Active
An executive doctoral school at the University of Gothenburg training collaborative PhD candidates from public sector organizations to advance research-based knowledge and leadership capacity in public sector digital transformation.
2022
Forskarskolan Digital Förvaltning is an executive doctoral school initiated by SCDI at the University of Gothenburg in 2022, operating within the framework of Forskningskonsortiet Digital Förvaltning. The school responds to the existential challenges facing the Swedish public sector — demographic shifts, competence shortages, and the mounting pressure to deliver meaningful digital transformation. Rather than training traditional full-time PhD students, the school admits collaborative doctoral candidates (samverkansdoktorander): experienced practitioners from municipalities, regions, and government agencies who pursue doctoral education while remaining employed in their organizations, dedicating at least 50% of their working time to research. The school’s dual purpose is to scale the research impact of the Digital Government Research Consortium directly into public sector practice, and to build a new generation of research-grounded leaders capable of driving purposeful digitalization from within. Thirteen doctoral candidates were admitted in the inaugural cohort. The school has already produced its first graduates, with doctoral theses on topics including digital strategies in public sector, technical debt and digital legacy, and inter-organizational digital transformation.
Executive doctoral school, collaborative doctoral candidates, samverkansdoktorander, public sector digitalization, digital transformation, digital maturity, competence supply, research-practice integration, leadership development, IT governance
The Swedish public sector faces a structural competence crisis in digital transformation. Existing leadership and management approaches were not designed for the pace and complexity of digital change, and there is a significant gap between the volume of research produced on public sector digitalization and its actual uptake in practice. At the same time, universities struggle to produce researchers with genuine insight into the organizational realities of public administration. The executive doctoral school addresses all three gaps simultaneously: competence supply, research-practice integration, and leadership development.
Doctoral candidates are admitted as a cohort, enabling peer support and cross-organizational learning. Each candidate is supported by a dedicated supervisory team drawn from SCDI faculty and, where appropriate, internationally recognized external experts. Candidates conduct research primarily within or closely connected to their own organizations, creating direct feedback loops between knowledge production and practice. Alongside obligatory doctoral courses, candidates publish peer-reviewed articles, present at scientific conferences, and disseminate findings to both their own organizations and broader public sector audiences. The model is explicitly designed to create synergies between research activity and the candidate's professional role, rather than treating them as competing demands.
The inaugural cohort of 13 candidates was admitted in September 2022. The school has produced its first doctoral graduates: Kristian Norling (2024, thesis on digital strategies and consensus-building in public sector), Per Persson (2026, thesis on technical debt and organizational maneuverability), and Marcus Matteby (2026, thesis on inter-organizational digital transformation). Research outputs from doctoral candidates have been published in leading journals including Government Information Quarterly, Transforming Government, and Emerald's public sector IS outlets, as well as presented at EGOV, dg.o, and other leading international conferences.
The school directly strengthens the research capacity of participating public sector organizations, builds a cohort of research-literate senior practitioners across Swedish public administration, and scales the knowledge produced at Forskningskonsortiet Digital Förvaltning into real organizational change. The doctoral model also serves as a template for FORUM Totalförsvar, which is extending the same approach to the total defense and crisis preparedness domain.
Contact our team to learn more or explore collaboration opportunities.
