Doctoral Pilot Programme in Immunology - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants

When applying for a right to study from the Doctoral Pilot Programme in Immunology:

• You are planning or pursuing your first doctoral degree; a person who has already completed a doctoral degree or who has been granted the right to study for a doctoral degree before 1.11.2023 are not eligible to apply to the pilot programme.
• You are required to have completed a relevant Master’s degree awarded by a university or a university of applied sciences, or a relevant study programme abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for the corresponding level of higher education (Universities Act 558/2009, 37§) as well as the eligibility criteria for the right to study for a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Medicine or at Faculty of Science or Faculty of Technology or at Turku School of Economics.
• You must fulfil the University of Turku language skill requirements.
• You are required to fulfil the prerequisites set by the ImmuDocs doctoral pilot programme and the Faculty of Medicine or Faculty of Science or Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics for granting a right to study. See the following section 'Before applying'.

The doctoral researchers of ImmuDocs pursue a doctoral degree either in the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics.

Please read carefully the instructions of the faculty you are applying to well advance before the actual application period (below), since there are many things that need to be agreed on or arranged before applying (supervisors, research plan, postgraduate study plan, possible language test etc.).

Faculty instructions for applicants

> Faculty of Medicine

> Faculty of Science

>Faculty of Technology

> Turku School of Economics

Supervisors

A prerequisite for admission is that at least two persons have agreed to act as supervisors and fulfill the qualification requirements for supervisors.

Please follow the instructions of the faculty in question. Links to the supervision plan of each faculty and The School of Economics can be found below in the section 'How to apply? Application and instructions', subsection 2. Signed supervision and study plan.

Follow-up committee

The aim of the follow-up committee is to ensure the progress of the doctoral researcher’s thesis work and studies, to provide an outside perspective to their research, and to support both the doctoral researcher and the supervisors in possible conflict situations. The applicant negotiates with their supervisors to assemble the follow-up committee and agrees with the members of the committee on annual monitoring practices.

Doctoral Pilot Programme in Immunology instructions

Eligible applicants with a research topic fitting the scope of Doctoral Pilot Programme in Immunology can apply. Each applicant should have two supervisors with at least one supervisor affiliated with the ImmuDocs Doctoral Education Pilot and a follow-up committee consisting of supervisors and 2-3 other researchers familiar with the research topic, two of whom must be from outside the doctoral researcher's own group according to the rules of the Faculty of Medicine. A postgraduate study plan should follow the curriculum of the Doctoral Pilot Programme in Immunology.

Prepare also the documents mentioned in the section 'How to apply? Application and instructions'.

• Check the application period
• Read the instructions of the faculty in question and the doctoral programme carefully!
• If you are going to verify your language skills with a language test, make sure that you book your test time well in advance. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make his/her own language test arrangements
• Get the required signatures in time and prepare the appendices
• Fill in the electric application form
• Remember to apply in time
• Keep your original certificates at hand and prepare to acquire officially certified copies if needed!

During the application period 28 October–8 November 2024, you can apply for the right to study for a doctoral degree in the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku from 1 January 2025 onwards. A link to the electronic application form, the list of required attachments and a guide for filling in the form will be available during the application period.

During one application round the applicant may apply to one doctoral programme at the University of Turku. You can only have one valid study right at a time for a doctoral degree at the University of Turku.

Applications that arrive after the application period has ended will not be processed. When the application period has ended, you cannot change the doctoral programme you are applying for, or any other information.

The right to study for a doctoral degree is applied for by filling in an electronic form in the My Studyinfo service. A link to the electronic form will be published on the website of the graduate school. You will need to attach the required additional documents (in PDF form). It is requested that application documents are written in English. Application documents are specified at the end of this section. 

Apply here for a right to study: Link to the University of Turku Graduate School web page, where the application form can be found.

Application and document preparation

Each applicant should have two supervisors and a follow-up committee with contact details to be proposed in the application. A structured research plan of the applicant must be approved by the supervisor. To plan the theoretical studies, applicants should take into account the curriculum of the ImmuDocs doctoral pilot programme in the relevant faculty, their research project and individual career plans. In addition to the signatures of the applicant and all supervisors, the supervision plan must be signed by the head of the doctoral subject (Faculty of Medicine). 

The application should include the following:

(The application documents will not be returned to the sender)

1. Structured research plan approved by the supervisor (3-5 pages).

• The plan should consist of: abstract, background, aims and hypotheses, significance, how will the plan be carried out in practice, research environment, timetable and funding plan.
• The research plan should follow the guidelines for the responsible conduct of research (see Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) | Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK).
• The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in the preparation of the research plan should be clearly indicated in the research plan.
• By attaching the research plan to the application form the applicant gives permission for checking the research plan with Turnitin Originality Check (system for electrical plagiarism detection).

2. Signed supervision and study plan (use the relevant template linked below)

• Faculty of Medicine supervision and study plan
  • Please read the instructions on the Faculty of Medicine web page before making your application.
  • Faculty of Medicine Subjects in doctoral training and heads of subjects
• Faculty of Science supervision and study plan
• Faculty of Technology supervision and study plan
• Turku School of Economics supervision plan or a commitment letter by supervisors. Study plan template.
• When preparing a study plan, please use the ImmuDocs curriculum.

3. Degree certificate and the transcript of study records of the degree which gives you the eligibility for doctoral studies

• scanned original degree certificate or original electronic degree certificate (in the same language as the degree was completed in)
• scanned original transcripts of study records or original electronic study transcript (in the same language as the degree was completed in)
• If the original degree certificates and study transcripts are not written in English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations to one of these languages must also be submitted. An official translation here refers to a translation of the educational documents issued by the awarding institution or a translation made by an authorized translator. A transcript in English can be replaced by a Diploma Supplement awarded by a European educational institution if it contains the information about completed courses and other study attainments.
• The applicants who have completed their prior degree in a country other than Finland and who are granted a study right, need to deliver either the original degree certificates or certified copies of the original degree certificates and their translations to the University of Turku, as instructed in the admission notification. If the admitted applicant does not deliver the required certificates (in a paper form) by the deadline, they forfeit the study right.
  • Link to instructions on providing original educational documents and country-specific requirements

4. Verification of language proficiency (if needed)

• The University of Turku follows the Rector’s decision (15 Aug 2019) on the means of verifying one’s language proficiency. See the language requirements on the webpage of the university’s graduate school.
• If you are required to prove your language proficiency with a language test, a scanned certificate of a completed language test must be attached to the application.

5. Copy of valid passport

• Attach a copy of your valid passport or official identification card with photo and information on citizenship. If you have a Finnish personal identity code and you have entered it on the application form, you do not need to attach a copy of your passport.

The Steering Committee of the Doctoral Pilot Programme in Immunology will assess the applications with the help of outside experts, when needed. The quality and feasibility of the research plan and supervisor arrangements are taken into consideration when selecting doctoral researchers. Research proposals may be checked before the selection with the Turnitin OriginalityCheck plagiarism detection software in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system.

Assessment criteria

•    Research plan: Quality of the plan. Research topic included within fields of ImmuDocs doctoral education pilot based on the immune system such as immunology, immunology-based drug development, and immunology-based diagnostics.        
•    Supervision arrangements: Minimum of 2-3 supervisors of which one must be affiliated to the ImmuDocs doctoral education pilot and be a principal supervisor of an ImmuDocs doctoral project.
  
 

The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine or Faculty of Science or Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics decides on granting the right to study for a doctoral degree (1 January 2025 onwards) based on the proposals of the steering committee of the doctoral pilot programme. Admission decisions are made by 4 December 2024. All applicants will be personally informed about the decisions.

An admitted applicant has to notify the University of Turku of their acceptance of the study place by 3:00 pm (local time in Finland) on 13 December 2024 according to the instructions given in the admission notification. If the admitted applicant does not give the notification by the end of the allotted period of time mentioned above, they forfeit the study place. A person admitted to more than one university or polytechnic degree programme only notifies the one educational institution at which they accept the study place. Notification, i.e. accepting a study place, is binding and may not be cancelled or changed later.

According to Finnish university legislation, a student may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term (autumn term 1 Aug – 31 Dec or spring term 1 Jan – 31 Jul). This rule applies to all higher education, i.e. Bachelor and Master level degrees awarded by Finnish universities of applied sciences, Bachelor and Master degrees awarded by Finnish universities, and Licentiate and Doctoral degrees awarded by Finnish universities. This regulation is not applied to study rights received in transfer student selections, from the Åland University of Applied Sciences, from the Police University College, and from institutions of higher education outside Finland.

The applicants who have completed their prior degree in a country other than Finland and who are granted a study right in this call, need to deliver either the original degree certificates or certified copies of the original degree certificates and their translations to the University of Turku, as instructed in the admission notification, on 7 March 2025 at the latest. If the admitted applicant does not deliver the required certificates by the deadline, they forfeit the study right. Instructions on delivering certificates and country-specific requirements.

Appeal for rectification

If an applicant is dissatisfied with the result of the student selection (right to study for a doctoral degree), they have the right to submit an application for the rectification of the decision to the Faculty of Medicine or the Faculty of Science or Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics within 14 days of the official publishing of the results.

Further information / faculty

Faculty of Medicine:
Chief Academic Officer Outi Irjala
outi.irjala(at)utu.fi   

Faculty of Science:
Chief Academic Officer Sanna Ranto
sci-docstudies(at)utu.fi   

Faculty of Technology:
tech-doc(at)utu.fi

Turku School of Economics:
Coordinator Jenni Gray
tsedoctoralprogramme@utu.fi

Further information / ImmuDocs doctoral pilot programme

ImmuDocs coordinator PhD Marja Peura, marja.peura(at)utu.fi