Research in Co-production

For doctoral students within the Knowledge Foundation’s Jubilee Doctoral Student initiative

How can research be conducted in close collaboration with external partners while maintaining high scientific quality? This doctoral course addresses a key challenge in contemporary research: integrating academic rigor with societal relevance through co-production.

The course provides doctoral students with advanced knowledge and practical tools to analyse, design, and conduct research processes in collaboration between academia and external actors. It focuses on how research questions, methods, and knowledge are developed in dialogue, as well as how to manage challenges such as conflicting interests, knowledge integration, and long-term collaboration.

The course covers:

• theories and models of co-production in research
• design of collaborative research processes
• the relationship between scientific quality and societal impact
• methodological, organizational, and ethical challenges
• co-production in relation to innovation and implementation

The course (7.5 credits) is integrated with recurring national networking meetings within the Jubilee Doctoral Student initiative. These meetings form a central learning environment where doctoral students engage with researchers and external partners and analyse real-world cases of co-production. The pedagogy is experience-based and reflective, closely linked to participants’ own doctoral projects.

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

• analyse co-production processes from methodological and organizational perspectives
• design research processes that integrate co-production
• critically reflect on scientific quality, societal relevance, and the researcher’s role

Assessment consists of:

• active participation in networking meetings
• an individual written reflective assignment linked to the doctoral project

The course is open to doctoral students from different disciplines who conduct or plan to conduct research in collaboration with external stakeholders.

Call for applications

Doctoral students within the Jubilee Doctoral Student initiative are invited to apply. The course offers a unique opportunity to develop competencies in co-production research while building a national research network.