Supervision in doctoral training

At the Faculty of Medicine, an applicant aiming to study for a doctoral degree must already have supervisors before applying.
See > How to apply for doctoral training at the Faculty of Medicine > Before applying > Supervision.

The maximum number of supervisors in doctoral training is three. All supervisors must have a doctoral degree and at least one of the supervisors must be an adjunct professor or possess a corresponding or higher academic qualification. According to Rector's decision, doctoral researchers must be appointed at least two supervisors by default. Amongst the supervisors there must be knowledge of doctoral training at the University of Turku and access to University of Turku electronic systems. At least one supervisor must be employed by the University of Turku or a unit within the Turku University Hospital expert responsibility area (ERVA).

For more information on supervisors, see Study guide for postgraduate training, section 4.3. (PDF file)

At the Faculty of Medicine, only one supervisor may be appointed for a doctoral researcher based on an application and for a valid reason. If 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. When appointing only one supervisor, the regulations on supervision presented in the Faculty of Medicine study guide for doctoral training and the following additional criteria apply and must be present in the application:

  • The supervisor’s prior merits in supervision of doctoral researchers
  • The supervisor must be able to dedicate a sufficient amount of time to supervision, and must possess sufficient knowledge of supervision practices at the University of Turku
  • The supervisor must present a reasoning for why the thesis project in question is suited for supervision by only one supervisor
  • The scope and methodology of the thesis project are such that supervision by only one supervisor is sufficient

Changes in supervision must get approved at the Faculty. See:

> Changes in the conditions of doctoral training