PhD scholarship in Criminology at the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen (UCPH)

Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship in Criminology at the Department of Sociology. Enrolment will be at the Faculty of Social Sciences under Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences. The position is offered as a three-year full-time PhD within the 5+3 framework.

The starting date is 1 September 2026.

Introduction
The PhD programme provides PhD students with strong research training which opens a window of opportunity to a variety of careers within the private and public sectors. The programme includes the drafting of a PhD thesis, active participation in research networks, PhD courses, teaching, and other forms of knowledge dissemination.

Department
The Department of Sociology is one of Europe’s leading sociology departments and covers a broad range of sociological topics, theories, and methods in research and teaching. The Department emphasizes research excellence, and its faculty conducts research on several topics, deploying a variety of state-of-the-art methods. The Department currently has around 30 faculty members, 6 postdoctoral researchers and 14 PhD students, and a dedicated administrative team. Faculty members represent several nationalities, and the Department’s working language is English. We value an ambitious, collaborative, and friendly atmosphere.

The Department is located in the very center of the old city of Copenhagen and shares a campus with the other departments at the Faculty of Social Sciences—Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology and the Center for Social Data Science (SODAS)—with which we have close collaborations. For further information about the Department, please see: Department of Sociology – University of Copenhagen.

Duties and responsibilities
Further information about the PhD study programme is available on the website of Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences: PhD School in the Social Sciences – Faculty of Social Sciences - University of Copenhagen.

Under "Legal basis" on the website you will find information about the rules and guidelines for the PhD programme and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD programme at the Universities. 

Information about the PhD study programme is also available on the PhD website of the Department of Sociology. Please see: PhD studies at the Department of Sociology – University of Copenhagen.

Applicants should familiarise themselves with the department’s vision and ongoing research before submitting their application. Further information can be found here: About the department – University of Copenhagen.

Qualification requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project. If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

The 5+3 PhD study programme 
PhD students are paid a salary in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The PhD student has a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3-year period without additional pay. The work obligation can include teaching, for instance.  

For more information on the specific requirements of the integrated PhD programmes, please visit this website: Integrated PhD – University of Copenhagen.

Please note assessment of applicants’ qualifications and eligibility for employment and enrolment will only take place after the application deadline.

How to apply
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. Your application must be written in Danish or English and include the following attachments (with descriptive titles) in either PDF or Word format:

• Cover letter (max. 1 page detailing your motivation and background for applying with the specific PhD project)
• CV
• Project description (max. 12,000 characters incl. spaces not incl. bibliography)
• Project abstract (max 1,200 characters incl. spaces)
• Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc and MSc) Please note: If your degree diploma is not available by the application deadline, please include your latest transcript of grades.
• Other information for consideration, e.g., list of publications, documentation of English language qualifications (if any). Please do not include commitments from supervisors, recommendations etc.

Further details on the documents that should accompany your application are available on this website: Admission requirements and application procedures – University of Copenhagen. 

The Recruitment Process 
After the application deadline, the Head of Department will consider advice from the appointment committee and then selects applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted. The Head of Department will then set up an expert assessment committee to assess the shortlisted applications. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Each shortlisted applicant will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment before the appointment is announced.

As an applicant to the University of Copenhagen, you should be prepared to undergo a security screening related to international research collaboration as part of the recruitment process. The security screening will be conducted in cases where the University deems it appropriate based on an overall assessment. 

Assessment Criteria 
The following criteria are used when shortlisting candidates for assessment: 

1. Research qualifications as reflected in the project proposal.
2. Quality and feasibility of the project.
3. Qualifications and knowledge in Criminology and the sociology of deviance. 
4. Performance (grades obtained) in graduate and post-graduate studies. 
5. Department of Sociology can offer adequate supervision for the research topic in question. 

Please note that normally there is strong competition for these scholarships, and only one can be awarded each term.

Enrolment
It is a prerequisite for employment that successful applicants enrol at the PhD School of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

An equal opportunity workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, please see: HR Excellence in Research – University of Copenhagen.

International applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen.

Contact Information
We kindly encourage you to consult our website, where most questions regarding the recruitment process as well as the academic content and structure of the PhD programme are answered:
Structure of the PhD programme – University of Copenhagen
How to obtain a PhD scholarship – University of Copenhagen

If you do not find the information you are looking for, you can contact the Head of PhD programme Mathias Wullum Nielsen, email mwn@soc.ku.dk, or HR South at hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please remember to include the ID number 211-2357/26-2H #2.

The closing date for applications is 8 March 2026 at 23:59 CET.

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered.