PhD students are extremely important for the industry and are part of the solution to the skills supply shortage that the sector is facing.
We want to create a natural meeting place within Swedish Mining Innovation’s PhD student network for PhD students involved in research in Sweden relating to mining. A meeting place that will provide needed information about career opportunities and research infrastructure.
The network currently has 78 PhD students and 30 alumni members.
“We want to build a framework for what we hope and believe, will help bring together PhD students with researchers, industry and authorities connected to the mining and exploration industry”
Swedish Mining Innovations PhD student network aims to create contacts and networks between PhD students, researchers as well as authorities and industry which are active in mining, metals production and exploration-related research and activities in Sweden.
As a member in the network you are invited to workshops where members and invited guests can discuss about PhD life in Sweden, research networking, and career opportunities after PhD in the academia and the industry. Attendance is open to any doctoral student in a field relevant to Swedish Mining Innovation.
There is no cost for participating in the network and its activities. Travel and accommodation for workshops will be covered by the programme.
Interested to join? Feel free to contact us anytime.
More information here
Interview with Nils Jansson, Network Coordinator
What would you like to highlight when it comes to the importance of the PhD Student Network?
-One of the key objectives of the network is to give a broader perspective of the industry, and the role of mining in society. We want to create meetings places for PhD students from all universities and mining-related research topics in Sweden, regardless of if it is Natural, Engineering, or Social Sciences. This has primarily been done via workshops in Swedish mining districts, where members of diverse background from all over Sweden have come together and interacted with each other and key stakeholders from industry, government, academia and NGOs. Primarily, we want to foster contact and collaboration between PhD students, and also help the PhD students to build a professional network already prior to defending their thesis. We also want to make the PhD students more aware of current challenges that industry and society are facing, and how their research fit into the bigger picture of an integrated and dynamic raw materials value chain.
What does the future of the network look like? Visions and goals?
-The future for the network looks bright in that we are currently initiating a new 2-year phase of the network, in which we are planning new exiting workshops, the first one being a workshop in Bergslagen in May this year. For the next period, we have set the ambitious goal of having more than 160 members by the end of 2025, a goal we hope shall be easily achieved by a general increase in mining-related research in the coming years.
My specific vision is that in the future, companies and government organizations in search of a diverse and talented workforce will increasingly view the network as an asset for being able to quickly engage with a large group of young professionals from all over Sweden. This has already been demonstrated in practice last year when we were approached by Eumicon and asked to send a group of PhD students from Sweden to the Raw Materials Week (RMW) in Brussels. Hence, 12 PhD students from LTU, Chalmers, KTH, Stockholm University and Örebro University attended the RMW with very positive feedback from the organizers. We hope to see more of this future, e.g. talent recruitment divisions from companies or governmental organizations contacting us and asking us to bring our members to them, e.g. on career days and workshops.
Swedish Mining Innovation has been instrumental for the realization of the program, both with regards to providing the financial means for allowing PhD students to travel to and attend the events we organize, but also in being the initiators of what is Sweden’s first national network for PhD students in mining-related fields. We hope and believe that upon completion of Swedish Mining Innovation, the network will remain as one of the key legacies of the entire program.
The network in numbers (currently)
78 PhD students
30 alumni members
13 participating Swedish universities
7 workshops to-date
1 delegation to RMW in Brussels
Skills provision and innovative employees are a key factor for a future competitive mining and metal-producing industry. At present, it is difficult for doctoral students who are trained in mining and exploration related research to meet and make contact with each other as there is no common forum that makes this possible. It is equally difficult for doctoral students to get in touch with other researchers in the field as well as with industry and authorities.
By a PhD student network, we want to bring together doctoral students with researchers, industry and authorities along the whole value chain including a broad range of disciplines. In addition to this, this network can help facilitate collaboration between Swedish universities regarding doctoral courses, and provide easier access to courses at different Swedish universities.
Interviews with Nils Jansson, Associate Professor/Network Coordinator and Filip Simán, PhD student/Assistant Network Coordinator, 2023.
“Swedish Mining Innovation PhD student network provides a good platform for interaction and collaboration with other PhD students doing mining related research, and with companies that are also potential employers”
– Jane Mulenshi, PhD student Luleå University of Technology
As a member in the network you are invited to workshops where members and invited guests can discuss about PhD life in Sweden, research networking and career opportunities after PhD in the academe and the industry.
Attendance is open to any PhD student in a field relevant to Swedish Mining Innovation.
There is no cost for participating in the network and its activities. Travel and accommodation for workshops will be covered by Swedish Mining Innovation.
Welcome to join!
Nils Jansson
Filip Simán
