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PhD courses and events

A general programme syllabus and overall subject description, with the relevant eligibility and degree requirements as well as the aims and objectives of postgraduate studies, is detailed in the study plan.
General Study Plan at science.lu.se

The PhD degree in Environmental Science will include 240 credits, of which 180 credits are awarded for your doctoral thesis which is a compilation thesis composed of articles or manuscripts. The PhD degree in Theoretical Physics with specialization in Computational Biology will include 240 credits, of which at least 150 credits are awarded for your doctoral thesis. The credits for theoretical courses are normally obtained through participation in courses within or outside the department, attending conferences, workshops and seminars.

Below you find information about:


Compulsory courses for all

The following courses, listed in alphabetical order, are compulsory for the students enrolled in the PhD programme in Environmental Science. Current PhD students can access more information on the programme and courses in the internal LU Box 
LU Box - lu.app.box.com

Basic teacher training

The course "Learning and Teaching in Higher Education – Theory and Practice" is compulsory for PhD students who would like to teach courses at Lund University.

Introduction course for PhD students at the Faculty of Science

This course covers information about general terms of employment, insurance, and management of the individual study plan, among other topics. The course gives 0,5 ECTS.

Introduction course for PhD students at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science

The course provides you with a broad spectrum of information and practical skills around your PhD study, including open science, data management, constructive feedback approaches and equality and unconscious biases in science. The course will review the embedding of your PhD study within Environmental Science and the link to the Sustainable Development Goals. The course is given every second year. The course gives 1 ECTS.

  • The course was last given in February and March 2024.
  • Course coordinator: Hakim Abdi (hakim [dot] abdi [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se) and Jagdeep Singh (jagdeep [dot] singh [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se)

Research ethics

This course is compulsory for all PhD students at the Faculty of Science admitted from 1 January 2021. It provides a basic knowledge of research integrity and ethics. This course gives you 3 ECTS.

Other compulsory courses in Environmental Science programme

Environmental challenges and the role of environmental science: past and present

During the course you will discuss the history of environmental science, how can environmental science sometimes create conflicts, trade-offs and synergies between different interest groups, and what is the future of environmental science? The course gives 3 ECTS.

Interdisciplinarity in environmental research

This course gives an introduction in how interdisciplinary environmental research can be conducted. As a research area, environmental science is based on the notion that complex environmental problems typically demand an interdisciplinary approach to be holistically understood and potentially solved. In this context, interdisciplinarity denotes both collaborative efforts between scientific disciplines and between scientists and a variety of societal actors. During the course we will revise why interdisciplinary research across these dimensions is needed and how it can be pursued. The course gives 3 ECTS.

Science communication and its role in society

The course will teach you to reach out with your research. What are the main things to think about? How do journalists find their stories? The course gives 3 ECTS. There will be preparatory tasks the week before the course begins and you will work full days during the course period.

Other compulsory courses in Theoretical Physics with specialization in Computational Biology programme

Computational Mechanics

This course is intended to teach more advanced concepts and methods for dealing with interacting systems with many particles, and also critical phenomena. Among the topics included are: the Ising model, the transfer matrix method, mean field theory, and renormalization theory. The course gives 7.5 ECTS. 

Computational Physics

This course is intended to give practical and theoretical insights into common methods for numerical calculations in physics, e.g., C++ programming, numerical integration, random numbers and Monte Carlo methods. The course gives 7.5 ECTS. 

Computational Biology Programming

Basic Cellular and Molecular Biology or Biophysics


Other courses

Sustainable land use

The sustainable use of land is a central component to reaching many of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. This course caters to both graduate students who want to embed their research topic in broader processes of global societal challenges related to land use, as well as those wanting to learn more about the biogeochemical and ecological processes setting the possibilities and constraints of land use and methods of measurement upon which sustainable land use is evaluated. The course gives 7.5 ECTS.

Biodiversity and ecosystem services: science and practice (3 ECTS)

Human wellbeing is tightly linked to biodiversity and ecosystem services, and their management is a major societal challenge. How can we take into account the different functions and services? What are the relevant scales for ecological processes and do they match management scales? How do we account for the value of ecosystem services? In this course, we take a decidedly interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on community and landscape ecology, environmental management, governance and environmental economics to explore these question with leading researchers in the field.

  • Course flyer (PDF, 908 kB, new tab)
  • Course schedule to be announced.
  • Course coordinators: Romain Carrié and Charlie Nicholson.
  • romain [dot] carrie [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (romain[dot]carrie[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)

Compulsory tasks

The following tasks are compulsory for the students enrolled in the PhD programme in Environmental Science. 

Introductory paper + Presentation at Seminar

7,5 credits + 0,5 credits

During the first year of your PhD studies you should start to write an introductory paper. The paper should be written as a review over a research question/problem/field you choose yourself. It should directly relate to your own research questions and it must have an environmental perspective. The paper is then presented at a research seminar at Centre for Environmental and Climate Science.

Midway review and seminar

2 credits

Seminar and examination which takes place about two years into your education. You will prepare:

  • A 6-10 page written report describing the results and progress of your research project and how it relates to the goals in the study plan for Environmental Science.
  • A 20 minute oral presentation to be given at Centre for Environmental and Climate Science.

Current PhD students find more information in the guide for midway review and seminar.

Conference participation

You can get up to 1 credit for active participation in a conference. This means that you present an abstract - either as a talk or as a poster. You can count a maximum of 3 higher education credits for conference participation towards your PhD degree if you were admitted from January 2021 and a maximum of 5 credits if you were admitted before 2021.
For more details, see the Doctoral Student Guide for Environmental Science.


Graduate research schools based at CEC:

  • The ClimBEco Graduate Research School at CEC offers PhD courses in Climate, Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a changing world.
    ClimBEco PhD courses
     
  • The BIOECONOMY Graduate Research School at CEC provides PhD courses with focus on the development of a sustainable bioeconomy. The courses are in general open for all students, but admission priority will be given to PhD students participating in the respective graduate research schools. 
    BIOECONOMY calendar and events.
     
  • The Agenda 2030 Graduate School offers interdisciplinary PhD courses at various faculties at Lund University, based on the challenges related to the Sustainable Development Goals. The courses are free of charge for all PhD students at Lund University
    Agenda 2030 courses

PhD courses given at the Faculty of Science 

The Faculty of Science offers PhD courses relevant for all doctoral students, for example the course in project management or the course in research ethics. You should report the credits to Ladok yourself. More information about the courses can be found on the Faculty of Science's webpage.

Career development activities given at Lund University

Lund University has a broad range of activities focusing on career development, such as workshops, seminars and courses. With a few exceptions, these activities are given in English and are free of charge. More information about these activities can be found on the Lund University staff pages.

Postgraduate courses at other universities 

You can apply for and participate in postgraduate courses at other universities and transfer your credits to your PhD programme at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC). Within the Bologna area, the same ECTS system is applied to all universities. Outside the Bologna area, the same rules apply as for participation in excursions - that is, your supervisor should estimate the credit value of the course/workshop and contact CEC’s research administrator so that the credits are registered in Ladok.