New Graduate School trains future experts

The doctoral training system of the University of Turku was re-organized in the beginning of August with the establishment of the new University of Turku Graduate School which covers the whole university. The main goal of the Graduate School is to offer high quality training for all PhD students of the university.

- The Graduate School will offer the PhD students a wide variety of courses on transferable skills. Our aim is to provide everyone with the same basic knowledge and skills from ethics to statistics and academic writing at the beginning of their research career, says Eeva Sievi, the Coordinator of the University of Turku Graduate School.

In the future, the PhD students will continue to work on their dissertations either in the faculty-specific doctoral programmes or in programmes funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Academy of Finland.

- The purpose of the Graduate School is to ensure that systematic and high quality training is available for all PhD students, tells Vice Rector Pirjo Nuutila who is responsible for doctoral training in the University of Turku.

The reform has been under preparation since the beginning of 2010 when the Academy of Finland gave its recommendations on doctoral training.

- University of Turku has been prompt in following the recommendations, says Sievi who is tasked with the further development of the Graduate School.

According to Vice Rector Nuutila, circumstances were favourable for the Graduate School reform in the University of Turku.

- Doctoral training has long been one of our strengths. We have even been pioneers when it comes to the doctoral programmes and their content. Now we need to systematise the teaching of transferable skills.

Completing the degree in optimal time

On the university level, the aim of the Graduate School reform is to provide doctoral training that is coordinated, structured and efficient.

- Approximately 140 doctorates graduate from the University of Turku annually, and there are about 1500 PhD students working actively on their dissertations. The optimal completion time for a doctoral degree set on the national level is four years of full-time work, but finishing in the given time is rather rare, Eeva Sievi says.

Pirjo Nuutila confirms that the percentage of fresh doctorates is quite low and it takes too long to graduate.

- In the new Graduate School, every PhD student reports on his or her progress regularly. We expect this to improve the students’ level of commitment. Our aim is not to increase the number of doctorates as such but to actively support those working towards their degree.

In the Graduate School, the rights and responsibilities of the PhD students go hand in hand. One of the most important rights is the right to high-quality supervision of the dissertation, which also has an impact on the graduation times.

- The Graduate School will build the network of supervisors more systematically than before and thus ease their work, Nuutila says.

A doctoral degree is an asset in working life

Although the Graduate School is only the first step towards a career in research, the purpose of doctoral training is to prepare the PhD students for working in expert positions outside the academic world as well.

Coordinator Eeva Sievi and Director Pirjo Nuutila of
the University of Turku Graduate School.

- The ability to understand and process a flood of information is essential in the modern society, and according to the surveys, doctorates working as experts are almost unanimously happy with their decision to write a dissertation and go through the doctoral training, says Nuutila.

Career planning and the development of transferable skills are also an important part of researcher training. The idea is that this emphasis eases the fresh doctorates’ search for employment.

- Connections with the business world are in a particular need of development. At the moment, only one in ten employees working in research and development in the private sector holds a doctoral degree, Vice Rector Nuutila points out.

One task of the Graduate School is to ensure that a sufficient number of doctorate holders are trained to meet the needs of the universities, the industry and the rest of the society.

- When allocating resources, we will evaluate the number of new PhD students even more carefully in relation to the needs of working life, without forgetting the university’s areas of strength. The PhD students are important contributors to our research groups, reminds Nuutila.

Read more about the University of Turku Graduate School.

Text: Taru Suhonen
Photos: Hanna Oksanen, TS
Translation: Suvi Kauppila