100 University-funded Doctoral Training Positions Are Open for Application – Quality Is Emphasised in the Selection Process
The UTUGS information session, which opened the autumn semester, was planned to accommodate about 200 people, but it was so popular that it was streamed online for those who did not fit into the lecture hall. The one to four year univeristy-funded doctoral training positions are open for application in September raised special interest from the audience.
The Graduate School organises different courses for doctoral candidates – for example, in spring 2013, there was a course on popularising science.
–The application and the stage of the dissertation are determining factors, says Sievi.
Also Rector Kalervo Väänänen, whose speech gathered praise from the audience, implied that the focus is on quality and not quantity.
Doctoral Training Positions Open for Application in September
The Graduate School has entered a new era when 16 new doctoral programmes started at the beginning of September.
Of the approximately 1800 doctoral candidates, about 200 are conducting their research with the doctoral training position that is funded by the university. About half of the positions have been filled with current programmes and candidates and the other half is open for application from September 2 – 30, 2013.
– Eligibility for the university-funded doctoral training position requires that the person has the right to pursue a doctoral degree in the University of Turku. If the applicant does not yet have this right, it can be applied for at the same time.
There are about a hundred doctoral training positions available from January 1, 2014. On this round of applications, the positions vary from one to four years in length, so that, in the future, about one fourth of the positions are available for application each year, explains Sievi.
All the Candidates Belong to a Certain Doctoral Programme
One of the concrete structural changes in the doctoral training is that each doctoral candidate who has the right to pursue a doctoral degree in the University of Turku is now part of a certain UTUGS doctoral programme and also a member of the Graduate School.
– What this means is that each doctoral candidate receives instruction and their progress is followed. They can take part in training organised by their own programme as well as by other doctoral programmes and the Graduate School, says Sievi.
She reminds the applicants that as the doctoral candidates of the University of Turku they can also use the First article language checking service that is organised by UTUGS and the Language Centre. Furthermore, they can, for example, apply for a grant for completing a doctoral degree.
Translation: Mari Ratia