Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants

TuDMM Call for applications Autumn 2024 (pdf)

TuDMM Hakukuulutus Syksy 2024 (pdf)

What is expected of you?

When applying for a right to study:

• For granting a right to study, you are required to fulfil the prerequisites set by the Faculty of Medicine and the Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine.

The eligibility criteria and other general guidelines can be found on the web page of the Faculty of Medicine.

The right to study for doctoral degree at the Faculty of Medicine 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 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.

You must also fulfil the University of Turku language skill requirements.

Prerequisites for pursuing a doctoral degree in the Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine are written in the Study Guide 2024-2027.

When applying for a fixed-term Doctoral Researcher position under an employment contract with the University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS):

• You are required to have an active right to study in the doctoral programme in Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine at the University of Turku.

• If you have not yet been granted a right to study, you must apply for a right to pursue a doctoral degree within this call for applications. A right to study is a prerequisite for an applicant to be chosen for a fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract; 

• You are planning to pursue or pursuing your first doctoral degree; You have not previously been granted a full-time four-year funding for pursuing a doctoral degree

• Possible previous funding for pursuing a doctoral degree granted by University of Turku is taken into account when determining the length of the funding period.

When applying for a fixed-term Doctoral Researcher position under an employment contract with iCANDOC doctoral education pilot:

• You are required to have an active right to study in the doctoral programme in Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine at the University of Turku. If you have not yet been granted a right to study, you must apply for a right to pursue a doctoral degree within this call for applications. A right to study is a prerequisite for an applicant to be chosen for a fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract;

• You are planning to pursue 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 cannot be selected for a fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract in the iCANDOC pilot project.

• A doctoral researcher's employment requires living in Finland and the place of work is Turku.
   

Please read carefully the general application instructions of the Faculty of Medicine

How to Apply for Doctoral Training at the Faculty of Medicine | University of Turku (utu.fi)

Especially pay attention to these instructions when applying: Before applying / Doctoral training at the Faculty of Medicine

A prerequisite for study right admission is that there is at least one person who has agreed to act as a supervisor and who fulfills the qualification requirements for supervisors. Finding a supervisor is the responsibility of the applicant. In addition, the applicant to doctoral training needs to assemble an follow-up committee for the doctoral research work. You will also need a signed consent of the head of the doctoral subject into the supervision and study plan attachment. 

When applying, please carefully prepare all the required documents mentioned in the Call for Applications for the Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine.

A detailed Call for Applications will be always published well in advance before the opening of the application round on this www-page. 

Applying

Qualified applicant with research topic fitting the scope of TuDMM can apply. 

Please note, that when applying for both, the right to study and either or both fixed-term doctoral researcher position/s, you will need to fill in the applications with the required attachments to the separate online systems (see more information below).

The right to study for a doctoral degree is applied for by filling in an electronic form in the My Studyinfo service and the fixed-term doctoral researcher positions are applied for by filling in an electronic form in the University of Turku recruitment system (TalentAdore). For both applications you will need to attach the required additional documents (in English and in PDF format). The required attachments are specified below in Section Attachments to the Application.

Apply here for right to study

Instructions for filling in the application form (pdf) 

How to apply the right to study for a doctoral degree:

The right to study for a doctoral degree is applied for by filling in an electronic form in the My Studyinfo service and attaching the required additional documents (specified below under Attachments to the application). The form will be accessible as the application period begins on 28 August 2024 and closes at 4:00 pm (local time in Finland) on 13 September 2024. A link to the electronic form will be published on the website of the graduate school.

During one application round the applicant may apply to a maximum of two doctoral programmes 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.

In My Studyinfo service, you can only apply for right to study a doctoral degree. If you also want to apply for a fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract with UTUGS and/or iCANDOC doctoral education pilot project, you must apply for that position/s separately (for details, please, see section “How to apply the fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract with UTUGS and/or iCANDOC doctoral education pilot project”).

How to apply the fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract with UTUGS AND/OR iCANDOC doctoral education pilot project:

The fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract with UTUGS and/or iCANDOC doctoral education pilot project is applied for by filling in an electronic form in the University of Turku recruitment system (TalentAdore) and attaching the required additional documents specified in Attachments to the Application below. The form will be accessible as the application period begins on 28 August 2024 and closes on 13 September 2024 at 4 pm (local time in Finland).

The fixed-term positions are announced at the beginning of the application period in the the Open Vacancies at the University of Turku website and on the website of the graduate school. 

All of the required attachments must be submitted before the end of the application period. Applications that arrive after the application period has ended will not be processed. The application documents will not be returned to the sender.

A person selected for the fixed-term position is required to have an active right to study in the Doctoral Programme in the Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine. If you have not yet been granted a right to study, you must apply for a right to pursue a doctoral degree in the the Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine by filling in an electronic form in My Studyinfo service (for details, please, see section How to apply the right to study for a doctoral degree above).

Attachments to the Application

If you are applying for a right to pursue a doctoral degree, you are required to submit attachments 1-5 and if needed also the attachments 6-9. If you already have a right to study and you are only applying for a fixed-term doctoral researcher position under an employment contract with UTUGS, you are expected to submit attachments 1–3. iCANDOC-pilot applicants who already have the right to study for a doctoral degree, must submit Appendix 9 in addition to appendices 1-3, i.e., a condensed CV (maximum 2 pages) of one dissertation supervisor and a list of publications for the years 2022-2024.

In addition to answering to the questions in the application forms, the applicant must prepare:

• a summary of the research plan (max 1000 characters) and

• the following documents in PDF format for the application:

Please note that the attachments to the application should be made in English.

1. Motivation letter (max 1 page) The motivation to apply to TuDMM is presented in the Motivation letter. Please describe your motivation for completing a doctoral degree in the Doctoral Programme in Turku Doctoral Programme of Molecular Medicine. If you apply for iCANDOC doctoral education pilot please describe your motivation for taking part in the program. The motivation letter is a one page long freeform PDF-document. 

2. CV of the applicant, including a list of publications when applicable (max 2 pages, it is mandatory to use this attached CV model) 

3. Research plan (max 3 pages excluding references, Arial, font 12). The plan should consist of: abstract, background and significance, aims and hypotheses, 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 research plans can be checked with the Turnitin OriginalityCheck plagiarism detection software. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in the preparation of the research plan should be clearly indicated in the research plan.

Note. In the TalentAdore electronic application form, there will be two iCANDOC doctoral education pilot specific questions asked, in which only candidates applying for the pilot program are required answer, other applicants may answer no to those questions.

Applicants applying for a right to study also prepare:

4. Supervision and study plan – the Faculty’s form (Fill in electronically, print and sign together with the supervisor/-s and the head of subject, see: Subjects in doctoral training and heads of doctoral subject)

• The applicant should have two supervisors with at least one supervisor affiliated with University of Turku and holding the UTU -account to use the UGIS system (UGIS-supervisor).

• One member in the follow-up committee should be well familiar with the practicalities of doctoral training in the faculty and TuDMM.

• To plan the theoretical studies, take into account the Learning outcomes of TuDMM and your career plans.

5. Degree certificates and transcripts of study records

1. If you have completed your former degree(s) that make you eligible for doctoral studies at a higher education institution in Finland, you must attach your scanned original degree certificates, transcripts of study records and other educational documents which may be of relevance in the selection to the electronic application form.

2. If you have completed your former degree(s) that make you eligible for doctoral studies at a higher education institution abroad (i.e. outside of Finland), you must attach the following items to the electronic application form:

• scanned original degree certificates (in the language that the degree was completed in)

• scanned original transcripts of study records (in the language that the degree was completed in)

• scanned other original educational documents which may be of relevance in the student selection and that you are applying based on.

If the original degree certificates or transcripts of study records 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 and a translation made by an authorised translator. A transcript in English can be replaced by a Diploma Supplement (DS) awarded by a European educational institution, provided that it contains the information about completed courses and other study attainments.

Please make sure that all attachments are good-quality, easy to read, full colour scans or photographs of the complete required document. Attachments that do not meet these requirements may be rejected.

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.

NB! Please keep your original degree certificates and other relevant educational documents at hand during the application process.

If needed - please see the instructions: Degree giving the eligibility

6. Verification of language proficiency

The University of Turku follows the Rector’s decision (15 Aug 2019) on the means of verifying one’s language proficiency. Please see the language requirements on the webpage of the university’s graduate school.

If the applicant is required to prove their language proficiency with a language test, a scanned certificate of a completed language test must be attached to the application.

7. Copy of a valid passport

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. Otherwise, attach a copy of your valid passport or official identification card with photo and information on citizenship.

8. When only one supervisor for doctoral training is proposed, the supervisor’s justified plea for approval of only one supervisor must be attached to the application. See Before applying / Doctoral training at the Faculty of Medicine > Supervision at Faculty of Medicine instructions

Note! in the iCANDOC doctoral education pilot project two supervisors are required.

9. iCANDOC-applicants must attach in the application form CV from one supervisor (max 2 pages) and the list of publications 2022-2024. Attach this document as “other attachment” in the application form.

The Steering Committee of the doctoral programme will evaluate the applications and use outside experts, when needed. The research plans attached to the applications may be checked with the Turnitin OriginalityCheck plagiarism detection software in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system.

When selecting applicants for the fixed-term doctoral researcher positions with UTUGS, the applicant’s motivation, merits, previous studies, the ability to complete a doctoral degree, and the quality and feasibility of the research are taken into consideration. The selection process is step wise and applicants may be invited for an interview after the preliminary selection. The invitation will be sent by email.

When evaluating applications for the iCANDOC doctoral training pilot project, special attention will be paid to the quality and implementation conditions of the research plan, as well as to the supervisor's experience, studies already completed, the applicant's research merits, and ability and motivation to complete the doctoral degree. In addition, the applicant's research topic must fit the profile of the pilot program. Based on the evaluation of the doctoral programme, the selected applicants will be invited for an interview. The most successful applicants will be selected for the positions, based on the initial evaluation of the doctoral programme, an interview and the evaluation of the iCANDOC pilot project's selection group.

For the right to study for a doctoral degree, the eligibility criteria of the applicant and the selection criteria of the faculty (see section What is expected of you above) are considered in addition to the criteria mentioned above.

The Dean/Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine decides on granting the right to study for a doctoral degree based on the proposal of the steering committee of the doctoral programme.

The Head of the department decides on recruitment of the applicant for the fixed-term position of a Doctoral researcher based on the proposal of the Steering Committee of the doctoral programme or application evaluation selection group of the iCANDOC project. 

Admission decisions concerning the Call for Applications, from 28 August to 13 September, are made by 1 November 2024.  All applicants will be personally informed about the decision.

An admitted applicant has to notify the University of Turku of their acceptance of the study place according to the instructions given in the admission notification. This must be done by 3:00 pm (local time in Finland) on 13 December 2024. If the admitted applicant does not give the notification by the end of the allotted period of time mentioned above, they forfeits the study place. A person admitted to more than one university or polytechnic degree programme only notifies the one educational institution at which they accepts 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 are available here: Instructions on delivering certificates and country-specific requirements

Appeal for rectification

If an applicant is dissatisfied with the result of the student selection, they has the right to submit an application for the rectification of the decision to the Faculty of Medicine within 14 days of the official publishing of the results. Contact information: med-doctoral@utu.fi.

In the spring of 2024, the faculty is in the process of updating the curricula. The instructions and regulations regarding doctoral education, which will lead to e.g. the regulations regarding postgraduate studies and the dissertation may change from August 1, 2024. The accepted applicant will complete their doctoral degree in compliance with the regulations that come into effect on August 1, 2024. Any updating of the graduate study plan to comply with the new regulations will be instructed separately.   

Additional information on study right

Faculty of Medicine: Chief Academic Officer Outi Irjala    

Additional TuDMM information

TuDMM director Noora Kotaja, nookot(at)utu.fi

TuDMM coordinator Verna Louhivuori, vtlouh@utu.fi; tudmm(at)utu.fi