PhD Scholarship at the Center for Subjectivity Research, Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen (UCPH)

The Department of Communication invites applications for athree-year PhD scholarship starting from February 1st 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The position is offered within the project Rethinking ADHD: from executive control to a disorder of salience and will focus on reconsidering the theoretical and philosophical premises underlying ADHD, and distractibility in particular. The project is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark and is led by Assistant Professor Jelle Bruineberg.

Introduction
The PhD programme is a study programme which aims at training PhD Fellows, at an international level, to undertake research, development, knowledge dissemination and teaching assignments. The main emphasis is on PhD students organising and conducting their own research project (under supervision). The programme includes the drafting of a PhD thesis which the student must defend at a public defence. The standard duration of the PhD programme is three years of full-time studies, which equals 180 ECTS.

A PhD degree opens a range of career opportunities in academia and elsewhere. As well as writing a thesis, PhD students work in active research environments in Denmark and abroad. They contribute to the academic environment, take research training courses, and convey the results of their research in teaching, at academic conferences and to the general public.

The PhD Fellow will be affiliated with the Center for Subjectivity Research, an internationally oriented and interdisciplinary research center that seeks to further the integration of different philosophical traditions, in particular phenomenology and analytic philosophy of mind. It moreover promotes the dialogue between philosophy and empirical science, in particular psychiatry, clinical psychology, cognitive science, developmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, and political theory ().

The Project
The overall aim of the Sapere Aude project is to rethink the theoretical assumptions underpinning Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is typically thought of as a disorder of executive control: an inability to control where attention is directed. But in situations that capture their interests, people with ADHD seem to be able to focus for particularly long periods of time.

The core idea to be pursued is that ADHD might be better understood as a difference in the way the world draws attention. Everyday attention is then not so much a tug-of-war between controlling your attention and being distracted, but a balancing act between sticking to the task at hand and remaining open to other things that might also be relevant. The hypothesis is that a salience-based approach to ADHD can make better sense of some of the paradoxical aspects of ADHD, such as hyperfocus, can lead to a better understanding of ADHD and can inform the normative debate about ADHD.

The PhD project is part of a work package that develops the conceptual and philosophical groundwork that is required for articulating a new perspective on ADHD. This groundwork includes rethinking some foundational issues in the philosophy and cognitive science of attention, such as: What is the “job description” for attention? What is the division of labor between salience and executive control? And is it always good to have more control over one’s attention? The PhD candidate is expected to develop and carry out a research project that coheres with the overall ambitions of the work package.

The role will suit applicants who are interested in working at the intersection between philosophy, cognitive science and psychiatry, and who have a special interest in attention. Applicants should have well-developed writing and research skills, and be able to demonstrate research potential, for example through a strong Master’s thesis, publications, or conference presentations.

Qualification Requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project, e.g. Philosophy, Cognitive Science, or similar. 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.

Applicants must possess skills in written and spoken academic English at a high level. If deemed necessary, the department may request that applicants document their English skills.

Application
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 in either PDF or Word format:

• Cover letter (max. 1 page)
• CV (max. two pages)
• Diplomas, transcripts and description of grading scale
  Please include the following documents: bachelor’s and master's degree - diplomas and transcripts, description of grading scale. Note : If your master’s degree diploma is not available by the application deadline, please include your latest transcript of grades.
• Project abstract (max. 1,200 characters incl. spaces)
• Project description (max. 12,000 characters incl. spaces excluding bibliography).
  Your project description should include:
• A motivated introduction
• Objective(s) of the project
• Problem statement
• A short description of the international state of the art within the relevant research field(s)
• A theoretical framework for the project and central concepts.
• Proposed method and identification, if any, of empirical data.
• Expected results.
• A timetable or study plan for how you expect to complete the project in three years.
• A writing sample of single-authored written work : A short sample of written work, e.g. in the form of a published piece of work, a course paper or an extract from your MA dissertation (approx. 5,000 words).

Applicants holding a degree from a university where the working language is neither English nor a Scandinavian language must include translated versions of their diploma and transcripts, verified by the issuing university. The documents must be translated into English, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish. In addition, an official description of the relevant grading scale (e.g. diploma supplement) must be included.

On the website of the PhD School, you can find more information about the attachments your need to include with your application: PhD at the Faculty of Humanities .

Assessment Criteria
The following criteria are applied when assessing PhD applications:

• Research qualifications, as reflected in the attached CV and project description
• Competencies and knowledge of relevant fields of academic research
• Level (grades obtained) of bachelor and master’s 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 31.844,98 (EUR 4.259,91) + an 18.07 % pension contribution.

According to the agreement, the PhD Fellow is required to carry out tasks at the relevant department to an extent corresponding to 840 working hours (6 months) over the course of the three-year employment.

You can read more about employment as a PhD Fellow here: Employment as a PhD student .

The Recruitment Process
Following the application deadline, the Head of Department will, on the advice of the appointment committee, select applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted. The Head of Department will appoint an expert assessment committee to evaluate the shortlisted applications. The shortlisted applicants will be informed of the committee’s composition. Each shortlisted applicant will be given the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment before the appointment is finalised.

Enrolment
It is a prerequisite for employment that successful applicants enrol at the PhD School of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Follow the links below for further information: PhD Programmes - Guide to studies and admission .

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 first to consult our website, where most questions concerning the recruitment process as well as the academic content and structure of the PhD programme are addressed:

Structure of the PhD programme

If you do not find the information you are looking for, you are welcome to contact the PhD Coordinator, Nete Nørgaard Kristensen by email at Se e-mailadresse på studerendeonline.dk , or HR Søndre at Se e-mailadresse på studerendeonline.dk .

For specific questions about the role and project, feel free to contact Jelle Bruineberg at Se e-mailadresse på studerendeonline.dk .

Please remember to state the ID number 211-2555/26-2H .

The deadline for applications is 3 November 2026 at 23:59 [CET].
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.

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Info

Ansøgningsfrist: 03-11-2026

Ansættelsesdato: 01-03-2027

Afdeling/Sted: Department of Communication