Doctoral students to be paid under time-based contract
KTH’s local collective agreement for doctoral students, is being revised and will become time-based. Following many years of discussions, the parties have adopted a proposal that will come into force in October.
“This is a collective agreement, which is why it has taken so long to implement. We have chosen a system that is the same as the one used at KI, which was the simplest and most transparent. It has worked surprisingly well at KI, so we felt confident in recommending this model,” says Christina Divne, Director of Third Cycle Education at the School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, who participated in the working group behind the proposal.
A controversial model
The current salary grade system for doctoral student employment has been the subject of debate since its introduction. Doctoral students’ salaries are based on fixed amounts that are increased in stages according to the percentage of the programme they have completed. When this should happen is decided by the doctoral student’s supervisor and, in unclear cases, by the programme director, which, according to both the doctoral student section at THS and the Directors of Third Cycle Education, creates scope for arbitrariness.
“All doctoral students undertake their research training differently – some are quick off the mark, whilst for others it is a slow start. Some may start publishing articles straight away, whilst others structure their studies around mostly laboratory work in the early years. Some take all their courses in the first year, whilst others save them until the end. The significant differences in approach create scope for arbitrariness, and it then becomes entirely up to the supervisor when the doctoral student should be moved up the performance-based pay scale,” says Hilma Karlsson, chair of the Ph.D. chapter of KTH’s student union, THS.
Experienced problems
She explains that a survey conducted among doctoral students in 2023 showed that about a third had experienced difficulties progressing up the pay scale.
“Furthermore, the 2024 doctoral student survey revealed that, of those in their fifth year or later, just over half had reached the final pay grade. This is despite the fact that the majority of KTH’s doctoral students defend their theses during their fifth year. Furthermore, there were doctoral students who remained at the initial step at the time of their thesis defence,” Karlsson says.
Entirely time-based
The new doctoral pay scale is entirely time-based and divided into four steps. It provides for a fixed pay rise each year. The model was developed by a working group appointed by the Third Cycle Education Committee of KTH’s Faculty Council and has now been negotiated with the trade unions.
“The hope is that salary increases for doctoral students will now be applied correctly and that this will reduce conflicts and frustration surrounding the pay scale. SACO-S has been campaigning for a time-based doctoral pay scale since the current model was introduced. We welcome the fact that a broadly composed working group has addressed the issue and that KTH has taken doctoral students’ perspectives seriously,” says Boel Berg Wincent, former chair of ABE’s doctoral student council and member of the SACO-S board.
Will be transferred
In October, the new salary grade system will come into effect and all current doctoral students will be transferred into the new system.
“I think it’s going to be brilliant. Now that we’ve got this sorted, the next challenge is how to handle the administrative side of things, what the processes will look like. There will be a few teething problems at the start, but that’s always the case when changes happen; you have to get the routines in place. It’s important that everyone does things the same way, both within schools and, of course, across schools,” Divne says.
Text: Sabina Fabrizi ( sabina@kth.se )