Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants
New doctoral candidates are admitted to the Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State two times a year. The electronic application forms are open during the application period. More information on how to apply for Doctoral Training at the University of Turku is available in the page of University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS).
Follow the instructions of the doctoral programme below, but also take into account the instructions of the faculty you apply to.
Instructions of the Faculty of Social Sciences for applying to the PhD programme:
Instructions
Instructions of the Faculty of Medicine for applying to the PhD programme:
Instructions
DPInvest doctoral programme's instructions on applying
Shortly, the steps you need to take:
- Contact supervisor (email including an abstract of the research plan) to get a commitment: INVEST list of supervisors
- Write a research plan
- Get all necessary attachments (see Call for applications document)
- Apply! Link to application form/s will be published at this page on the first day of the call.
See more detailed information below
Next application period:
3 March - 14 March, 2025 (right to study from 1 August 2025)
Next application period:
3 March - 14 March, 2025 (right to study from 1 August 2025)
Closed call for applications:
28 August 2024 - 13 September 2024 (until 16:00 local Finnish time) (study rights and doctoral researcher fixed-term positions begin 1 January 2025)
> Call for applications (pdf) updated 27 August, 2024
Links to the application forms (to MyStudyinfo and TalentAdore)
The forms are accessible only during the application period and closed at 4 pm (local time in Finland, Europe/Helsinki) on 13 September 2024.
Please familiarize yourself with the application forms well before the end of the application period and allow sufficient time to obtain and/or draw up the necessary attachments.
Faculty of Social Sciences
The right to study for doctoral degree at the University of Turku can be applied for by persons who meet the eligibility criteria for pursuing a doctoral degree, as stipulated in the Universities Act (558/2009, Section 37), as well as the prerequisites for pursuing a doctoral degree at the Faculty Social Sciences or Faculty of Medicine.
Eligible for studies leading to an academic postgraduate degree is a person who has completed
1. an applicable higher university degree in Finland
2. an applicable higher polytechnic degree in Finland; or
3. an applicable education completed outside Finland which in the awarding country gives eligibility for corresponding higher education.
Faculty of Medicine
Instructions on the website:
> Who can apply for doctoral training at the Faculty of Medicine
> Before applying, section 'Degree giving the eligibility'
Language requirements for admission / Right to study for a doctoral degree:
Research plan
The most significant part of an application is the research plan. A high-quality research plan is the most essential selection criteria and it demonstrates the applicant's capabilities for doctoral training. The research plan is done independently. Preparing your research plan carefully will help you stand out from other qualified applicants. Please note that the Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State will evaluate the suitability of your research topic in relation to the research profile of the discipline as well as in relation of the research themes of flagship project INVEST.
Structure of the research plan depends on the requirements of a faculty:
- Faculty of Social Sciences (psychology and sociology) research plan
- Faculty of Medicine (child psychiatry) research plan
By including the research plan to the application the applicant gives permission for checking the research plan with Turnitin OriginalityCheck (system for electrical plagiarism detection).
Study plan
Those applying to the Faculty of Medicine attach a preliminary postgraduate study plan in pdf format to the application. The planned study attainments and the estimated credits they give must form min. 40 credits altogether. The study plan has to follow the curriculum of the DPInvest Doctoral Programme (above).
Links to available postgraduate courses at the Faculty of Medicine, for your help:
> Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Medicine, section ‘Available postgraduate courses’
There's a call for applications twice a year. The call for applications will be published before the application period begins. You can apply to the doctoral programme by filling in online application forms (in Studyinfo for the study right and in TalentAdore for a fixed-term funded doctoral researcher position), available only during the application period. Follow the instructions for applying carefully.
The application period for the Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State is two times per year. The next application period:
- 28 August 2024 to 13 September 2024 (4 pm local time in Finland)
You can apply:
- a right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Turku (both application periods)
- funded doctoral candidate positions (only the autum application period)
Faculty of Social Sciences
The objective of the selection process of doctoral researchers is to have students suitable for a research career track who are skilled, motivated, and committed to research and doctoral studies.
A general prerequisite for the right to pursue postgraduate studies is an applicable higher academic degree, or a relevant degree from abroad which in the country in question provides eligibility for corresponding postgraduate studies.
The selection criteria are as follows:
- a sufficient grade in the advanced studies stage of a master’s degree - usually at least a good evaluation is required
- a sufficient grade for the master’s thesis – usually at least cum laude approbatur
- the level and feasibility of the applicant’s research plan
- availability of resources for supervision
Also sufficient English language skills are required (remember for instance language test, when needed).
Evaluation process:
- The applicants’ formal eligibility for doctoral training will be checked by the doctoral programme
- The applications selected for the next stage will be delivered to the disciplines for evaluation
- The person responsible for doctoral training in the discipline will prepare a proposal for selections
- After this, the applications are processed in the steering committee of the doctoral programme
- The steering committee of doctoral programme prepares a decision proposal for the Faculty
- Dean of the Faculty makes a decision, which will be published by the end of November
Faculty of Medicine
Descriptions of the assessment of the applications for the right to study and of the decision process are behind the links below.
The application consists of an electronic form and attached documents in pdf format, which the applicant has prepared according to the instructions.
The required enclosures of the application of the DPInvest doctoral programme are listed in the call for applications (a link on the bottom of this web page).
> The decision process and the confirming of the study place
The board of the doctoral programme will process the applications and may invite external experts to evaluate them. The applications are assessed according to the following criteria, where relevant:
• quality of the research plan (general quality, feasibility, relation to doctoral programme re-search profile)
• success in previous studies [master’s thesis (or equivalent) grade and other studies]
• academic merits and progress in studies towards a doctoral degree
The programme offers annually salary positions, which are for a maximum of four years. All new employees have a six-month probation at first. The call for new applications is open in September. More detailed information will be available in the webpage of the doctoral programme.
Evaluation process:
- doctoral programme checks the applications and asks supplements when needed
- applications are evaluated in the disciplines (applies to faculty of social sciences)
- applications may be send for external evaluation
- external evaluators rank the candidates in order of quality of the applications
- the board of doctoral programme prepares a decision proposal for the Faculty
- Dean of the Faculty makes a decision, which will be published by the end of November
- Child psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine: Andre Sourander, andsou@utu.fi
- Psychology / Faculty of Social Sciences: Christina Salmivalli, christina.salmivalli@utu.fi
- Sosiology / Faculty of Social Sciences: Jani Erola, jani.erola@utu.fi