If you have other questions, please send an e-mail to samfakrekrytering@su.se or the faculty administrator assigned to handle your application for promotion.

The process in short

  • The applicant sends her/his application to the Faculty office and the registrar
  • The Academic appointments board decides on external experts to evaluate the application
  • Evaluation by external experts
  • The Academic appointments board decides to recommend a promotion
  • The Dean or the President takes the decision to promote the applicant

More information

1. The application

Please follow the template carefully and make sure to include relevant certificates. Send the application to the registrar, e-mail: registrator@su.se and a copy to samfakrekrytering@su.se. See template and policy documents below for more information.

If you, at an earlier time, have been evaluated for a position as Senior lecturer, or Professor, in the same scientific area and vocation as you are applying for promotion in, please include all the evaluations in the application.

OBS! if you apply for a promotion from Associate senior lecturer to Senior lecturer, the application has to be sent in no later than 9 months before the employment as an Associate senior lecturer ends.

2. The review

The application is reviewed by the faculty administrator and the Chair of the Appointments board. The administrator may ask the applicant for possible changes and clarifications if needed.

3. The first meeting of the Academic appointments board

The Appointments board has a meeting once a month (except during the summer). The Head of your department will be invited to give her/his opinion in the matter.

4. External experts are appointed

The faculty administrator will ask the department for suggestions for external experts.

5. Evaluation of external experts

You will be asked to send the publications you have invoked to the external experts. The evaluation should not take longer than three months.

The Chair of the Appointments board will decide if the evaluations are adequate, after that they will be sent to you. The Head of department will get a copy for information.

6. The second meeting of the Academic appointments board

The Appointments board will determine if a promotion will be recommended or not, based on the evaluation of the external experts. You will be notified of the decision after the minutes are approved.

7. The Dean or the President takes the final decision on promotions

The Dean takes the decision to promote a Senior lecturer, the President decides to promote a professor.

The department you work at and the HR department will get information about your new title, salary and from when the promotion enters into force.

Questions and answers

How do I know if I have enough credits in teaching and learning in higher education to be promoted?

How many credits you need to be promoted to senior lecturer was stated in the advertisement for the employment you have, but also in the policy documents for the Human science, see under Application above.

How many credits you need to be promoted to professor is stated in the policy documents for the Human science, and in the addition for the Faculty of social sciences, see under Application above.

How can I attest that my teaching and learning in higher education courses at another university is comparable to the one Stockholm university offers?

Enclose signed diplomas or certificates, if possible, where the course contents and the scope of the course are clearly stated so the Appointments board are able to evaluate if the courses are comparable. We are sorry to say that you can’t be given advance notice if your courses can be considered comparable or not.

How can I attest my competence in the supervision of PhD students when applying for promotion to professor?

According to the policy documents for Human science you have to be able to attest that you have actively been supervising at least one doctoral student during a long or decisive time on the way to the public defense of the thesis. Such an attest could be written by the Head of department, the Director of studies or the co-supervisor. At the Faculty of social sciences “actively supervising” means that the applicant should, during a long or a decisive time, have been mainly responsible for the supervision of a PhD student. The Appointments board determines if that is the case, based on the given circumstances and what role you had in the supervision of a PhD student.

What happens if I am considered not to have enough merits?

You can withdraw your application at any time during the process. If you apply for promotion as a professor, you can apply again, but make sure to update your application based on the feedback you got last time you applied. 

If you apply for promotion to senior lecturer your application has to be sent in at least 9 months before the employment ends. You can only apply for promotion from Associate senior lecturer to Senior lecturer once.

How many applications are denied, and on what grounds?

We don’t have any statistics on that right now. Adjournment happens most often based on if the scientific and/or the teaching and learning credits aren’t exhaustive enough.

Can I contact the Chair of the Academic appointment board?

All communication goes through the Faculty office, but in certain cases the Chair can contact you as an applicant in an ongoing promotion process.

Can I apply for promotion more than once?

You can apply more than once for promotion to professor, but remember to update your application based on the feedback you got last time you applied. Application for promotion from Associate senior lecturer to Senior lecturer can only be made once.

Can I make use of earlier evaluations by external experts for future promotion applications?

Yes, you can. Please make sure to include all the earlier evaluations in your application. Observe that earlier positive evaluations doesn´t guarantee that further evaluations won’t be necessary. The Academic appointments board base their decisions on the requirements of Stockholm university, Human science and the Faculty for social sciences

In the event of a discrepancy between the Swedish original text and the English translation, the Swedish version takes precedence