Step-by-step guide for KTH Field Studies

1. Make sure that you fulfill the eligibility requirements

You can find the eligibility requirements on KTH Field Studies' main page .

2. Investigate the requirements for how to conduct the field studies

To receive an FS travel grant or MFS scholarship, you must fulfill some requirements regarding the implementation of the field study.

• The field study has to result in a degree project in English at the bachelor's or master's level (15 or 30 ECTS credits). The study can be done by one person or two or more persons together. 
• When applying, you need to have a clear and realistic project idea in the form of a project plan.
• Since the FS project will lead to a degree project, your supervisor or examiner at KTH needs to confirm that the study can lead to a degree project at KTH.
• You must have a contact person in the host country.
• The study needs to be conducted in one of the approved countries (for FS see the OECD DAC list , for MFS see the SIDA list of countries with which Sweden conducts development cooperation (pdf 274 kB) ).
• The stay abroad needs to be at least eight consecutive weeks long, which equals at least 56 days. Your field study stay can be a maximum of 20 weeks long.  
• The project needs to fulfill the degree project requirements within your programme and be related to the Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030, and justice. 

3. Start thinking about project ideas, and begin working on the project plan

You need to develop a project idea on your own in cooperation with your supervisor at KTH and the contact person in the host country. The project needs to be described in a 2-4 page project plan in English. The project plan needs to include a background, purpose, description of the subject in question (and the connection to the SDGs), method and implementation, timetable, reference list, and budget.

Template for project plan, Field Studies

4. Find a supervisor at KTH

The supervisor at KTH is academically responsible for your degree project.

5. Find a contact person in the host country

Find a contact person in the host country, for example, through your contacts, your supervisor, or the Regional Advisors at KTH. It usually takes some time to find a contact person in the host country, so we advise you to start searching for a contact person well before the FS application deadline. The contact person can represent or be employed at a university, an organization, or a company in the host country and does not need to be academically connected to the project. You are responsible for initiating a dialogue with the contact person before the application and field studies and for informing them about what the assignment means.

You can use this introduction to Field Studies (pdf 417 kB)  when you have your initial contact with a potential contact person. 

6. Certificate of Global Competence

Take your FS to the next level by taking the Intercultural Competence course before your field study and the Global Competence course after. When you receive your degree, a Certificate of Global Competence, a quality stamp, and proof that you are prepared for today's international working life are attached.

Certificate of global competence

7. Make an application and await the selection results

The application is done in two steps - first, you need to fill in the application form. Thereafter, you will receive an automatically generated e-mail with instructions for part two of the application, where you need to upload the required documentation. 

If you are two or more students applying together, you still need to make one application each. In the application, you can however state that you are applying together (there is a question about this in the application form). You can upload the same project plan and certificates if these involve both of you/all of you who are applying together.

8. Participate in the preparatory workshop

Before you travel, you must participate in a mandatory workshop at KTH to prepare for the field studies.

9. After your field studies

• The field study must result in a report (a degree project) and a travel report. The report has to be approved by your supervisor and examiner at KTH. KTH has the right to dispose of the report freely.
• After returning home, you need to write a travel report about your field studies as a way to inform future FS students about field studies. Upload the travel report to KTH's application portal Mobility Online. Your travel report will thereafter be uploaded to the FS website. 
• Students who have received the MFS scholarship also need to send in boarding cards for the trip to and from the field study destination, fill in a participant report, and upload your degree project to the MFS portal. 
• We also ask homecoming FS students to make a poster  about the field studies that we can use when informing about FS. 
• We also need help from previous FS students when informing about FS on various occasions such as information sessions, KTH Global, etc.

Note that if you do not report the study according to the degree project rules at KTH and the rules for the travel grant or scholarship, KTH may reclaim the FS travel grant/MFS scholarship.