Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants

The doctoral researchers of DPCR pursue a doctoral degree either in the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics.

Please read carefully the instructions of the faculty you are applying to well advance before the actual application period (below), since there are many things that need to be agreed on or arranged before applying (supervisors, research plan, postgraduate study plan, possible language test etc.).

Instructions for the applicants

• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Technology
• Faculty of Social Sciences
• Turku School of Economics

The supervisor

A prerequisite for admission is that at least two persons* have agreed to act as supervisors and fulfill the qualification requirements for supervisors. Finding a supervisor is the responsibility of the applicant.

Please follow the instructions of the faculty in question. Links to the supervision of each faculty and The School of Economics can be found below in the sections Application documents, subsection g). Signed supervision and study plan.

*At Faculty of Medicine: When only one supervisor for doctoral training is proposed, a justified application the supervisor’s justified plea for approval of only one supervisor must be attached to the application.

The Follow-up committee

The aim of the follow-up committee is to ensure the progress of the doctoral researcher’s thesis work and studies, to provide an outside perspective to their research, and to support both the doctoral researcher and the supervisors in possible conflict situations.

The applicant negotiates with their supervisor(s) to assemble the follow-up committee and agrees with the members of the committee on annual monitoring practices. The follow-up committee is mandatory in the Faculty of Medicine but the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research strongly recommends forming a follow-up committee regardless of the faculty of the applicant.

• Check the application period
• Read the instructions of the faculty in question and the doctoral programme carefully!
• If you are going to verify your language skills with a language test, make sure that you book your test time well in advance. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make his/her own language test arrangements
• Get the required signatures in time and prepare the appendices
• Fill in the electric application form
• Remember to apply in time
• Keep your original certificates at hand and prepare to acquire officially certified copies if needed!

During the application period 2 March – 16 March 2026, you can apply for the right to study for a doctoral degree at the University of Turku in the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics from 1 August 2026 onwards

When applying for a right to study

• You are required to have completed a relevant higher university degree awarded by a university or a university of applied sciences, or a relevant study programme abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for the corresponding level of higher education (Universities Act 558/2009, 37§).
• You must fulfil the language requirements of the University of Turku. Link to the University of Turku Graduate School’s language requirements webpage.;
• You are required to fulfil the prerequisites set by the doctoral programme and the faculty in question for granting a right to study. This information is available on the webpage of each faculty:
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Faculty of Science
  • Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Technology
  • Turku School of Economics

If the applicant has a right to study for a doctoral degree at another university or in another doctoral programme at the University of Turku, the applicant must provide reasons for changing over to the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research. A doctoral researcher may hold only one doctoral degree study right at the University of Turku at a time.

Applications for the right to study for a doctoral degree are submitted in the Studyinfo system by filling in the electronic application form and attaching pdf attachments to the application.

To apply, fill in the electronic application form on Studyinfo and submit the required attachments (see Annex 1). The Studyinfo application form will open on 2 March 2026 and close on 16 March 2026 at 4 pm (local time in Finland). Link to the University of Turku Graduate School website where the application forms are published. Instructions on the application form will published on the webpage of the doctoral programme before the application form opens.

In this application round, you can apply for admission to a maximum of one doctoral programme at the University of Turku. You can only have one valid doctoral degree study right at the University of Turku at a time.

Late applications will not be considered. You cannot change the study programme (doctoral programme) or the application after the application deadline.

Application documents:

Attachments to the application when applying for a study right

The attachments listed below are submitted as part of the electronic application form in the Studyinfo system. Please ensure that all attachments are good-quality, easy to read, full colour scans or photographs of the complete document required. Attachments are to be submitted in PDF format. Attachments that do not meet these requirements may be rejected. The applicant must deliver all required documents by the end of the application period. Any late submissions will not be processed.

In addition to the attachments listed below, the applicant must prepare a summary of the research plan (max 1000 characters) and answer the questions in the application form. It is requested that the application documents are written in English or Finnish.   

a) Research plan

• Note the model of the DPCR (NB! updated 2024, include a financing plan and research group)
• Note instructions on how to describe the statistical methods.

When applying for the Turku School of Economics, the research plan should be maximum of 10 pages, for more instructions see Applying to Doctoral Studies at Turku School of Economics | University of Turku (utu.fi)

The research plan should follow the guidelines for the responsible conduct of research (see Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) | Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK). The research plans 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 should be clearly indicated in the research plan.

b) Motivation letter

Please describe your motivation for completing a doctoral degree in the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research and how you think the doctoral degree will affect your career. If you apply for iCANDOC doctoral education pilot please describe your motivation for taking part in the project. The motivation letter is a one page long freeform document

If the applicant has a right to study for a doctoral degree at another university or in another doctoral programme at the University of Turku, the applicant must provide reasons for changing over to DPCR. A student may hold only one doctoral degree study right at the University of Turku at a time.

If you are applying to the Turku School of Economics, please also follow the instructions of the School:

• A one-page letter of motivation. In the letter, the applicants must state reasons why they are applying specifically to the University of Turku and to the chosen major subject. The applicants must also express the novelty value the intended research would bring to the scientific field. The letter must also include the applicant’s reflections on their professional aspirations.

c) CV of the applicant including the list of publications (e.g., Template for researcher's curriculum vitae)

d) CV from one supervisor (max 2 pages) and the list of publications 2024-2025

e) Signed supervision plan including the study plan (a mandatory attachment, use template)

Supervision: A person applying for the right to study for a doctoral degree must first discuss with their supervisor of the supervision of the thesis work, of the choice for a doctoral programme, the contents of the doctoral studies, the composition of the follow-up committee for doctoral training and other details related to the project. NB! At least one of the supervisors must have access to UTU IT-systems (utu user account) to use the UGIS system.

The follow-up group: The aim of the follow-up group (called the follow-up committee in the Faculty of Medicine) is to ensure the progress of the doctoral researcher’s thesis work and studies, to provide an outside perspective to their research, and to support both the doctoral researcher and the supervisors in possible conflict situations. The information concerning the follow-up committee is mandatory in the Faculty of Medicine. In other faculties or the School of Economics, the follow-up group is not mandatory and can consist of one to three persons (two to three persons in the Faculty of Medicine, see faculty instructions!). However, the DPCR recommends you form a follow-up group with two to three persons from outside the research group regardless of your faculty to ensure smooth progress of the doctoral researcher’s work. The doctoral programme also recommends that one member of the follow-up group is from outside the University of Turku.

Use the appropriate template:

• Faculty of Medicine supervision and study plan
  • Please read the instructions on supervision and the follow-up committee on the Faculty of Medicine webpage (updated 2024) before making your application. Two follow-up committee members must come from outside the doctoral researcher’s own research group.
  • Faculty of Medicine Subjects in doctoral training and heads of subjects
• Faculty of Science supervision and study plan
• Faculty of Social Sciences commitment by a supervisor (file or copy of email message by a professor or a researcher with a doctoral degree working at the University of Turku to confirm that she/he is willing to supervise applicant’s dissertation project). No template for study plan.
• Faculty of Technology supervision and study plan
• Turku School of Economics supervision plan or a commitment letter by supervisors. Study plan template.
• When preparing a study plan, please use the study guide.

NB! At least one of the supervisors should have access to UTU IT-systems (utu user account).

f) Degree certificates and transcript of study records

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 or the original electronic degree certificates, transcripts of study records and other educational documents which may be of relevance in the selection to the electronic application form.

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:

• Scans of the original degree certificate or the original electronic degree certificate (in the language that the degree was completed in)
• Scans of the original transcript of records or the original electronic transcript of records (in the language that the degree was completed in)
• Other original educational documents which may be of relevance in the student selection and that you are applying based on.
• If the original degree certificates and other educational documents are not written in English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations 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 of records or degree certificate in English can be replaced by a Diploma Supplement (DS) awarded by a European educational institution if it contains the information about completed courses and other study attainments.

g) Verification of language proficiency

The University of Turku follows the Rector’s decision (15.8.2019, supplemented 21.12.2023) on the means of verifying one’s language proficiency. You should carefully read the University of Turku’s guidelines on language proficiency. Link to the website of the language requirements.

You must attach a scanned certificate of language test approved by the University of Turku to your application, unless otherwise stated in the guidelines.

h) 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.

i) Letter of support for the collaboration

Provided by the representative of the research organisation/principal investigator, if the data is mainly collected outside the University of Turku or the Varha collaborate area. Attach as “other attachment” in the Studyinfo application form.

j) Supervisor's comment on the funding,

If the thesis work is a main job for the applicant (not required for the Turku School of Economics). Attach as “other attachment” in the Studyinfo application form.

k) A justified application for the approval of a supervisor,

A justified application for the approval of a supervisor, written by the supervisor, when proposing only one supervisor. One supervisor can be appointed only in special and justified situations. (NB. Only when applying to the Faculty of Medicine. In other Faculties minimum two supervisors).

When applying for the right to study for a doctoral degree in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Technology or Turku School of Economics the required attachments may vary from the above-mentioned. Please check and follow the detailed instructions on the web pages of the faculty in question.

The applicant must deliver all required documents by the end of the application period. Any late submissions will not be processed.

The steering committee of the DPCR will review the applications. The applications may be sent for evaluation to national and/or international reviewers. The research plans attached to the applications may be checked with the Turnitin OriginalityCheck plagiarism detection software in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system.

In the selection process, the following factors are emphasized: quality and feasibility of the research plan, applicant’s merits and completed studies as well as applicant’s capability and motivation to complete a doctoral degree. The applicant’s research topic must fit in with the profile of the Doctoral Programme.

For the right to study for a doctoral degree, the eligibility criteria of the applicant and the selection criteria of the faculty (see section What is expected of you above) are considered in addition to the criteria mentioned above.

The Dean/Vice Dean of research affairs of the faculty decides on granting the right to study for a doctoral degree based on the proposal of the steering committee of the doctoral programme. Additional information on the decision process can be found on the web pages of each faculty. All applicants will be informed of the decisions personally by 29 May 2026 at the latest.

An admitted applicant has to notify the University of Turku of their acceptance of the study place by 3 pm (local time in Finland) on 15 June 2026 according to the instructions given in the admission notification. If the admitted applicant does not give the notification by the end of the allotted time period mentioned above, the applicant forfeits the study place. A person admitted to more than one university or polytechnic degree programme only notifies the one educational institution at which they choose to accept the study place. Notification, i.e. accepting a study place, is binding and may not be cancelled or changed later. According to Finnish university legislation, an applicant may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term (autumn term 1 Aug – 31 Dec or spring term 1 Jan – 31 Jul). This rule applies to all higher education, i.e. Bachelor’s and Master’s level degrees awarded by Finnish universities of applied sciences, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees awarded by Finnish universities, and Licentiate and Doctoral degrees awarded by Finnish universities. This regulation is not applied to study rights received in transfer student selections, from the Åland University of Applied Sciences, from the Police University College, and from institutions of higher education outside Finland.

The applicants who have completed their prior degree in a country other than Finland and who are granted a study right in this call, need to deliver either the original degree certificates or certified copies of the original degree certificates and their translations to the University of Turku, as instructed in the admission notification, on 6 March 2026 at the latest. If the admitted applicant does not deliver the required certificates by the deadline, they forfeit the study right. Link to the instructions on delivering certificates and country-specific requirements.

Appeal for rectification

If an applicant is dissatisfied with the result of the student selection (right to study for a doctoral degree), they have the right to submit an application for the rectification of the decision to the Faculty in question within 14 days of the official publishing of the results.

Doctoral Programme Coordinator: Mikko Tähtö-Pakkanen dpcr[at]utu.fi, 

Websites of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research, 

Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Technology, Turku School of Economics and Faculty of Social Sciences.