Call for PhD student projects in forest damage

Financial support for Ph.D. students

The SLU Forest Damage Centre Research School has two types of financial support for doctoral projects, with a cost-sharing model between external partners (here defined as non-SLU sources) and SLU, as well as between the SLU Forest Damage Centre and departments at SLU.

1. Doctoral projects in collaboration with external partners (“externally co-funded Ph.D. student projects”): the external partner contributes annually with 600 kSEK, the SLU Forest Damage Centre contributes annually with 300 kSEK, and the department of the hosting main supervisor at SLU contributes annually with 300 kSEK. This results in a 50:25:25 (External: SLU FDC: SLU department) financial model.
2. Doctoral projects with internal co-funding (e.g. governmental funding or funding from research grants to a department) (“internally co-funded Ph.D. student projects”): the SLU Forest Damage Centre contributes annually with 600 kSEK, and the SLU department of the main supervisor contributes annually with 600 kSEK, resulting in a 50:50 (SLU FDC: SLU department) financial model.

The project applicant, who will be the main supervisor of the project, needs to be employed at SLU, because SLU oversees the doctoral education. Each proposed project must be approved by the head of the respective department.

The total budget for this call is 12 million SEK, which equals about five internally co-funded Ph.D. student projects. All projects are expected to start in 2027. Financial support from the SLU Forest Damage Centre will be transferred annually to the corresponding department of the main supervisor. Financial support for 2027 will be transferred by the end of 2026.

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated according to below criteria for assessment. Proposed projects need to be within at least one of the following priority areas: (1) basic and applied questions on forest damage relevant for the forest sector in Sweden, (2) research on possible socio-economic consequences of forest disturbances affecting the Swedish society, and/or (3) projects addressing current knowledge gaps within the field of forest damage, including relationships among forest damage, biodiversity and/or climate change as well as interconnection of different forest damage agents. We encourage proposed projects in collaboration with stakeholders and/or authorities. Collaboration can include varying levels, e.g., in-kind contribution, assess to land, co-funding. Among equally graded projects, we will favour those with stakeholder/authorities’ collaboration. Next to these points, we will also aim balancing the thematic distribution of granted projects.

Criteria for assessment

Scientific quality

• Research questions – relevance in relation to scientific novelty, methodological advancement or other needs specified
• Clearly outlined chapters of the doctoral thesis
• Clearly defined hypotheses

Research methods

• Possibility to reach relevant results
• Feasibility and suitability of methods
• Well-defined and realistic work plan
• Ethical considerations when relevant
• Budget congruent with project goals

Competence

• Ability to carry out and coordinate the project
• Relevant competence of the main applicant and co-applicants
• Complementation and cross-disciplinarity of the supervisor group if relevant

Societal relevance and communication

• Communication skills (dissemination of results to stakeholders/end users)
• Connection to social/sectoral issues
• Planned scientific publications
• Short- and/or long-term deliverables, and if relevant including practical application
• Relevance to stakeholder/end user needs if applicable
• Concrete and realistic plan for communication and other output

How to apply

Applications should be written in either English or Swedish with a popular summary in Swedish.

To apply, use this application template and attach the main applicant’s CV, along with a letter of intent from the external collaborative partner (if applicable). The CV should be no more than two pages and include the 10 most relevant publications.

Please adjust the box sizes below according to the length of your answer but ensure that the total text does not exceed the specified character limits for each box. Note that the character count includes spaces.

Applications need to be signed electronically via EduSign and shall be submitted digitally as one pdf to applyFDC@slu.se.

Timeline of this call

After the submission deadline (15 September 2026), an evaluation committee that is independent from the SLU Forest Damage Centre staff and not part of its steering group, will assess all applications.

Based on the comments from the evaluation committee, a final decision will be made by the centres steering group in November 2026.

About the SLU Forest Damage Centre (FDC) Research School

The SLU Forest Damage Centre Research School collaborates closely with public authorities, non-governmental organisations, research institutes and private companies. Doctoral projects within this research school will cover a wide range of subject areas, including both natural and social science aspects of biotic and abiotic damage. The overarching goal of the research school covers both basic and applied research questions for advancing current knowledge on the ecological and economical risks of forest damage, as well as their management and mitigation. Naturally and to ensure sustainability, this also considers climate change and biodiversity. The research school is structured by cohorts of Ph.D. students through re-occurring calls by the SLU Forest Damage Centre. Hence, a rolling scheme of cohorts starting about every 4 or 5 years helps ensuring a continuous academic flow and facilitating network development for Ph.D. students. To also strengthen an interdisciplinary network for all Ph.D. students, the research school encourages supervisory groups that are encompassing researchers from more than one department - either within SLU or with another university/research organization. As part of the SLU Forest Damage Centre, the research school does work actively for providing opportunities for PhD students to get in contact and have exchange with external partners. The research school is open to any PhD student at SLU who has a doctoral project addressing forest damage.

Questions

For questions, please contact the deputy director of the SLU Forest Damage Centre Wiebke Neumann Sivertsson, wiebke.neumann@slu.se, or the administrative coordinator, katja.fedrowitz@slu.se.