Swedish Defence University (SEDU)
The Swedish Defence University (SEDU) is Sweden's only university where War Studies is taught as an academic discipline, combining military and civilian research perspectives on conflict, defence, and security. The Department of War Studies is now recruiting multiple fully funded four-year PhD positions across both open-topic and specialised tracks. Critically for the space security community, several positions are open without specialisation — meaning applicants are free to develop their own research proposal within the broad scope of War Studies. This makes these positions directly accessible to candidates wishing to pursue doctoral research in space security, the militarisation of outer space, anti-satellite capabilities and deterrence, space domain awareness as a warfighting enabler, or the strategic implications of commercial space for national defence. War Studies' core concerns — how military capability is created, organised, and employed in conflict — map directly onto the emerging space security research agenda. Additional specialised positions are available in Russian Warfare, Gender Peace and Security, and Logistics. Positions are fully funded for four years (extendable to five with teaching duties). Civilian doctoral students are paid on a collective agreement scale. Both Swedish and international candidates are welcome. Start date is January 2027; applications must clearly indicate which position(s) are applied for.
Master's degree (second cycle, minimum 240 ECTS) or equivalent 90 ECTS credits in social sciences and at least 30 ECTS in War Studies or a closely related field (International Relations, Peace and Conflict Research, Security Studies, Political Science) Independently authored academic thesis or equivalent in Swedish, English, Danish, or Norwegian (or authorised translation) Excellent English proficiency in speech and writing Open-topic positions: self-developed research proposal within War Studies — space security proposals are explicitly within scope Russian Warfare specialisation: documented proficiency in reading Russian required Applications marked with reference number O 308/2026 and submitted via SEDU's online recruitment system Completed military officer education is considered a merit