1) A study plan is a form that must be filled out with supervisor's help and must be kept up to date.

What is it?

It is a form with the students primary study plan ! For instance, name of the supervisors, mentor, courses she/he should take, schools she/he will attend, possible date of graduation, number of meetings with supervisor, etc. Note that in some departments it is mandatory to send a copy of an updated study-plan to the director of graduate studies in the related department at the end of each year.

Where to get more information about this?

From the supervisor and the director of graduate studies in the related department.

2) It is mandatory in Sweden to gain at least 60 credits to be able to defend a PhD degree. How can a PhD student get these credits?

The main option is to pass some courses related to the research the student is doing (supervisor is the person who must be consult with in choosing useful courses for student's research). Another option can be participating in different summer or winter schools. In some departments there are another ways of gaining credits like attending special seminars or presenting a paper in journal club and etc.

Where to get more information?

About the courses? Department web-page or the student secretary at the department will help. For other sources of gaining the credits? The director of graduate studies in the related department has the information.

3) There are mandatory courses for PhD students in some departments, usually the student must pass these courses before his/her final defense.

Where to get more information about this?

From the student secretary at the department or the director of graduate studies in the related department.

4) In most departments it is mandatory to have a thesis committee. Who will be in the PhD thesis committee?

It usually consists of the student, his/her supervisor, a second supervisor, and a mentor but it can be different for different departments.

Were to get more information about this?

The supervisor or the director of graduate studies in the related department

5) In some countries (like Sweden) there is degree called licentiate that can be awarded to the PhD student.

In some departments it is mandatory, in some it is optional. In some departments student get credits for doing a licentiate. In this exam, students write a thesis about what she/he has been doing during her/his first half of PhD (first two years) and defend it in front ofn examiner committee.

Note that in some departments the student's salary will increase after doing licentiate. It is a very good practice for PhD student to be ready for his/her final defense.

Where to get more information about this?

Supervisor and the director of graduate studies in the related department.

6) There is also an activity called literature review

Which means that students reads a lot of papers related to her/his study in her/his first year and summarize them in a single document, in some department it is mandatory. It is also possible to get credit points to do literature review in some of the departments.

Where to get more information about this?

From the supervisor and the director of graduate studies in the related department.

7) In the end there are activities that are mandatory for PhD

Students ion some departments, for instance giving a talk once per year, writing a yearly report in the end of each year, having meeting with thesis committee regularly at least t wise a year, etc.

Where to get more information about this?

From the director of graduate studies in the related department.