Doctoral Programme in Biology, Geography and Geology - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants

• Make sure you are eligible to apply
• Contact your potential supervisors and make a supervision plan with them
  • Research and Personnel in Biology department
  • Research and Personnel in Geography and Geology department
  • Research and Personnel in Biodiversity unit
  • Alternatively, you can fill the BGG expression of interest form to find a supervisor. Link to the BGG expression of interest form.
• Supervision plan must include a principal supervisor, who has an employment contract to the University of Turku, another supervisor and possible other supervisors. In an exceptional case, the principal supervisor can be a person who does not have an employment contract to the University of Turku. In this case, the principal supervisors has to be a docent of the University of Turku and there has to be another supervisor appointed who has an employment contract to the University of Turku. The principal supervisor should always be at least a docent and the other supervisors should hold a doctoral degree. A research director is a professor of the field, who has an employment concract to the Univeristy of Turku. In an exceptional case, if there is no professor available, the associate professor can be nominated as a research director.
• Prepare a funding plan as a right to study does not include funding or scholarship from the University. In September call, in addition to a right to study, you can also apply for a BGG fixed-term funded doctoral candidate position for a maximum of four years . 
• Read "BGG Call for Applications" document carefully. Prepare all the required application attachments according to the instructions.
• Prepare your degree certificates for the application and require officially certified copies with English translation, if needed.
• If you are applying the right to study a doctoral degree and if you need to verify your language skills with a language test, make sure that you book your test time well in advance. Link to www page describing when a language test is not required.

• Read "BGG guidelines for filling the electronic application" document before filling in the electronic application
• Make sure you have attached all the required documents
• Ask your supervisor to send a supervisor statement to the BGG coordinator

Please, familiarize yourself with the "BGG Call for Applications" document for the details of the attachments.

Attachments A-F are required from all applicants.

A. Curriculum vitae

Link to curriculum vitae template. Applicant can choose to do a free-form resume, as well.

B. List of publications

Link to list of publications template. Please, note that also bachelor’s thesis and master’s thesis should be listed here.

C. Research plan

The research plan (maximum length of research plan is four A4 pages including references, font Times New Roman 12pt, margins 2,5cm and spacing 1) should include your name, title of the planned research project and description the research objectives, methods and required infrastructure or other resources, as well as the current status and planned timetable of the research. If the research plan exceeds the maximum length, the application will not be considered for evaluation.

 The research plan should follow the guidelines for the responsible conduct of research (Link to the guidelines:  Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) | Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK). The research plan can be checked with the Turnitin OriginalityCheck plagiarism detection software.The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in the preparation of the research plan wider role than checking grammar or generating short expressions should be clearly indicated in the research plan.

D. Motivation letter

A motivation letter is a one-page-long freeform document, in which you are expected to describe your motivation in pursuing doctoral studies and in conducting research. If you have a right to study for a doctoral degree at another university or in another doctoral programme at the University of Turku, you must provide reasons for changing over to BGG of the University of Turku in the motivation letter. A doctoral researcher may hold only one doctoral degree study right at the University of Turku at a time.

E. Supervisor’s statement

A statement from the main supervisor of the doctoral thesis, which includes supervisor’s assessment of the applicant, the commitment of the supervisor towards the completion of the thesis project, the duration of the supervisor’s employment at the University of Turku, project funding plan (both secured and planned funding), and an estimate of when the doctoral dissertation will be defended (autumn/spring of year 20xx). Supervisor will personally send the statement to coordinator.

If the applicant already has a study right for a doctoral degree in another university, faculty, or doctoral programme and if any materials collected during the previous supervision relationship are planned to be used in a BGG doctoral thesis, the previous supervisors of the applicant are asked to additionally confirm that (1) the authorship and the data management for all chapters planned to be included in the applicant's doctoral thesis as listed in the application have been agreed upon as instructed in the TENK guidelines (Link to TENK guidelines: Agreeing on authorship) and (2) that the doctoral candidate’s application for enrolment at BGG has been approved by all persons listed as author in the authorship agreement. The previous supervisor will personally send the statement to the coordinator by email.

F. Transcript of study records of the former degree

      i) If you have completed your former degree(s) that make you eligible for doctoral studies at a higher education institution in Finland, you must attach your scanned original transcript of study records to the electronic application form.

      ii) If you have completed your former degree(s) that make you eligible for doctoral studies at a higher education institution abroad (i.e. outside of Finland), you must attach the following items to the electronic application form:

• Scanned original transcript of study records in the same language as the degree was completed in
• If the original transcript of study records is not written in English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of the documents to one of these languages must also be submitted. An official translation here refers to a translation of the educational documents issued by the awarding institution or a translation made by an authorized translator. A transcript in English can be replaced by a Diploma Supplement awarded by a European educational institution if it contains the information about completed courses and other study attainments.

      iii) If the degree that gives eligibility for the study right for a doctoral degree is not completed by the deadline of application time, an up-to-date transcript of study records must be attached to the application.

If the applicant does not yet have the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the BGG Doctoral Programme, University of Turku, the following is required in addition to points A–F:

G. Degree certificates of the former degree

     i) If you have completed the former degree(s), which make you eligible for doctoral studies at a university in Finland, the scanned original degree certificate, and other educational documents, which may be of relevance in the right to study a doctoral degree selection must be attached to the electronic application form.

     ii) If you have completed your former degree(s) that make you eligible for doctoral studies at a higher education institution abroad (i.e. outside of Finland), you must attach the following items to the electronic application form:

• Scanned original degree certificate (in the same language as the degree was completed in)
• Scanned other original educational documents, which may be of relevance in the right to study a doctoral degree selection.
• If the original degree certificate or other educational documents are not written in English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of the documents to one of these languages must also be submitted. An official translation here refers to a translation of the educational documents issued by the awarding institution or a translation made by an authorized translator.

H. Verification of language proficiency

The University of Turku follows the Rector’s decision (15 Aug 2019) on the means of verifying one’s language proficiency. See the "Verifying language proficiency" section for the accepted international English language tests and to gain information under which circumstances your prior degree is enough and the language test is not required. The language test result is a mandatory attachment of the right to study application, if not otherwise stated in the University of Turku graduate school web page. If you are required to prove your language proficiency with a language test, a scanned certificate of a completed language test must be attached to the application.

I. Copy of a valid passport

Attach a copy of your valid passport or official identification card with photo and information on citizenship. If you have a Finnish personal identity code and you have entered it on the application form, you do not need to attach a copy of your passport.

J. Supervision plan signed by supervisors, a research director and the applicant

• Supervision plan in BGG

If the applicant already has the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the BGG Doctoral Programme, University of Turku, the following is required in addition to points A–F:

K. Study transcript for the doctoral degree

If you already have a study right in the BGG doctoral programme, University of Turku, you must upload an up-to-date study transcript for the doctoral degree from Peppi and attach it to the application.

The University of Turku follows the Rector’s decision (15 Aug 2019) on the means of verifying one’s language proficiency. You must carefully study the instructions on language requirements of the University of Turku (see link below). Please, note that you must reach the minimum required test results to be considered eligible to the University of Turku. No exceptions to Rector’s decision will be made. The language test result is a mandatory attachment of the right to study application, if not otherwise stated in the University of Turku graduate school web page. If you are required to prove your language proficiency with a language test, a scanned certificate of a completed language test must be attached to the application.

    Link to Language requirements for admission / Right to study for a doctoral degree

• Prepare to deliver your original or originally certified degree certificates to the University of Turku if you are granted the right to study a doctoral degree