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Illness - non-AU employed PhD students

This guide is for PhD students, who do not have an MSc i.e. 3+5/4+4 completing part A.

In order to be able to possibly extend your enrolment, please notify your supervisor and the Graduate School in connection with long term illness. Find your contact person regarding illness at the Graduate School here.

Please also note that you must have been either full time or part time ill for a minimum of thirty consecutive days altogether before the Graduate School, after an individual special assessment, can grant an extension of study period.

As a PhD student who does not have an MSc, you can get an extension of up to four months with PhD SU scholarship (in Danish this is called “ph.d.-SU-stipendium”) due to illness for twelve consecutive months. Please note that an extension can only be granted for whole months, and not weeks or days.

How should I report sick leave?

If you are ill for more than twenty days, you should report your sick leave via e-mail to the PhD partner responsible for sick leave (find your contact person regarding illness here), with Cc to your main supervisor and Department.

The e-mail should include information about your first day of sick leave., and – if possible – how long you expect to be on sick leave.

Interview in connection with sick leave

You will be invited to an interview no later than four weeks after the first day of your sick leave, and the interview should be held before the end of the fifth week of sick leave. During the interview, a certificate of fitness for work (PDF file in Danish only) is drawn up, and the following points should be dealt with in this connection:

  • Expected duration of absence due to illness
  • Any consideration that should be taken so you can return to work
  • Review of your PhD plan
  • Setting a time for a follow-up meeting (this date is typically either around the final date for sick leave as determined by the doctor or before the end of the eighth week of sick leave)
  • Minutes will be taken from the interviews and submitted to the contact person responsible for sick leave at the Graduate School as documentation


Your main supervisor often holds the interview in connection with sick leave. However, the contact person responsible for sick leave can hold the interview or assist at the meeting, and you can also request a companion or observer to attend if you so wish. Follow-up meetings will be held at suitable intervals.

Please note that once your doctor has certified the certificate of fitness for work (PDF file in Danish only) you are responsible for sending it to the Graduate School as soon as possible after your interview, as the Graduate School needs to use it in connection with drawing up a case report.

Fitness for duty report

When you are well again, you must report this by sending an e-mail including the final date of illness to your contact person responsible for sick leave, with a Cc to your main supervisor and Department. After an individual and specific evaluation the Graduate School will subsequently prepare and send a letter to you regarding an extension of study period and containing a new completion date and a new date for the qualifying examination.


Psychological help

All PhD students at Aarhus University are entitled to psychological help for up to five hours. Please note, however, that Aarhus University has a contract with Dansk Krisekorps. This means that you are referred to Dansk Krisekorps and are unable to personally choose another psychologist. To get a referral, you should contact the PhD partner responsible for sick leave. Dansk Krisekorps will then contact you within 24 hours to identify the problem.

Dansk Krisekorps can provide psychological counselling in connection with stress, working relationships or similar matters that have an influence on your work.

Work and residence permit for international PhD students

Please note that it might be necessary to apply for an extension of your work and residence permit if you take long-term sick leave and are granted an extension of your study period. You should therefore check the expiry date of your work and residence permit, and contact the Graduate School, if you need help in applying for an extension of your work and residence permit.

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