The University of Turku continues its commitment to promoting high-quality doctoral training by opening up a call for applications for approximately fifty fixed-term doctoral researcher positions. The application period for the positions is 28 August – 15 September 2023. The employment contract begins on 1 January 2024 and will last for a maximum of four years. All current doctoral researchers as well as those who are also applying for the study right for doctoral training can apply for the funded positions.
Doctoral training at the University of Turku is coordinated by the University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS). The University has 16 doctoral programmes, and doctoral training covers all the disciplines of the University's eight faculties. Every year, UTUGS funds nearly two hundred doctoral research positions, one quarter of which are open in the autumn call. In addition, more than two hundred doctoral researchers work with project funding each year.
With the launch of the ‘donate a doctoral researcher’ campaign earlier in the summer, this year is the first time that the call for applications also includes doctoral researcher positions that can be funded with donated funds. The Director of the Graduate School, Professor Pirjo Nuutila, believes that this possibility will, alongside the University's own contribution, increase the number of doctoral researchers' employment relationships, improve the attractiveness of research careers and ensure the training of a new generation of researchers. Donations to the university for the benefit of science are tax-deductible to the donors.
Later in the autumn, the application period for doctoral researchers of the EU-funded Green Digitalization will be opened up separately.
Doctoral Researchers Satisfied with the Guidance They Receive at the University of Turku
Based on the survey conducted last autumn, current doctoral researchers at the University of Turku are very satisfied with the guidance they have received, both in terms of quantity and quality. In addition to high-quality guidance, the University has improved the status of postdoctoral researchers in recent years and promoted community spirit among doctoral researchers. Several faculties have established subject organisations for doctoral researchers' as well as the Network for Early-Career Researchers in Turku (NERT) network for all doctoral, postdoctoral and other researchers in the early stages of their careers. The ongoing OnMyMind project has provided a safe environment where researchers in the early stages of their careers can speak freely about the challenges they may face during their doctoral studies. Such challenges may include problems with mental well-being and well-being at work, moving to a new country and the associated loneliness, time management challenges, and so on.
Nowadays, doctoral training places more emphasis on the capabilities of graduating researchers not only for research and teaching careers, but also for other expert positions. At the University of Turku, all doctoral degrees include both studies of knowledge and skills that are central to research, as well as studies that are relevant for general expertise. In the autumn of 2023, the University of Turku is joining the national doctoral education networks, allowing doctoral researchers easier access to courses at other partnering universities as well.
The application period for fixed-term doctoral researcher positions is 28 August -15 September 2023. Further information on the call for applications and doctoral programmes is available on the University of Turku website.
