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Course information for doctoral students

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)

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How to find planned courses​

Alternative 1: Search course

  • You can extract all doctoral courses at the school using the search filter "Choose from other search criteria". Tick the checkbox "Third cycle" and then choose "All within Electrical Engineering and Computer Science" in the dropdown menu
  • You can also search for courses that will be offered in the coming year using the same search filter

Alternative 2: Courses by school

Information about compulsory courses is available on each doctoral programme's own web page . Note that the course fees for the two courses, FAK3127 The Sustainable Scientist 2.0 credits  and FDS3103 Introduction to Scientific Writing 2.0 credits , are covered by the school. This means that all doctoral students within EECS may sign up for these courses, even though they are designed for and mandatory within the doctoral programme Electrical Engineering .

Information about general skills courses can be found on the General skills courses  web page.

Course grades will be visible on the degree certificate.

Limitations for teaching assistants

Doctoral students cannot simultaneously be teaching assistants (TAs) and students in the same course. If a doctoral student has already served as a TA for a course, they will unlikely be allowed to take the course as a student later.

Third-cycle courses

Admission and registration

Ensure approval from your principal supervisor and permission from the course examiner before participating in a doctoral course.

If the teacher approves your participation in the course, you will be admitted and registered when the teacher submits a list of students to us. As an alternative, if you already have written approval, you may forward it to us , and we will admit you to the course.

Doctoral students from other universities

If you are a doctoral student from another university, you need permission before starting a doctoral course at KTH. How to apply for permission is stated below.

KTH has raised the security level for IT account activations. To start a course, after receiving the special permission, you need a KTH account  which can be activated with Swedish Mobile BankID or by visiting KTH’s campus. If you do not have Swedish Mobile BankID or are not able to visit campus, you cannot start the course.

  1. Contact the course responsible to ascertain that the course is given, and that you may join the class.
  2. Submit the following documents to doctoral-education-support@eecs.kth.se :
  3. Await confirmation on admission and registration from Doctoral Education Support and follow the instructions in the email on how to check out your new KTH account.
  4. If you have not gained access to the course in Canvas despite being registered on the course in Ladok, please contact it-support@kth.se .

Exam registration

If the doctoral course requires registration for an exam, you do so during the registration period  via the "personal menu".

Suppose the exam belongs to a second-cycle course given in parallel with the doctoral course. In that case, you might be unable to register for the exam via the "personal menu". If so, you must complete the web form Exam/ Reexam/ Partial exams  at least two weeks before the exam period starts.

Those who have forgotten to register in time can find more information about written exams here .

Registration of grades

After completing the course, the examiner contacts the Doctoral Education Support to register the passed grade in the student registry. Shortly afterwards, the grade will appear in the doctoral student's Ladok.

Discontinuation and re-registration

Doctoral students can discontinue a doctoral course at any time during the course duration. If they receive approval from the course's examiner or teacher, they can also apply for re-registration to resume the course later, subject to availability. Doctoral students can discontinue the course in Ladok and contact Doctoral Education Support for help with re-registration.

First/second-cycle courses

Please note that course grades will be visible on the degree certificate.

Admission and registration

  1. The course must be listed as a planned course in your most recent established ISP. If it is not added there yet, please revise your ISP.
  2. Ensure approval from the course examiner to take the course.
  3. Fill out the web form Application for first or second-cycle course for doctoral students at EECS .
  4. After receiving confirmation about course admission via email, you need to register for the course via your “personal menu” during the web registration period.

  5. If you have not gained access to the course in Canvas despite being registered in Ladok, please contact it-support@kth.se .

  6. Once the course has finished and been reported in Ladok, contact doctoral-education-support@eecs.kth.se  and request that the course be transferred to your doctoral programme. Otherwise, you cannot include the course when you apply for a degree certificate.

Limitations for doctoral students from other universities

Doctoral students from other universities can take first and second-cycle level courses at KTH under either of the following two conditions:

  1. The course is listed on universityadmissions.se , and they apply for admission there (read about "Freestanding courses at KTH"), or
  2. They pay a course fee equivalent to the cost of "contract education" (uppdragsutbildning) (for courses not listed on universityadmissions.se ). KTH can only enter into a contract education agreement with a company or university on behalf of an employee or student, not directly with an individual. Doctoral students interested in this option should contact the course coordinator. If the course coordinator deems it appropriate, they may then contact avtal@eecs.kth.se  to explore the possibility of establishing a contract education agreement.

Some teachers offer corresponding doctoral courses with a simplified application process than the one explained above. If interested, inquire with the examiner/teacher about the availability of such a course. Find the simplified application process for doctoral courses in the box labelled "Special permission for doctoral students from other universities" found above.

Exam registration

You register for the exam via your “personal menu” during registration period . Those who have forgotten to register in time can find more information about written exams here .

Transferring course credits  

The EECS school, together with the ABE and SCI schools, has been selected to participate in a pilot on the process for transferring course credits. As of 2 March, applications for course credit transfer will be handled entirely in Ladok. In other words, applications should no longer be submitted via a form.

How to apply for credit transfer in Ladok:

  1. Ensure that you have the required documentation and meet any specific conditions:
    • Course certificate or transcript
    • Course syllabus or equivalent
    • For online courses without an examination component, supplementary examination is required (e.g., by the principal supervisor). Information about this examination should be provided in Ladok according to the instructions below.
  2. Fill in the Attachment to application for transfer of credits (pdf 105 kB) . You may apply for several courses at the same time, but each course requires a separate attachment.
  3. Log in to Ladok for students .
  4. Select “Credit transfer” and click “Apply”.
  5. Follow the instructions in the application workflow.
    • Upload all supporting documents in step 3.
    • For online courses without an examination component, you must specify in step 2:
      • who examined you at KTH,
      • what type of examination was conducted, and
      • the total number of hours (lectures or exercises) corresponding to higher education credits.

Upload all supporting documents in step 3.
For online courses without an examination component, you must specify in step 2:
who examined you at KTH,
what type of examination was conducted, and
the total number of hours (lectures or exercises) corresponding to higher education credits.

Courses from previous studies

Courses that have not been included in a completed degree, were begun before admission to doctoral studies, and were not used to meet the admission requirements for doctoral studies, may be credited. Such applications should be submitted within six months after admission to the doctoral programme.

Credit transfer of first‑ and second‑cycle courses

Credit transfer of first‑ and second‑cycle courses is subject to the limitations stated in KTH’s Guideline on Third-Cycle Studies  and the third-cycle subject's general study syllabus .

Third‑cycle courses from other Swedish universities

Third‑cycle courses completed at, and registered as passed in Ladok by, another Swedish university do not require a credit transfer application within ongoing doctoral studies at KTH. These courses can be selected when applying for the degree. Please note that such courses will not be imported as completed into your Individual Study Plan (ISP). To ensure correct documentation, the courses should remain under Planned Courses (section 3.1) in the ISP, supplemented with a comment indicating that they are completed.

Summer schools and courses not offered by universities

For summer schools and other non-university courses, a doctoral student can be credited with up to 2 ECTS credits per week, based on supporting evidence that allows assessment of the actual workload (1 ECTS credit equals, on average, between 25 and 30 study hours).

Conferences and workshops

Conferences and workshops are generally considered part of regular research work and are normally not approved for credit transfer.

Language courses in Swedish

Non-Swedish-speaking employees at KTH are strongly encouraged to learn Swedish. KTH offer several courses tailored to different levels. See the web page Swedish courses for international students . The doctoral student's department will cover the course fee. For practical details, such as an invoice reference (link in Swedish) , please contact your supervisor.

Please note that the general syllabus for your third-cycle subject  may include specific regulations regarding language courses.

Attending lectures without intending to take the course

Doctoral students at KTH are allowed to "observe" courses without intending to take them or earn credits for them, as long as the examiner approves it.