Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship at the Department of Psychology, UCPH. The scholarship is sponsored by project Aesthetic Atmospheres from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2029. The project is funded by the Velux Foundation.

The project, “Aesthetic atmosphere. An investigation in Phenomenological Psychology,” is located at Center for Phenomenological Psychology and Aesthetics at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen. The overarching aim of the project is to show how atmospheres, while often vague and fluctuating, influence our affective life. In the PhD subproject, experiences with music will form the empirical basis for the study. The research questions are: 1) How are atmospheres experienced in relation to music? 2) What are the essential characteristics of the experience of musical atmospheres? 3) What are the momentary versus lasting influences of experiencing musical atmospheres? The empirical part of the subproject will be based on qualitative interviews in Denmark. The analyses of the empirical material should be grounded in the descriptive method of phenomenological psychology developed by Amadeo Giorgi to obtain an overview of atmospheric experiences as well as capturing their fine-grained details. This approach must be supplemented with the micro-phenomenological method developed by Claire Petitmengin. The overarching theoretical framework is phenomenological psychology, combined with phenomenological theory on aesthetics, music, and subjectivity.

The successful candidate will be working closely with the PI and other collaborators, investigating how musical atmospheres influence our affective life. It requires deep theoretical insight and experience with empirical research. The PhD student will conduct in-depth phenomenological interviews in Denmark, developing theoretical models that explain the results, as well as manuscript preparation and publication. This process will include discussions with musicians, psychologists, and phenomenologists.

Your Competencies and Opportunities

• theoretical and empirical experience with phenomenological psychology and aesthetics, including phenomenological interviewing techniques and analysis.
• ability to conduct independent research, to think critically and creatively, and carry out research in a structured manner.
• preferably experience with communicating your research results to external target groups.
• being a skilled communicator in both written and oral English. Oral Danish skills are also necessary since the interviews will be conducted in Denmark.

The full project description can be obtained from Tone Roald, email: [email protected] upon request. We recommend that you read the full project description before submitting your application.

We are located in the center of Copenhagen. A high degree of presence at the workplace is expected.

Applicants are also encouraged to familiarize themselves with the research interests of Center for Phenomenological Psychology and Aesthetics, by consulting the center’s website psychology.ku.dk/cppa. More information on the Faculty is available here Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet – Københavns Universitet.

The chosen candidate will be enrolled at the Faculty of Social Sciences under Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences.

The PhD programme
The PhD programme provides PhD students with strong research training which opens a window of opportunity to a variety of careers within the private and public sectors. The programme includes the drafting of a PhD thesis, active participation in research networks, PhD courses, teaching, and other forms of knowledge dissemination. The PhD programme can be undertaken as a three-year full-time study within the framework of the 5+3 study programme.

Duties and responsibilities
Information about the PhD study programme is available on the website of Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences: PhD at the Faculty of Social Sciences and on the PhD website of the Department of Psychology: https://phd.ku.dk.

Applicants should familiarise themselves with the research strategy and the ongoing research at the department before submitting their application. Further information can be found here: psychology.ku.dk/the-department.

Qualification requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project, e.g. a degree in psychology with experience in phenomenological psychology, aesthetics and phenomenological interviewing.

If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

Scholarship in the 5+3
The 5+3 PhD study programme

PhD students are paid a salary in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The PhD student has a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3 year period of time without additional pay. The work obligation can include teaching, for instance.

Please note assessment of applicants’ qualifications and eligibility for employment and enrolment will only take place after the application deadline.

How to apply
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. Your application must be written in English, and include the following attachments (with descriptive titles) in either PDF or Word format.

• Cover letter (max. 1 page detailing your motivation and background for applying with the specific PhD project).
• CV
• Project description (max. 12,000 characters incl. spaces not incl. bibliography)
• Project abstract (max. 1,200 characters incl. spaces)
• Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc and MSc) Please note: If your degree diploma is not available by the application deadline, please include your latest transcript of grades.
• Time schedule
• Other information for consideration, e.g., list of publications, documentation of English language qualifications (if any). Please do not include commitments from supervisors, recommendations etc.

Further details on the documents that should accompany your application are available on this website: Admission requirements and application procedures.

Assessment Criteria
The following criteria are used when shortlisting candidates for assessment:

1. Research qualifications as reflected in the project proposal.

2. Quality and feasibility of the project.

3. Qualifications and knowledge in phenomenological psychology.

4. Performance (grades obtained) in graduate and post-graduate studies.

Salary and Terms of Employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The salary range starts at approximately DKK 31,600 (EUR 4,200) + an 18.07 % pension contribution.

The Recruitment Process
After the application deadline, the Head of Department will consider advice from the appointment committee and then selects applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted. The Head of Department will then set up an expert assessment committee to assess the shortlisted applications. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Each shortlisted applicant will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment before the appointment is announced.

Enrolment
It is a prerequisite for employment that successful applicants enrol at the PhD School of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

International Applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about our services at: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen.

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. To learn more about our diverse workplace and our participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, please visit HR Excellence in Research.

Contact Information
We encourage you to first consult our website, where most questions concerning the recruitment process as well as the academic content and structure of the PhD programme are answered:

Structure of the PhD programme

How to obtain a PhD scholarship.

If you do not find the information you are looking for, you are welcome to contact Tone Roald, email: [email protected].

Information about the recruitment process is available from HR South, e-mail: [email protected]. Please refer to ID number: 211-2431/26-2H #2.

The deadline for applications is 3 July 2026 at 23:59 [CEST].
Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Info
Ansøgningsfrist: 03-07-2026

Ansættelsesdato: 01-11-2026

Afdeling/Sted: Department of Psychology