Positions within MF/DSA [CLOSED]
DSA Chairperson and DSA Vice-Chairperson
As the DSA Presidium, you are the reference person for the KI doctoral student community. During the time period of your appointment, you will be in contact with KI leadership, the Presidium of the Student Union (MF) and with other external associations and organisations.
You are responsible for coordinating the work of the DSA board, chair the meetings, support the board members and supervise the working groups.
It’s a rewarding job, since you have the possibility to meet and interact with many people, understand the internal organization of KI and MF at depth, and represent more than 2000 doctoral students. The tasks of this position can easily be accomplished without a prior knowledge of Swedish, however, knowing Swedish can be useful. The position requires the candidate to have previous experience with how the DSA board works. It is suggested to have a spirit of initiative and the ability to relate and communicate with people in leading positions.
As the DSA Chairperson, you will have weekly or monthly meetings with the doctoral education committee and KI leadership during working hours, evening meetings for some of the student union’s committees and handling a large volume of email correspondence. Although, it can sound like a lot of work, the position has many benefits. It allows you to deeply increase your scientific and personal network, while also powering-up your soft skills and resumé.
The Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson work in collaboration with each other to complete the needed tasks at hand. They attend many of the meetings together, while some are delegated amongst themselves.
DSA Secretary
The DSA Secretary’s main job is to schedule, organize and announce the DSA board meetings, to prepare the meeting’s agenda, and to write and properly archive the board meeting minutes. In other words, together with the rest of the managerial team, the Secretary keeps our board meetings running smoothly.
There is no Swedish requirement, as the DSA board meetings are in English. So, if you have good organizational skills, or if you want to improve your typing speed (joking! 😛 ), then you would be a great DSA Secretary!
Additionally, the Secretary works as part of the managerial team and as an ordinary DSA board member. If you are curious about the Secretary duties in general, feel free to contact the current Secretary (Gabriele Girelli) at this email: [email protected]
DSA Treasurer
The DSA treasurer is the accountant of the DSA and has the task to overview the expenses of the association. Each year the DSA board receives a certain budget for events and activities dedicated to PhD students. It is the treasurer’s job to manage the budget in a wise and efficient manner and to keep the finances up to date, as well as making sure that everything gets paid on time.
There is no Swedish or finance background requirement, but it is definitely a fun position to have as you get a small insight into finances and keep in touch with all DSA work groups to hear about their activity and budget plans.
In addition, the treasurer is an ordinary board member, but has also the pleasure to be part of the managerial team that organises the board meetings and takes part in election decisions.
DSA Board Member
The DSA board, consists of the Presidium, Secretary, Treasurer and another 7 ordinary members. It is the main decision-making body of the Doctoral Students’ Association. It is responsible for organising social and scientific events for the doctoral student community at KI, taking care of the doctoral education and welfare needs, and maintaining a dialogue with the KI doctoral education leadership. Moreover, the board is responsible for electing and coordinating the work of central and local doctoral student representatives. This workload is divided amongst the workgroups, that focus on specific aspects of PhD life at KI. The board has its own budget that can be used to organise activities for doctoral students at KI.
As members of the DSA Board, you are required to attend monthly board meetings and actively engaged with one or more of the working groups. No prior knowledge in Swedish is required and people without previous experience are always welcome: the board is often composed of experienced members and newcomers, to guarantee a good working balance of the board for years to come.
Being a DSA board member will give you the possibility to increase some soft skills (managerial, team working, leadership) and to add many more people to your scientific and personal network.
DSA Standard Bearer
The Standard Bearer is an honorary position at the DSA. The standard bearer gets to represent the doctoral students of KI at academic celebrations, such as the graduation ceremony (once per semester) and at the celebration of “Valborgsmässoafton” at Skansen. During some years, they can also be invited to the Nobel Prize banquet, together with the MF Standard Bearer. You will get to dress up for white tie events and carry the DSA Standard!
DSA Representative at the MF Union Council (FuM)
FuM is the highest decision-body of the Medicinska Föreningen (MF), the biggest student union at KI.
The DSA, as one of the 12 sections of MF, has the right to have 1 or 2 representatives each year and 1 or 2 substitutes to voice their views in matters related to the doctoral student community. At the FuM, essentials decision related to the functioning of the DSA board are made, such as the budget, the approval of the DSA statutes, the annual plan and any changes to the MF bylaws. Moreover, the FuM is responsible for electing student representatives to many of the central positions, where having a doctoral student is many a times crucial. The FuM is composed of representatives of all the other undergraduate MF student sections and members elected from the uninominal election from the KI student community. Although, a majority of the discussions will be held in English, many documents will be in Swedish. Also, the substitutes must attend the meetings or justify their absence, but they have the right to vote only when the formal member is absent. The FuM meets around 3 times every semester. You can find out more information about the FuM over here!
MF Board
The MF board is the executive body of the student union and is chaired by the MF President. The members of the board are elected yearly by the FuM. It meets every other week and language of discussion and documentations is in Swedish. It is responsible for all administrative and financial matters of the MF and prepare the propositions to be decided by the FuM. It would be important to have doctoral students in MF board to support decisions and issues in favour of the KI doctoral student community. You can find out more information about the MF board over here!
For all the above positions, please, contact us at [email protected] if you have any other unanswered questions or related queries.
The DSA nomination committee will review all applications and the annual general meeting will elect suitable candidates. If elected, your position starts January 2021 and you will hold it till the end of the year.
Deadline: October 16th
