Doctoral Education at the Faculty of Education - Application Instructions

Eligible for studies leading to an academic postgraduate degree is a person who has completed (Universities Act 558/2009, Section 37):

• an applicable higher university degree
• an applicable higher polytechnic degree; or
• an applicable education completed abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for corresponding higher education.

The university may require a student admitted to study for an academic postgraduate degree complete the necessary supplementary studies in order to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for the studies (Universities Act 558/2009, Section 37).

The degree that gives eligibility for admission must be completed by the end of the application period. 

In addition, the following criteria must be met:

1. The applicant's previous studies must have provided sufficient knowledge for a doctoral degree carried out in the Faculty’s subjects:

- The applicant's previous studies must have included sufficient amount of studies in education or in another field relevant to the doctoral programme. The adequacy of the applicant's previous studies in education or the suitability of previous studies will be assessed by the Steering Committee of the doctoral programme when evaluating the applications.

- Applicants must have a minimum grade of 3 (on a scale of 1-5) or cum laude approbatur in their Master's thesis. This requirement does not apply to those with a higher university degree abroad. Students with a lower thesis grade may apply for postgraduate studies by demonstrating sufficient scientific evidence. A peer-reviewed article with a publishing channel (journal, series or publisher) of at least level 1 in the Publication Forum (JUFO) and in which the applicant is first author may be considered as sufficient scientific evidence.

2. In their application, applicants must provide a supervisor (professor, associate professor, assistant professor or docent) who has approved the applicant's research plan and agreed to be the first supervisor of the research. If the first supervisor is not employed by the Faculty’s department, the applicant must identify a second supervisor employed by the Faculty’s department. If the applicant does not provide a supervisor(s) for their research who meets the Faculty’s supervisor requirements in their application, the application will be rejected and will not be considered by the Steering Committee of the doctoral programme.

3. The applicant must proof the proficiency of English language in accordance with the decision of the Rector.

The right to study for a doctoral degree is applied through the doctoral programmes (OPPI and KEVEKO). The right to study starts from the beginning of the semester following the application period. 

The application periods in Academic Year 2024-2025 are:

• 28 August- 13 September, 2024  (the application form closes at 4 pm local time in Finland)
• 3 March - 14 March, 2025 (the application form closes at 4 pm local time in Finland).

The right to study for a doctoral degree is applied for by filling in an electronic form in Studyinfo service and attaching the required additional documents. 

See the Call for Application for the required application attachments. 

Applications for doctoral researcher positions with employment contract are advertised on the University's open vacancies. 

The degrees of Kasvatustieteen tohtori, Doctor of Philosophy (Education), and Filosofian tohtori, Doctor of Philosophy, can be completed in the Faculty of Education. The degree is selected when applying for postgraduate studies. As a rule, Masters of Arts (Education) complete a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in education. Those with other suitable education complete a degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It is also possible to complete a licentiate degree in education at the Faculty. New doctoral researchers to be selected are granted the right to study directly for a doctoral degree, and the completion of a licentiate degree is not recommended.

The degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (Education), Licentiate of Philosophy (Education) and Doctor of Philosophy can be completed with Educational Sciences, Adult Education, Special Education or Craft, Design and Technology Education as the major subject. The major subject is selected on the basis of previous studies and/or the research topic at the application phase.

In their application, applicants must provide a supervisor  who has approved the applicant's research plan and agreed to be the first supervisor of the research. If the first supervisor is not employed by the Faculty’s department, the applicant must identify a second supervisor employed by the Faculty’s department. If the applicant does not provide a supervisor(s) for their research who meets the Faculty’s supervisor requirements in their application, the application will be rejected and will not be considered by the Steering Committee of the doctoral programme.

Supervisors must have doctoral degrees. The first supervisor must be a professor, assistant/associate professor or docent. The expertise of the supervisors, as well as their supervision skills and ability to commit themselves to acting as supervisors, are taken into account in the appointment decision.

The first supervisor must be employed by a faculty’s department or an emeritus/emerita professor who has an emeritus contract with the faculty. In exceptional cases for well-justified reasons, the first supervisor may also be a docent who is not employed by the faculty. In this case, the second supervisor appointed for the dissertation research must be a professor, assistant/associate professor, or docent employed by the faculty’s department.

After the application period ends, the supervisor fills in an assessment form on the applicant's research plan and the conditions for obtaining the doctoral degree and submits the assessment form to the Doctoral Programme Coordinator.

If the applicant does not know a suitable supervisor for their research, they may contact the Doctoral Programme Coordinator, who will ask the applicant to provide the necessary information (including a preliminary research plan and CV) to find a supervisor. The information is provided on an electronic form. Based on the information on the form, the Coordinator will be in contact with the potential supervisors. There is no suitable supervisor for all applicants / research topics in the doctoral programme, and finding a supervisor does no guarantee the right to study.

It is recommended that the applicant starts their application process as early as approximately six months before applying for doctoral studies by participating in the so-called orientation phase, during which they, for instance, take part in their future supervisor’s postgraduate seminars and fulfill their study and research plan with the guidance of the supervisor.

When applying for a right to study the applicant must prove the knowledge of English either with a previous studies (degrees) or with a language test.

The University of Turku follows the Rector’s decision on the means of verifying one’s language proficiency. Please see the language requirements for admission on the website of the Graduate School.

The research plan should be written according to the guidelines of the doctoral programme. The research plan should not exceed 12 pages (including all tables and references). 

Research plan instructions KEVEKO

Research plan instructions OPPI (Note! The instructions have been updated on 1 February 2024)

Applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:

1. Quality and feasibility of the research plan

• The theoretical level of the research plan; knowledge of the theoretical background and its relevance to the research task.
• Methodological feasibility of the study; precision and description of the methods in relation to the research task
• Consideration of research ethical issues in the research design
• Innovation, novelty, scientific and practical impact of the research
• Feasibility of the study; realistic time schedule, plan for resourcing and funding of the studies
• Clarity of the research plan; the research plan should represent good scientific writing

2. Suitability of the research theme for the doctoral programme

3. The applicant's previous academic credits, possible research experience and motivation to undertake the doctoral studies.

The quality and feasibility of the research plan will be given the greatest weight in the evaluation.

If a doctoral researcher wishes to transfer to the Faculty of Education of the University of Turku from another university or from another doctoral programme of the University of Turku, the application is processed according to the normal application procedures and selection criteria decided by the Faculty. In addition, the applicant must provide reasons for transferring to a doctoral programme in their application. If any research material collected during a previous supervision relationship is to be used in a doctoral thesis, the applicant must provide a confirmation stating that they is entitled to use the material for the doctoral dissertation.

A doctoral researcher may have only one right to study for a doctoral degree at a time at the University of Turku.