The Library for PhD Candidates

The library offers a range of services and resources to support you throughout your PhD journey. Attend our courses, book a consultation whenever you need guidance, or make use of our study spaces when you need a change of scenery from your office.

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During your PhD, you will need to use Oria, the library catalogue, as well as the library’s databases. The librarian responsible for your faculty or department can help you get started with literature searching and guide you towards relevant resources.

You can also contact the library by email, and we will forward your enquiry to the appropriate person.

If you are off campus, you will need to use remote access in order to access digital resources.

Open research is about making knowledge produced through scientific research accessible to everyone. Making research results as open as possible facilitates greater collaboration and transparency, and supports reproducibility in disciplines where this is relevant. Read about open research at openscience.no.

Open Access Publishing

Open access publishing means making scholarly literature freely available online. Researchers at UiS are expected to publish openly, either by ensuring that their articles are freely accessible online or by uploading the final peer-reviewed manuscript to the Norwegian Open Research Archive (NVA). Read more about open access publishing on the library’s webpages.

Norwegian Research Information Repository (Nasjonalt vitenarkiv (NVA)

NVA collects publications and other research outputs and makes them openly available through a shared national repository. Please remember that you are responsible for registering your own publications in NVA. Once you complete your PhD, your thesis must also be made available in NVA.

Research Data Management

Have you started thinking about how you will collect data for your doctoral research?

  • Creating a data management plan can help you organise how research data will be handled throughout your project, from data collection to long-term storage and possible sharing after the project has ended. All publicly funded research projects, including those funded by the Research Council of Norway, are required to have a data management plan.
  • Will your project involve personal data? If so, it is important to ensure that participants are properly informed and that you obtain any necessary permissions, especially if you plan to share your data later on.
  • As your project approaches completion, or when you begin publishing results based on your research, you should also consider how to make your data as open as possible and as closed as necessary.
  • Read more about research data management on the library’s webpages on open access publishing, and contact the library’s Open Research team if you would like assistance with creating a data management plan or advice on sharing your research data.

If you would like individual guidance in academic writing or wish to join a writing group to help maintain your writing momentum, you are welcome to contact our writing advisers.

Relevant writing courses for PhD candidates.

Zotero and EndNote are reference management tools that help you organise and manage your sources. We recommend that you start using one of these early in your PhD journey.

  • NVivo is useful for researchers working with large amounts of qualitative data.
  • Rayyan allows you to screen and review references for literature reviews quickly and efficiently.
  • LaTeX is an alternative to Word. Unlike Word, LaTeX is code-based, meaning that you write commands which are then compiled into a finished PDF document.

“PhD Complete – Skills to Finalise Your Thesis” is a course programme for PhD candidates at UiS, designed to provide better support throughout the PhD journey.

The PhD Complete programme is conducted in English and consists of workshops covering topics such as:

  • Planning your PhD journey
  • Academic writing
  • Research communication

The library also offers courses in Zotero, Rayyan, and NVivo. You can find all upcoming course dates in our course calendar.

The library hosts a wide range of events each semester, all free of charge and open to everyone.

For example, our monthly Researcher Breakfast offers an opportunity to start the day with both breakfast and academic inspiration.

Join our academic and social events.

At the library on Campus Ullandhaug, you will find a wide range of study and workspaces available to all students and researchers. Use the electronic campus map to find your way. The library is located in Kjølv Egelands hus.

The Study Workshop is located on the lower level of the Ullandhaug library.

Downstairs, you will also find a silent reading room for those who prefer a quiet working environment. The Data Lab is located on the second floor and may be used freely whenever the room is available.

You can also make use of study and workspaces at our branch libraries in Bjergsted and at the Archaeological Museum.

You are also warmly welcome to play chess at the library chess table, enjoy board games, read newspapers, explore the 3D lab, or borrow a blanket while studying.

Classes and events in the library

Workshop: How to use AI for learning and writing

Mon. 14.09.2026

14:15-15:15

Universitetsbiblioteket
Ullandhaug

Concert: "We Are Women"

Thu. 17.09.2026

10:30-11:00

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Love is Blind with Katherine Angel

Thu. 17.09.2026

11:00-11:45

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Shut up and read: Study with us

Mon. 21.09.2026

09:00-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Find good sources: Literature search for TN students

Tue. 22.09.2026

09:15-11:00

Dataverkstedet
Ullandhaug

Shut up & write for PhDs

Wed. 23.09.2026

09:00-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Find good sources: Literature search for TN students

Thu. 24.09.2026

12:15-14:00

Teams

Introduction to Open Science and Research Data Management Planning

Tue. 29.09.2026

09:00-11:00

Teams

Shut up and read: Study with us

Wed. 30.09.2026

09:00-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Researcher Breakfast: From Ancient Artifacts to Future Materials

Thu. 01.10.2026

09:00-10:00

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Shut up and read: Study with us

Mon. 05.10.2026

09:00-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Shut up & write for PhDs

Wed. 07.10.2026

09:00-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Language café in the library

Wed. 07.10.2026

15:30-17:00

University library

Data protection and IT Security in Research data management

Thu. 08.10.2026

09:00-11:00

Teams

Fundamentals of Academic Writing I: Style and Structure

Tue. 13.10.2026

09:15-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug
Språk: engelsk

PhD Complete Career Workshop

Tue. 13.10.2026

09:30-15:30

Hulda Garborgshus
R-356

Shut up and read: Study with us

Wed. 14.10.2026

09:00-11:30

Universitetsbiblioteket, Ullandhaug

Språkkafé/Language café in the library

Wed. 14.10.2026

15:30-17:00

University library

Need help?

Visit us at the service desk, send us an email, or call us on +47 51 83 11 00, and we will do our best to assist you.

For questions about open research and research data management, please contact: datahandtering@uis.no

For questions about publishing: nva@uis.no

For questions about academic writing: sol@uis.no

Would you like guidance or support? You can book a consultation by filling out our contact form.

Useful resources

PhD on track

PhD on track
The library’s Canvas pages

The library’s Canvas pages
For PhD Candidates: Tools and guidance

For PhD Candidates: Tools and guidance
Regulations and forms related to PhD education

Regulations and forms related to PhD education

University Library lending regulations

Everything you need to know about loans.

Library remote access

Get access to e-books, e-articles and databases that the Stavanger University Library provides anywhere, anytime!

Classes from the library

The library offers classes that helps you with academic writing and reference management. We offer open classes for stud...

About Rayyan

Rayyan is a free, web-based tool that lets you screen your references for systematic reviews or other large literature r...

About NVivo

Overwhelmed by large amounts of non-numerical data? NVivo is a great tool if you need to sort through qualitative data s...

About Tableau

Tableau allows you to quickly make large and unmanageable data into easy-to-read overviews. You can convert data into ch...

The library helps you with your writing

Need help with academic writing? Book guidance with student mentors at Stavanger University Library.

Citations and source evaluation

How and why do I cite? Which citation style should i choose? What should my citation look like, and is my bibliography c...

ORCID – get a unique researcher-ID

Have you as a researcher been asked to enter ORCID? This page helps you find out what it is and why you should use it.

Bibliometrics from the library

The library can help you with bibliometric analysis. Bibliometrics are ideal for analysing and evaluating scientific pro...

About Zotero

Zotero is a free and user-friendly program that creates references and bibliographies for you. Zotero collects and keeps...

About EndNote

EndNote is a program offered to you as a UiS student or employee. EndNote helps you insert references while you write an...

LaTeX – an alternative to Word

: Unlike Word, LaTeX is code-based, meaning that you write commands in an editor which allows you to compile into a PDF-...

Search for scientific literature in Oria

The library provides access to the academic literature you need.

The 3D-lab at Stavanger University Library

Would you like to learn more about 3D-printing? Get an introduction and access to the 3D-lab at the University Library!

Research data and Data Management Plans

Stavanger University Library offers guidance on how to make and store publicly available research data, and how to creat...

Open Access publishing

The library can help you with Open Access publishing. Publishing Open Access means that your research is open and availa...

Events at the University Library

Stavanger University Library invites you to over 80 academic and social events each year, both in Norwegian and English....

Bolk and copying curriculum

Curriculum and other necessary learning material in the form of book excerpts has to be registered for clearance in Bolk...

The Data Lab

The Data Lab offers classes in software to help you with reference management, and with analysis and visualizing of data...

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