Doctoral education pilot
We are hiring 178 new doctoral researchers - get your doctorate from Aalto
Good supervision allows the doctoral students to complete their studies and the associated research within the time specified in their Doctoral personal study plan. Defining a shared set of university-level principles for the supervision of doctoral students furthers the equal treatment of all students.
The doctoral programme committees monitor and develop the school-level practices of supervising doctoral students in line with the university policy. The supervision principles are defined in a manner that does not regulate supervision in too much detail but allows individual needs to be considered in each guidance case.
We are hiring 178 new doctoral researchers - get your doctorate from Aalto
Supervision plan, roles and responsibilities, changes of supervision arrangements, research fields and supervising professors at Aalto University, other information and instructions
If you have a double role as both the supervisor and the supervising professor / thesis advisor of a doctoral student, please see the information below.
UNIPS (University Pedagogical Support) “Being a thesis supervisor” module (external link)
Aalto Pedagogical training Doctoral supervision (3 ECTS)
More information on UNIPS online courses
Findocnet.fi (Transferable skills study opportunities, external link)
Recommendations for doctoral thesis supervision by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) and Universities Finland UNIFI (external link)
When you are contacted by potential applicants and they ask about general information regarding appying, you can direct them to your School's doctoral education services. We also have the following general information pages for applicants:
New doctoral students are accepted to the Aalto Doctoral Programme in Arts, Design and Architecture only once a year, with the application period in March for studies starting in September. Application is competitive, typically only about 25%-30% of the applicants are selected.
Exception: If the Department receives external funding for doctoral candidate's position, it is possible to handle their applications to the doctoral programme in continuous application. In such cases the Head of the Department and the Planning Officer for the doctoral programme must be contacted well in advance before the Open position call is published. In such case the applicants first apply for the open position and only the selected applicant applies for the study right in the doctoral programme in the continuous application.
All emails from applicants / prospective applicants with questions related to eligibility or instructions for applying should be forwarded to [email protected] to be answered.
If the applicant is asking if a certain professor could act as their supervising professor, we cannot give promises outside the actual application, but professors can give their opinion about whether or not they would be suitable supervising professor for that particular research topic. It is recommended to let the Head of Research know about such applicants as well.
Link to instructions for the applicant
The Doctoral Programme is mostly structured so that is beneficial for the doctoral students to be present in the Helsinki region. We encourage doctoral students to spend as much of their study time as possible in the Helsinki region, to be able to connect to the Department's research community and complete the required courses.
Department can host a limited number of visiting researchers per semester, depending on the overall situation of the department. All visitors must have a confirmation from a host professor before applying. Visiting Researcher should have preferably secured funding for the duration of the visit before applying for this position. Visiting Researcher is expected to undertake research and publication in collaboration with Department's personnel and independent research.
More information at Workday
All emails from applicants / prospective applicants with questions related to eligibility or instructions for applying should be forwarded to [email protected] to be answered.
All emails from applicants / prospective applicants with questions related to eligibility or instructions for applying should be forwarded to [email protected] to be answered.
All emails from applicants / prospective applicants with questions related to eligibility or instructions for applying should be forwarded to [email protected] to be answered.
A visiting international doctoral student might be eligible for an exchange student study right at Aalto. The study right can only be awarded if the student
The maximum duration of the exchange study right is one year. For more information and instructions, please contact [email protected].
All emails from applicants / prospective applicants with questions related to eligibility or instructions for applying should be forwarded to the Learning Services of the Doctoral Programme in Engineering to be answered.
Link to instuctions for the applicant
All emails from applicants / prospective applicants with questions related to eligibility or instructions for applying should be forwarded to [email protected] to be answered.
Link to instuctions for the applicant
It is possible for professors to get a fixed term double affiliation in a partner school at Aalto. The purpose of the double affiliation is to establish research collaboration between schools and to have a double affiliation when applying for funding.
When a professor has acquired the double affiliation agreement with a partner school from Aalto, the research collaboration can also include supervision of doctoral students in the partner school.
A professor may become the only supervising professor of a doctoral student in the partner school if:
Please note:
SCI Doctoral Programme Committee 13 June 2017, updated 20.3.2018
Research collaboration may include collaboration on supervising doctoral students. There are 3 different types of collaboration in supervision of doctoral students:
The doctoral personal study plan (DPSP) is a tool for discussing about your doctoral students' plans and agreeing about the framework for their thesis work and your supervisory relationship.
DPSP has 5 parts:
All doctoral students must have a DPSP and update it when necessary. Supervising professor's responsibility is to yearly follow their students' implementation of all the parts of the DPSP (according to Degree regulations on doctoral education), but keeping up-to-date with the plans of the student more often is recommended.
Supervising professors must confirm their student's DPSP at the start of the studies. After that, they should confirm the DPSP e.g.
DPSP is collected and stored in the Student Success Hub (interface for faculty) / MyStudies (interface for students).
Student Success Hub for Aalto faculty is used online at https://aalto.my.salesforce.com
The doctoral degree at Aalto University consists of 3 modules:
The study modules 'General research studies' and 'Research field studies' comprise altogether 40 or 60 ECTS (40 ECTS in the fields of art and design & technology, 60 ECTS in the field of business). The scope and content of each of the study modules are described in the curriculum of the doctoral programme. Credit points are not awarded for the doctoral thesis.
Please check curriculum requirements of your doctoral programme before confirming any DPSPs.
You can advise your doctoral student to find courses from
Teaching doctoral students follow the same principles as all other teaching leading towards a degree offered by Aalto University: it is planned and offered in the 2-year curriculum planning cycle, following the University's guidelines and schedules.
Each doctoral programme has its own curriculum, which consists of the degree requirements and course descriptions approved by the Academic Committee of the School, and which follows the degree structure presented above.
Courses aimed for doctoral students bear the letter 'L' in their course code. Often Master’s level courses bearing the letter ‘E’ in their course code are also planned so that they can be included in doctoral studies.
If you are interested in offering a course for doctoral students in your School, contact the planning officer of your School and note the 2-year planning cycle.
In addition to the courses taught at Aalto University, doctoral studies often include independently completed individual studies, e.g. conference presentations, summer schools, publications (not included in the thesis), literature reviews, etc. The supervising professor and the doctoral student agree about the inclusion of these type of studies and about their completion in the Doctoral personal study plan (credit plan) before hand. After the student has completed the studies and given a report, the supervising professor evaluates the studies and grants the credits for them.
As part of the curriculum 2024-2026, course descriptions and codes have been created for the most typical independently completed individual studies in each doctoral programme. The course descriptions provide more information on the types of activity that can be credited and how many credits can be granted. The grading is always pass/fail. You can find the course descriptions in Sisu with the course code. Each School has their own codes and course descriptions, which might be slightly different from each other.
The curriculum of the doctoral programme dictates what kind of individual studies can be credited and how many of these credits can be placed in each study module of the degree (General research studies and Research field studies). Here is a list of the type of activities that can be credited through the independently completed individual study courses - note that all of them are not available in all Schools:
XXX-L2010 Presenting research at a conference I D
XXX-L2020 Academic advising I D
XXX-L2030 Teaching at higher education I D
XXX-L2040 University practices I D
XXX-L2050 Reviewing a scientific manuscript I D
XXX-L2060 Literature I D
XXX-L2070 Publishing research I
XXX-L2080 Summer or Winter Schools I D
XXX-L2090 Art production I D
(XXX represents the School code, e.g. ARTS or SCI)
Full list of individual study courses and codes in each School (aalto.fi)
Doctoral students will present to their supervising professor a filled-out form and any possible additional report of the completed activity (e.g. their presentation, literature review or written/oral report). Reporting can also happen in the form of a book exam or other form of assessment.
Other independently completed individual studies
Supervising professors can also grant credits for students following the old system, if the student has started their studies before 1 August 2024, or if there is a need to give credits beyond the course codes (as long as it is not restricted by the curriculum of the doctoral programme).
In this case, the same form is used, but the student submits the form differently in Sisu and the study attainment will have a different kind of code created automatically by Sisu.
It is responsibility of the supervising professor to
After the pre-examiners have been appointed in Doctoral Programme Committee meeting, the Doctoral programme's Doctoral education services (in BIZ, Department's secretary) will send them further instructions and the manuscript.
When the statements have arrived the Doctoral Programme sends them to the doctoral student and the supervising professor.
It is responsibility of the supervising professor to make sure that the doctoral student makes all the necessary corrections to the thesis manuscript that have come up as a result of the pre-examination process.
The Doctoral Programme Committee grants the permission for public defence (i.e. permission for publishing the dissertation and to proceed to the defence). The opponent can be appointed directly after the pre-examination stage, if all the needed details are available.
After the pre-examiners have been appointed in Doctoral Programme Committee meeting, the Doctoral programme's Doctoral education services (in BIZ, Department's secretary) will send them the manuscript with further instructions. The instructions linked below can also be used to explain the responsibilities of a pre-examiner to potential examiners.
ARTS instructions
BIZ instructions
CHEM instructions
ELEC instructions
ENG instructions
SCI instructions
The supervising professor is responsible for proposing two independent preliminary examiners (pre-examiners) for the pre-examination and at a later stage one or two opponents for the defence. The supervising professor makes the proposal but may ask the thesis advisor(s) for suggestions for pre-examiners and opponent(s). The doctoral student cannot take part in making the proposal for the pre-examiners and opponent(s), but if they disagree (e.g. in case of bias), they can submit an official written response for the Doctoral programme committee before the pre-examiners / opponet(s) are appointed.
Note: Before making the proposal to the Doctoral Programme Committee, the supervising professor must contact the examiners and check that they are willing to examine the thesis within the given time.
The qualifications and suitability should be shown by presenting the pre-examiners’ and opponents’ CVs and lists of publications or an equivalent clarification (e.g. web links to the examiners’ home pages).
Supervising professor fills out the information on the Pre-examination application (306) form and gives the CVs and publication lists to the doctoral student to be attached to their online pre-examination request.
In addition the supervising professor may use the form Grounds for proposed pre-examiners/opponents (mandatory in BIZ & ELEC).
Supervising professor fills out the information on the Opponent proposal (307) form, including opponent's CV and publication list.
In addition the supervising professor may use the form Grounds for proposed pre-examiners/opponents (mandatory in ELEC).
The pre-examiners and opponents are to present their own, independent, expert and impartial evaluation of the doctoral thesis and thus they cannot:
Please also see Aalto University's general guidance on objectivity and impartiality (aalto.fi) and school-specific guidelines below.
The pre-examinerscannot
The pre-examiners cannot
For more questions, please contact the CHEM Doctoral Programme Committee.
The pre-examiners and opponents cannot
The supervising professor should strive to find experts from all over the world and thus it is recommended that at least one of the examiners is working outside Finland.
The pre-examiners cannot have co-authored research papers with the doctoral student or collaborated with in research in the past five years.
The pre-examiners cannot have had significant collaboration, such as co-authored publications with the supervising professor or advisor of the student, especially during the previous five years.
This selection of supervision practices at Aalto University is meant to serve as a tool for peer-learning, providing practical tips and illustrating experiences on doctoral supervision from the ground.
Operating within the Water & Development Group, Majakka focuses on co-creating doctoral
education and water research. Its aim is to make doctoral education increasingly systematic and better supervised, and thus to enhance its role in and for the society. The main goals of Majakka was to create a systematic model to support practices and supervision on doctoral education and research collaboration.
Key factors:
Key benefits:
Interaction | Transparency | Diversity | Peer Support | Mindset | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Students and Supervising professors & Thesis Advisors | Actively search and engage with key beneficiaries and practitioners to increase the value and impact of your research and to support decision-making (student). Be aware of interdependency risks when researchers closely collaborate with others using data or method development (student, supervisor). | Agree on expectations and structures for continuous two-way feedback focusing on encouragement and support (student, supervisor). | Acknowledge that individuals with different backgrounds have different expectations and needs (supervisor). Organize supervision in diverse teams of advisors and mentors (supervisor). | Acknowledge that risk-taking and the associated failure is intrinsic to academic work in order to prepare students for journal and grant rejection, or sudden unreliable sample results (supervisor). | Actively communicate your ideas, make bold decisions, and enjoy life-long learning (student). Recruit individuals with a curious and proactive attitude to learn (supervisor). |
Research Group | Organize regular events to bring all staff together. Create structures to match similarities and diversity: people with a common denominator, e.g., method or stage of the thesis; Rookies or Synthesis writing clubs. Use co-creation and feedback tools, e.g., journey mapping, for systematic reflection on ways of working. | Plan and share responsibilities to support development of leadership and management skills of all team members, including doctoral students and postdocs. | Make use of group members’ diverse networks and integrate doctoral students into them. Build cohesiveness in diverse teams by identifying shared interests and organizing joint activities. | Create a sense of belongingness via virtual and physical spaces for working and collaboration, e.g., shared offices. Establish peer groups for sharing experiences, increasing accountability, and developing together. | Lead by example and promote multi- and interdisciplinary collaboration to make use of diverse skills sets, facilitate learning, and reduce competition. |
Industry and Practitioners | Create easy beginnings for collaboration: practice-oriented events, mentorships, small pilot projects, workshops, hackathons, end-user analysis, and jointly funded PhD projects. Participate in special courses; encourage employees to strengthen their alumni relations. | Highlight the practical relevance and limitations of research and innovations throughout the project duration. | Strive for diverse and multidisciplinary stakeholder representation in boards or associations. Organize or attend seminars and workshops for academics to create shared understanding. | Communicate the practical importance of the work and help with diversifying the network. Help the researchers to identify the key beneficiaries and end-users of the research and jointly communicate the research outputs. | Acknowledge the competence of and employ PhDs to senior positions early in their career. Invest in jointly-advised industrial PhDs to strengthen the university-industry collaboration. |
Read more about Majakka: Making Waves: Joining forces for better doctoral education in
water research
For any questions regarding Majakka, please contact Postdoctoral researcher Maija Taka
([email protected])
The President has appointed the Aalto University Doctoral Education Working Group, which develops the university’s doctoral education, discusses the mutual issues on doctoral education and prepares the university guidelines.
Information on how doctoral education is lead and organised and links to related regulations
We support doctoral students, supervising professors, thesis advisors and doctoral programme directors in matters related to doctoral studies.
Index of all aalto.fi pages about doctoral education