PhD in Norway for International Students: Salary and Permits

Quick answer: A funded PhD in Norway is a job: the university employs you as a PhD research fellow (stipendiat) on a fixed-term contract of three to four years, and 2026 adverts from NTNU and the University of Oslo start the salary at NOK 550,800 a year. Non-EU/EEA candidates apply for a skilled-worker permit, because UDI states that researchers with an employer in Norway must use that route. EU/EEA citizens instead register if they will live and work in Norway for more than three months.

What is a stipendiat position?

Under the regulations to the Universities and Colleges Act, you can only be hired as a stipendiat if you have been admitted to a doctoral programme or have a binding agreement on admission (§ 3-19). The position must lead to a doctorate, and at least three full-time years (årsverk) of the contract must go to your doctoral work. A career plan must be drawn up for you, and the university must follow it up and give you access to career guidance.

The Act itself fixes the term at three to four years (§ 7-6) and bars anyone from holding more than one fixed term in the same position category at the same institution. The two adverts used in this guide show both lengths:

• NTNU's Faculty of Humanities offers a 3-year employment period, with half a year set aside for the training part of the programme. Career-enhancing work may be added to some of its positions.
• UiO's Department of Pharmacy advertised a four-year position that includes 25% career-promoting work.

Leave you are entitled to under law or a collective agreement, reduced working hours you are entitled to, and sick leave all give you a right to have the contract extended (§ 3-17). The university may also extend it in special cases where unforeseen obstacles that are not your fault hold up the work.

Salary and pension

Research fellows are paid under position code 1017. Two 2026 adverts:

Both universities deduct 2% of salary as a statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund (Statens pensjonskasse). NTNU's humanities fellows also receive up to NOK 100,000 in working capital to carry out their project. For how income tax and your tax deduction card work on a Norwegian salary, see our guide to the Norwegian tax system for expats.

What are the entry requirements?

Admission to a doctoral programme is the legal minimum, and each university sets its own academic bar. The two adverts show what that looks like.

NTNU (humanities) required:

• A relevant master's degree including independent work equal to a master's thesis of at least 30 credits, in a course of study equivalent to a five-year Norwegian degree with 120 credits at master's level
• An average master's grade of B or better on NTNU's scale, or an equally good academic foundation
• Very good oral and written English
• A statement from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) if your education is foreign

Former PhD research fellows at NTNU and applicants who already hold an approved doctorate were not considered.

UiO (pharmacy) required a master's degree in a relevant field, with a foreign degree corresponding to at least four years in the Norwegian system. Its grade norm was C or better for bachelor's courses and B or better for master's courses and the thesis. Foreign applicants had to attach an official explanation of their university's grading system, and all documents had to be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Both adverts also screen candidates against export control rules, and UiO adds sanctions and national security regulations.

Where positions are advertised and how to apply

Norway's State Employees Act requires vacant state positions to be advertised publicly (§ 4) unless a law, regulation or collective agreement says otherwise, and NTNU states that its appointments follow that Act. Both NTNU and UiO took applications only through their recruitment system, Jobbnorge.no.

What you submit differs by university:

• NTNU asks for a project description on its own template, which it calls the most important element of the evaluation, plus a confirmation from your intended main supervisor. You must contact the relevant research group and find that supervisor well before the deadline. Diplomas, transcripts, a CV and two references complete the file.
• UiO asks for a cover letter of at most two pages, a CV, your master's thesis, transcripts and diplomas, a publication list, and two or three references.

Expect your application to be semi-public. NTNU publishes a list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence after the deadline. You can ask to be left off, but you must give a reason and the university decides.

Residence permit for non-EU/EEA fellows

UDI's rule is direct: if you are a researcher with an employer in Norway, you apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker. The skilled-worker requirements include:

• Completed higher education, or another qualifying skilled background
• A concrete job offer from one specific employer in Norway. If you apply from abroad, your employer must first confirm the offer and give you a code to enter in the application form
• A job that is normally full-time, though at least 80% is accepted
• Pay and working conditions no poorer than normal in Norway

The application fee for work permits is NOK 6,300 for applicants over 18, renewals included. For a job that requires a university degree, the permit is normally granted for up to three years at a time. You may enter Norway before a decision if you hold a visa or do not need one, but you may not start working until the permit is granted, unless the police confirm an early employment start.

No Norwegian employer? If you are funded by, say, a grant from your home country, the route is UDI's researcher with own funds permit. You need a master's degree, research at a Norwegian university, university college or institute, somewhere to live, and at least NOK 15,488 a month (NOK 170,368 a year) for the 2026/2027 academic year. It allows part-time work of 20 hours a week, costs NOK 5,400, and the time on it does not count towards permanent residence.

Bringing your family

For skilled workers with an employer in Norway, UDI says your family can usually apply to live with you, and if they apply at the same time as you, all applications are answered together. The first-time family immigration fee is NOK 11,900 for adults and NOK 5,950 for children under 18. Our family immigration guide covers the process.

Language

Both adverts ran in English and asked for good (UiO) or very good (NTNU) English. If you do not have Norwegian, Swedish or Danish at level A2 when you are hired, the university must offer free Norwegian training aimed at reaching at least A2 (§ 3-19). For courses outside work, see learning Norwegian as an expat.

After the PhD

• Looking for work: a researcher on a skilled-worker permit at a university, university college or research institute can apply for a job-seeker permit before the current permit expires. It lasts at most one year, lets you work full- or part-time while you look, including in jobs that do not need a skilled worker (but not as self-employed), and does not count towards permanent residence.
• Settling: UDI states that after three years on a skilled-worker permit you can apply for permanent residence.

For the wider picture of degree-level study in Norway, see our guide to Norwegian universities for international students.