The Swedish National Union of Students (SFS) is a member-driven organisation and is the collective student voice in Sweden. SFS organises around 50 student unions at universities and places of higher education throughout Sweden. Together, these represent more than 350 000 students, including doctoral students. SFS main purpose is to represent and promote the members’ and students’ interests in education, research and student welfare issues at the national level.
About SFS-DK, the SFS Doctoral Committee
SFS-DK is a committee in SFS which works as an advisory board for the presidium and board of SFS in questions regarding third-cycle education, research and the general conditions of doctoral students. SFS-DK aims to enable SFS to influence the development of the third cycle education, research and the general conditions of doctoral students in Sweden.
SFS-DK also works within SFS to bring attention to these issues. SFS-DK consists of 7 members who are doctoral students at Swedish higher education institutions. Of these 7 members, one is the chairperson of SFS-DK, and 1-2 members are vice-chairs of SFS-DK. SFS-DK has a mandate period from the 1st of August to the 31st of July.
You can find more information about the work of SFS-DK at SFS’s webpage, in the document SFS-DK Work, and in the SFS-DK working directives.
SFS-DK hosts an informational meeting on Thursday 25th April at 17:00 on Zoom about the call for nomination and the work of SFS-DK in general. The invitation will be sent directly to local Doctoral Student Organisations, but you are also very welcome to contact [email protected] for a direct invitation for this meeting.
The tasks of vice-chairs of SFS-DK
The vice-chairs of SFS-DK are expected to work closely together with the chair of SFS-DK. This includes planning the meetings and other work of SFS-DK as well as representing SFS-DK within the organization of SFS.
The vice-chairs are entitled to up to 30 days of prolongation each, which corresponds to the expected workload of their role.
We are looking for someone that:
- Is a doctoral student at a Swedish higher education institution
- Can communicate well in English, both verbally and in written form
- Has the ability to collaborate well with others, both internally and externally
It is also of merit if you have:
- Experience with student representation and/or doctoral representation at university, national, or international level
- Leadership experience
Alongside the SFS-DK chairperson, the elected vice-chairs are expected to:
- Lead SFS-DK’s strategic, executive, and operational work, including planning, organising and leading the meetings of SFS-DK.
- Represent SFS-DK in respect to other parties internally within SFS as well as toward other actors outside of the organisation, including by informing the board of SFS of the committee’s activities through SFS-DK’s report.
- Attend SFS’s member meetings, SFSFUM, the introduction day for new members of SFS or other similar events.
- Maintain contact and representation (together with other members of SFS-DK) with all relevant organisations that are concerned with research education, research and the general conditions of doctoral students. This includes, among others, trade unions and Eurodoc.
- Send out information to representatives of SFS-DK, local doctoral committees and other relevant organisations about the work of SFS-DK at least once per semester.
The tasks of ordinary members of SFS-DK
Members of SFS-DK are expected to participate in four whole day meetings that are held annually in SFS-DK, possible video meetings in between the whole day meetings, as well as email correspondence. There can be some work in between meetings.
Ordinary members of SFS-DK are entitled to 10 days of prolongation for the work.
We are looking for someone that:
- Is a doctoral student or a recent graduate of doctoral studies of a Swedish higher education institution, or otherwise has extensive knowledge in doctoral student affairs
- Can communicate in English both verbally and in written form
- Has the ability to collaborate well with others
It is also of merit if you have:
- Experience with student representation and/or doctoral representation
Elected ordinary members of SFS-DK are expected to:
- Participate actively at the meetings of SFS-DK, both in the approximately four full-day (physical) meetings and additional (mostly digital) meetings.
- Stay updated and interested in the general aspects of research education, research, and the general conditions of doctoral students in Sweden.
- Follow the guidelines, opinions and policies that SFS has which are relevant for SFS-DK, such as decisions made by SFSFUM including the SFS’s statutes, operational plan, SFS Programme of opinions
- Follow the organisational policies of SFS, e.g. on personal data management, representation, communication, referrals, and travel policies.
Nomination
Please send your nomination no later than May 13th to SFS-DK chair Topias Tolonen-Weckström via [email protected]. Nominations can be made by a member union of SFS, a group of at least 10 members from a member union, members in the board of SFS and members in SFS-DK.
The nomination should contain the following:
- A motivational/personal letter written by the candidate (up to 1 page)
- The candidate’s CV (max 3 pages)
- Contact information on who is nominating the candidate
If you cannot spend the expected workload the nomination should contain information regarding this.
Tag your nomination with [Nomination SFS-DK] in the title of your email. If you have any questions about the position or nomination please contact SFS-DK chair Topias Tolonen-Weckström via [email protected].
Election process
The nomination period is open from the 15th of April to the 13th of May. It is the board of SFS that elects members and vice-chairs of SFS-DK. To assist the board in this matter, a nomination committee with representatives from the board and SFS-DK has been appointed by the board.
Relevant candidates with valid nominations will be called for digital interviews around the middle of May which will be conducted by members of the nomination committee. The interviews will be around 30 minutes long.
The nomination committee will make a recommendation to the board by June 7th and the board of SFS will elect the vice-chairs and ordinary members at their board meeting during the weekend 14th to 16th of June.
More information
Topias Tolonen-Weckström, chairperson of SFS-DK and the preparational election committee: [email protected]