The National Graduate School of Historical Studies was established by Government decision in 2000 and is located at Lund University. Through the Graduate School, doctoral students are able to interact with other doctoral students and academic staff engaged in historical research at Lund University, the University of Gothenburg, Linnaeus University, Malmö University and Södertörn University. About 80 doctoral students and about 100 supervisors are taking part. Subjects included are History, Human Rights, History of Ideas and Sciences, Ethnology, Art History and Visual Studies, Book History, Musicology, Historical Archaeology, and Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. Our operations are characterised by breadth and depth in a multidisciplinary environment.

The Aim of the Graduate School

The aim of the National Graduate School of Historical Studies is to provide education of high quality for doctoral students in Sweden specialising in historical subjects. This will be achieved through collaboration across departmental and subject borders. The work has two aspects:

1. A graduate education partnership, hosted by Lund University and with the University of Gothenburg, Linnaeus University, Malmö University. and Södertörn University as partners.
2. A national network with opportunities for international expansion based on the needs and interests of the doctoral students.

The graduate education partnership means that the Graduate School will finance doctoral student positions and coordinate graduate education in History and related subjects at participating institutions (however, from 2019 finance is available only for new doctoral students at Lund University). Methods include joint residential seminars, one-day events and courses on specific themes, and international doctoral student exchanges, as well as facilitation of contacts between supervisors, teachers, and doctoral students.

An important aspect of quality graduate education is to prepare the doctoral students for life after graduation. The labour market for newly graduated PhDs in History and related subjects is a recurring matter for discussion during residential courses and thematic events organised by the Graduate School. 

The History of the Graduate School

The original Graduate School (National Graduate School of History) was a partnership between the departments of History at Lund University, Malmö University (then a college), Linnaeus University and Södertörn University. A little over ten years from the start, new initiatives were introduced, which among other things meant that the University of Gothenburg became a partner. There was a further expansion of operations in the autumn of 2014, when doctoral students in Ethnology, History of Ideas and Sciences, and Historical Archaeology at Lund University began to be financed by the Graduate School. In 2016 the Graduate School began financing doctoral students in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at Lund University, and by now the partnership also includes Human Rights, Book History, Art History and Visual Studies, and Musicology at Lund University.

Communication

The Graduate School communicates via the following channels: email, website, monthly newsletter, and a Facebook group.