Doctoral Programme in Law - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants

The Dean of the Faculty of Law grants the right to pursue the Doctor of Laws degree to an applicant based on the proposal of the the Steering Committee of the Doctoral Programme in Law.

The Dean may grant the right to anyone who has earned a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws, Master of International and Comparative Law or Licentiate of Laws degree in Finland or a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree at the University of Turku if the applicant is otherwise considered adequate to pursue the doctoral degree.

An applicant with a foreign law degree comparable to a Bachelor of Laws or Master of Laws degree or some other Master’s degree completed either in Finland or abroad is required, in addition to the requirements mentioned above, to prove that their degree gives them the capabilities to participate in postgraduate studies in Law and that their language skills are sufficient for participating in the postgraduate studies. Applicants with a degree other than a law degree comparable to the Bachelor of Laws or the Master of Laws degree are granted the right to participate in the postgraduate studies only for a cogent reason.

Please read How to Apply for Doctoral Training at the University of Turku and see the Call for applications at this page.

SUPERVISOR
Before submitting an application, a person applying for doctoral studies must have a preliminary supervision agreement with the person or people proposed as their personal supervisor(s). The applicant must present to the proposed supervisor their preliminary research plan and the postgraduate study plan, which the applicant will correct according to the feedback from the proposed supervisor, if relevant. Applicants are kindly asked to reach out to prospective supervisors well in advance of the deadline to ensure meaningful engagement and discussion on the research and study plans. An agreement from the person or persons proposed to act as a supervisor to the applicant must be included in the application. The applicant must ask the supervisor to send the agreement by email to the faculty, address: lawpostgraduate[at]utu.fi

The person appointed as a main supervisor must be a Professor, Associate Professor or a Docent in the Faculty or employed by the Faculty of Law. The other supervisor can be in addition to the previous a person that holds a doctoral degree from the Faculty of Law, another Faculty at the University of Turku or from another university. However, at least one supervisor must be employed by the Faculty of Law at the University of Turku. 

One can apply for a study right for a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Law by filling in the online application form in the electronic application system and attaching all required documents to the online application form during the application period. Links to the electronic application forms will be published on the UTUGS Application forms page when the application period begins.

All applicants will be informed of the results of the admission. An admitted applicant has to notify their acceptance of the study right according to the guidelines given in the Call for Applications. If the admitted applicant does not accept the study right in the time indicated, they shall forfeit the study right.

Applicants are required to have proficient knowledge in Finnish or English language to be able to conduct research, write scholarly text, participate in the teaching and communicate with the university’s members of staff. In practice, knowledge of the English language is always required when working in an international science community.

Those applying for a right to study must prove their English language skills. The requirements are the same in all doctoral programmes at the University of Turku. For more information, please refer to

Language requirements for a right to study for a doctoral degree
 

NB! All language test results must be sent directly by the test organizer to the University of Turku by the application deadline. It is the applicant’s responsibility to make testing arrangements for her/himself in time.

The language test is valid until the expiry date given by the test organizer.

The TOEFL reporting code (institution code)  for the University of Turku 9701.

Applicants must prepare and attach the following documents to the application form according to the following the instructions:

1.    A research plan for a doctoral dissertation in accordance with the guidelines of the Faculty of Law.

To ensure equality among applicants, it is important that the maximum length of a the research plan shouldn’t beis not exceeded. Any use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools when drafting the research plan must be carefully disclosed in the plan, clearly explaining and distinguishing the work of the applicant from that of AI software. By attaching the research plan to the application form, the applicant gives permission to check the research plan with Turnitin OriginalityCheck software (a system for electronic plagiarism and AI detection).  

2.    A résumé (CV) in accordance with the guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK) https://tenk.fi/en/advice-and-materials/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae

List of publications must be included in the CV.

3.    A signed form of agreement from the person or persons proposed to act as a supervisor to the applicant.

The supervisor should send the agreement directly to the doctoral programme. They can affirm that they are willing to act as a supervisor by signing the form and sending it to the doctoral programme coordinator at lawpostgraduate@utu.fi. The supervisor also can copy the text into an email and send the agreement as an email to lawpostgraduate@utu.fi

4.    Degree certificates and transcript of study records

If the applicant has completed former degree(s) which grant eligibility for doctoral studies at a higher education institution in Finland, the degree certificate, transcript of study records and other educational documents which may affect student selection must be attached to the electronic application form.

a) If the applicant has completed former degree(s) which grant eligibility for doctoral studies at a higher education institution abroad (i.e. outside Finland), scanned or electronic degree certificates, the transcripts of study records, and other relevant educational documents must be attached to the electronic application form. 

If the original degree certificates and other educational documents are not written in English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations to one of these languages are required. An official translation here means a translation of the educational documents issued by the awarding institution or a translation made by an authorized translator. A study 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.

Applicants who have been granted a right to study and who have completed their prior degree abroad have to submit either the original degree certificates or certified copies of the degree certificates and other educational documents and the official translations of the documents to the University of Turku as instructed in the admission notification. Admitted applicants who do not deliver the required certificates by the deadline set in the admission notification, forfeits their study right. Please see the instructions on delivering certificates and country-specific requirements. 

5.    Certification of language skills.

6.    A copy of passport

Please consult the language skills requirements of the Doctoral Programme in Law as well as the instructions of verifying language proficiency on this page (Verifying language proficiency).

When applying for a funded Doctoral Candidate position, the following documents must be attached to the application:

 
1.    A research plan for a doctoral dissertation in accordance with the guidelines of the Faculty of Law

2.    A résumé (CV) including a list of publications 

3. Degree certificate

4. Transcript of study records

(for details please see the links above)

When considering the capability of the applicant to complete the degree for postgraduate studies, the following criteria are taken into consideration:

• Scholarly originality, ambition, importance and feasibility of the research plan,
• sufficiently wide-ranging knowledge of the research in the applicant’s field manifested in the research plan and methodological approach,
• possible publications,
• the merits, content and grade of the Master’s thesis or other possible postgraduate degree thesis
• connection between the research project and the faculty’s focal areas of research,
• other merits such as relevant professional experience.

The essential criteria for the funded positions of a Doctoral Researcher are:

• The quality, originality and feasibility of the research plan,
• Applicant’s eligibility for postgraduate studies (academic performance, possible scientific merits, the progress of studies and research to the current date)  

The final selection is based on comprehensive evaluation of applications since the applicants may be at different stages of their doctoral dissertation process. Any other funding received by the applicant for doctoral studies is taken into consideration when determining the duration of the Doctoral Researcher position.

E-mail: lawpostgraduate@utu.fi

Applicants will be informed personally about the decisions.