PhD Courses in Denmark

Course date and time: 9 September 2026 from 9:00 to 15:00.

PhD training and experience equip graduates with specialized and transferable skills that are increasingly in demand beyond the university sector. Across the public, private, and civil sector, there is a growing organizational and societal need for professionals who can apply advanced analytical skills, critical thinking, and research-based knowledge to complex challenges.

This one-day course is designed for PhD students interested in exploring and developing their possibilities for a career outside academia. The overall aim of the course is to prepare PhD students for the next step in their career and to inspire them to integrate career development, knowledge mobilization, and relationship-building into their research activities.

During the course, we will explore a variety of career options outside academia, the unique competencies of PhD students, and the personal values that influence career choices. We will also explore the perspectives of employers, including their expectations when hiring social science PhD graduates and the challenges and opportunities they experience when working with former researchers.

As part of the course, the PhD students will develop an individual career plan outlining present possibilities for collaborating and building up relations with potential employers, future steps and milestones for career building as well as personal values, motivations and competencies. Based on the career plan, the PhD students will take part in half an hour’s individual mentor session to discuss the plan with an experienced professional outside academia.

Target group
The course is open to PhD students at all stages of their PhD project. We will mainly focus on career development for social scientific PhD students, but the course is also relevant for students from other fields such as humanities, law, and health sciences.

Course structure
The course day consists of four modules (each lasting 1-1,5 hours) followed by the development of an individual career plan and a mentor session (approximately two weeks after the course day).

Module 1: Career pathways
Workshop with the career counsellor, where we investigate diverse career pathways, the general and transferable competencies of PhD students, and the personal values and motivation that influence career decisions. We will also address the relevance and opportunities in professional networking in and outside academia.

Module 2: Alumni Insights
We invite former PhD students into the room to share their experiences of transitioning to careers outside of the university. Focus is on the possibilities and challenges they experienced along the way, how they integrate research skills in their new job, their motivations for their career choices and their experiences of employers’ perceptions of their competencies.

Module 3: Employer Perspectives
Representatives from different sectors present their perceptions of social scientific PhD students and their experiences of hiring and working with them.

Module 4: Engaged PhD projects
Workshop with the Queen Mary’s Center, where we discuss and explore strategies for initiating collaborations and building up relationships with future employers during the PhD project and as part of doing research.

After the course day: Career plan and mentor session
The PhD students will develop a career plan, which will be discussed in a mentor session. The mentor session will take place approximately two weeks after the course day.

Course organisers and lecturer: 
Thor Blond, Queen Mary’s Center, University of Copenhagen.

Additional course lecturers: 
Iben Treebak, career counsellor, University of Copenhagen
Trine Møller Nielsen, career counsellor, University of Copenhagen.

Further, invited guests from other sectors will offer presentations and mentor sessions.    

Language: English

ECTS: 1 ECTS for participation including preparation

Max. number of participants: 25

Course fee: The PhD School at the Faculty of Social Sciences participates in Denmark’s national network for PhD courses. This course is free of charge for PhD students enrolled at one of the participating PhD schools (PhD students enrolled at a Danish University, except Copenhagen Business School). Other PhD students will be charged a course fee of DKK 1,200 per ECTS for participation in the course (PhD students enrolled at Copenhagen Business School or a University outside Denmark).

Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 5 August 2026.

Further Information: For more information about the PhD course please get in touch with the course organiser Thor Blond (thb@samf.ku.dk).