Sweden revamps postdoc student contracts

Revised employment law is intended to improve career security and align funding timescales

Sweden’s unions have agreed on a revision of the country’s fixed-term employment law for postdoctoral fellows, which it is hoped will provide more career security. 

The revised law will make it possible to apply for postdoctoral positions before a student’s PhD is completed, giving budding researchers more certainty about their future. The deal was negotiated between Saco-S, an alliance of unions that includes the Swedish teachers and researchers union SULF, and the Swedish Employers’ Agency, which oversees staff working in public bodies.