TIES2 - Detailed Instructions for the Application Documents

All attachments must be in PDF format. The maximum file size for the attachments is 10 MB.

All the documents must be written in English with Times New Roman, font size 12. This font size must be used throughout including in the Bibliography. Footnotes and tables must be font size 10. Any words within maps, pictures etc. must be at least font size 9. Any words within maps, pictures, tables etc. must be included in the character count.

Name all the attachment documents using your last name and the document title (e.g. Smith_Doctoral certificate). Upload attachments 5–7 as ‘Other attachments’ in the application form in the given order and name them accordingly (e.g. Smith_Secondment plan).

Applicants should upload a copy of their doctoral certificate. If the original degree certificate is not written in English, Finnish or Swedish an official translation in English must also be submitted. In cases where the PhD has been successfully completed but the degree certificate has not yet been issued, applicants should provide confirmation from the University where the PhD was undertaken that the PhD has been successfully completed and that no additional work is required.

Please note that by the time the employment contract is signed, the doctoral certificate must be delivered to the University.

Applicants must have completed their doctoral degree by the end of the application period.

The curriculum vitae must be no more than two pages in length and must include the following information:

• name
• academic education: degrees, dates and places, major subject, topic of doctoral dissertation
• posts and positions of primary importance including all positions in the three years prior to the call deadline
• research allocations and grants during the last five years
• most important expert assignments
• most important scientific acknowledgements and awards
• outreach/impact activities.

Applicants wishing to claim exemption to rules regarding the length of time which has elapsed since passing their PhD should note this in their CV.

Applicants are required to clearly indicate the 5 most important publications in relation to the research plan. Any non-English titles must be translated into English.

Research plan (maximum 25 000 characters, without spaces). Please note that this limit will be strictly enforced.

The research plan must indicate the following in order:

• Name of the researcher, title of the research plan and proposed department in which the applicant wishes to be located. Please note that it is not necessary for applicants to contact departments.
• Background and significance of the research
• Research objectives and methods, including specifying the multidisciplinary aspects of the research and its relevance to at least one non-higher education sector
• Implementation and outputs: The current state and schedule of the applicant’s research, a timetable for the research and publications/outputs, dissemination strategy including considerations of open access and the FAIR principles.
• National and international collaboration, including linkage with research conducted at the University of Turku and to the University’s research themes (see section 5)
• Ethical issues (see below)
• Bibliography (included in the 25 000 characters).

Research ethics

The University of Turku is committed to complying with the guidelines on responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct, issued by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. Consequently, TIAS requires that applicants commit to complying with responsible conduct of research and adhere to the Advisory Board’s guidelines. Please see The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland 2023 (PDF). In addition, applicants must comply with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.

In addition to committing to the codes, applicants should in their research plan briefly identify the elements of the plan which may raise ethical issues and how they intend to deal with these. Please see guidance on how to assess the ethical aspects of your application:

• How to Complete Your Ethics Self-Assessment (PDF)
• UK Statistics’ Ethics Self-Assessment Tool.

For further advice on research ethical issues applicants may send questions to the address ties@utu.fi. Questions will be forwarded to TIAS Ethics Advisor.

TIES2 is based on principles of knowledge exchange and a vital part of the programme is a secondment to an external organisation for a total period of between three and twelve months. In consultation with the TIAS Director, TIES2 Fellows may themselves select the organisation to which they wish to be seconded.

Applicants may contact proposed secondment organisations themselves and can refer to the information on the TIES programme for external organisations on the TIES website. Secondment organisations can be inside or outside Finland and they can be from any sector outside of higher education sector. TIES2 Fellows will continue to receive their full University salary during their secondment. Please see further information on the secondment.

Questions concerning a proposed secondment which falls within the subject areas of one of the TIAS constituent faculties may be sent to one of the faculty TIES representatives:

• Education: Anu Kröger, anu.kroger@utu.fi
• Humanities: Charlotta Wolff, charlotta.wolff@utu.fi
• Law: Kirsi Tuohela, kirsi.tuohela@utu.fi
• Social Sciences: Marika Jalovaara, marika.jalovaara@utu.fi
• Turku School of Economics: Antti Saurama, antti.saurama@utu.fi

Questions may also be sent to the general TIES enquiry email: ties@utu.fi Please send any questions well before the application deadline.

Applicants should provide the following information about their proposed secondment:

• Name of proposed secondment partner (if known)
• Sector of the proposed partner (business, government, voluntary sector etc.)
• Planned secondment dates. These must incorporate a minimum of three months and a maximum of twelve months, which may be spread over a maximum of three periods. Applicants may choose to nominate more than one external organisation which they wish to host their secondments up to a maximum of three.
• The importance of the planned secondment to the overall TIES project
• The importance of the project to applicants’ career plans, including any training (such as e.g., leadership skills, IP management, presentation skills etc.)
• Knowledge exchange opportunities which are envisaged.

Please note that we are unable to guarantee secondments with particular organisations.

Letters of support

While it is not a requirement of the application process, applicants may also attach letters of support from proposed secondment partners. If you wish to do this, you must use the TIES letter of support template. Letters of support which do not use this format will be ignored. Letters of support are for information purposes only and do not form part of the reviews process.

The TIES2 data management plan is based on the data management plan instructions of the Academy of Finland. Under MSCA rules the Data Management Plan should accord to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles.

The Plan should describe the following:

• Where the data will be stored and how they will be backed up during the project
• How any legal and ethical issues related to the sharing of data (e.g. ownership, copyright, sensitivity) will be resolved
• Where the data or a publishable portion of them will be made available after the end of the project

If the project does not collect or produce any data fully or partially suitable for reuse, justify why the data cannot be made available even partially.

In no more than two pages explain in the following order:

• Why the applicant wishes to be part of the TIES2 programme
• Why the research should be conducted at TIAS and its constituent faculties
• How the research, secondment, contacts, supervising and teaching experience will benefit TIAS, the University of Turku and its partners
• How the three-year research period and secondment will contribute to the applicant’s career development, including listing up to five areas where the applicant would welcome the provision of dedicated training opportunities (e.g., leadership skills, IP management, presentation skills etc) in secondment organisations
• How the applicant will contribute to the multidisciplinary TIAS community
• How the research will contribute to the research profile of the University of Turku, its research themes and one or more of the multidisciplinary themes and areas of strength

How the proposed project is interdisciplinary and what the implications of this are.