiences, searching for surprising syntheses, challenges and development.

We are welcoming applications for a doctoral studentship in Media Technology, within the research subject of Informatics. The successful applicant will be employed by Södertörn University’s Department of Media Technology at the School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Stockholm, and admitted to a doctoral programme at Umeå University’s Department of Informatics, under a collaboration agreement between the two universities.

Research in Media Technology at Södertörn University is interdisciplinary, integrating technical and design-oriented perspectives with an understanding of human interactions with digital artefacts and the societal implications of interactive media, in research fields such as human-computer interaction, science and technology studies, design research and game studies. As part of the application, candidates are expected to submit a research plan for a doctoral project connected to one or more of the following thematic areas:

• Participatory and norm-critical design – research that engages users and societal stakeholders in inclusive and reflexive design processes, examining questions of power and agency in digital practices.
• Design and maker practices – investigations of creative processes and co-creation in relation to digital fabrication, interactive technologies and AI.
• Digital interactive environments and user experience – analysis of how people experience, interpret and navigate digital systems and technical artefacts through diverse interaction modalities, and how interactive digital narratives can be constructed and experienced, for instance in games.
• Technologies, media, and changing everyday practices – studies of how digitalisation reshapes social, organisational, and material contexts, and how digital tools can both support and place demands on learning in everyday and professional settings.

For further information about these areas, please contact subject coordinator Martin Jonsson (contact details below).

Entry requirements

Employment as a doctoral studentship is conditional on admission to doctoral level education. The general entry requirements are met by someone who has a Master’s degree in Informatics or an equivalent subject. The Department of Informatics’ complete entry requirements for admission to doctoral-level education are available here: Syllabus for the PhD program in Informatics. To meet the specific entry requirements for admission to a doctoral programme in Informatics, applicants must have completed at least 90 credits in Informatics at Bachelor’s level, as well as 60 credits at Master’s level, or other education of the equivalent scope and depth.

Job description

The successful applicant for this doctoral studentship will primarily work on their doctoral studies, with the intended outcome being a doctoral degree. Doctoral students receive training in academic research through the publication of scientific articles, by studying compulsory and optional courses, and by planning and conducting independent research.

Admission and employment

The successful applicant will be employed by Södertörn University’s Department of Media Technology at the School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Stockholm, and admitted to the doctoral programme at Umeå University’s Department of Informatics, under a collaboration agreement between the two universities. The position will entail travel to Umeå for participation in compulsory components such as courses (34.5 credits of compulsory courses), seminars (four in total) and doctoral days (one per semester).

The doctoral programme is equivalent to 240 credits and the intended outcome is a doctoral degree. The position is for a period of four years and may be extended by a maximum of one year for departmental duties (equivalent to no more than 20% of full-time employment). Other reasons for employment extensions include leave of absence due to illness, service in the defence forces or an elected position in a trade union or student organisation, or parental leave. The provisions relating to employment as a doctoral studentship are stated in the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 1-7.

Salary is paid according to the established agreement for doctoral studentships at Södertörn University and increases as studies progress. The position starts in September 2026, or as agreed.

Application procedure

For more information, please visit our webpage Our doctoral education. Apply via Södertörn University’s web-based recruitment system by clicking on “Apply” at the bottom of the advert.

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

• Personal letter of application
• Curriculum vitae
• Degree certificates and transcripts of records demonstrating your eligibility to apply for the position (if these are in languages other than those mentioned above, you must append translated documents)
• Bachelor’s essay and Master’s dissertation in accordance with the subject’s specific entry requirements (if written in a language other than those mentioned above, a summary of 5–6 pages, which is approximately 14,000 characters, in one of the above languages must be attached)
• A research/project proposal that clarifies its relevance to the subject and the research area for doctoral studies, as well as the specified thematic areas (1,000–1,500 words)
• Two references with contact details.

If you have previous publications, a maximum of three may be attached to the application.

Applications that are incomplete by the deadline will not be considered.

When selecting among eligible applicants, great importance is attached to the research proposal, the applicant’s ability to assimilate education at research level and previous academic results. Monitored skill tests may be used during the recruitment process. Otherwise, please refer to the provisions on the employment of doctoral students as laid out in Chapter 5 of the Higher Education Ordinance (SFS 1993:100).

The application deadline is 3 June 2026 at 23:59.

Further information

For further information about the position and the thematic areas, please contact the subject coordinator, Martin Jonsson, email: martin.jonsson@sh.se

For information about doctoral education in Informatics at Umeå University, please contact Rikard Harr, director of doctoral studies, rikard.harr@umu.se.

For questions about employment, please contact: Marie Granroth, Human Resources Officer, School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, marie.granroth@sh.se or Kai-Mikael Jää-Aro, Head of the Department of Media Technology, kaimikael.jaaaro@sh.se

Welcome with your application! Publications referred to must be attached to the application. An application that is not complete or arrives at Södertörn University after the closing date may be rejected.