Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State - Admission Criteria and Instructions for Applicants
New doctoral candidates are admitted to the Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State two times a year. The electronic application forms are open during the application period. More information on how to apply for Doctoral Training at the University of Turku is available in the page of University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS).
Follow the instructions of the doctoral programme below, but also take into account the instructions of the faculty you apply to.
Instructions of the Faculty of Social Sciences for applying to the PhD programme:
Instructions
Instructions of the Faculty of Medicine for applying to the PhD programme:
Instructions
Shortly, the steps you need to take:
- Read carefully the instructions for applying
- Contact a potential supervisor (email including an abstract of the research plan and CV) to get a commitment: INVEST list of supervisors
- Write a research plan
- Get all necessary attachments (see Call for applications document)
- Apply in time
See more detailed information below
Next application periods:
- 29 August -12 September, 2025 (right to study from 1 January 2026 and doctoral researcher positions with employment contract)
- 2 March - 16 March, 2026 (right to study from 1 August 2026)
Note! The application forms close at 4 pm local time in Finland.
DPInvest doctoral programme's instructions on applying
Autumn 2025
Call for applications DPInvest - Autumn 2025 (pdf)
Application forms
Note: The study right for a doctoral degree and the doctoral researcher position with employment contract are applied on separate forms in two different systems.
- Links to the application forms are available on the Graduate School Application forms -page
- The study right for a doctoral degree is applied in StudyInfo (In Studyinfo choose: Fill in application form)
- The doctoral researchers position with an employment contract is applied in Talentti system (TalentAdore)
- The forms are accessible only during the application period and they close at 4 pm (local time in Finland, Europe/Helsinki) on the last day of the application period
- Please familiarize yourself with the application forms well before the end of the application period and allow sufficient time to obtain and/or draw up the necessary attachments
Faculty of Social Sciences
The right to study for doctoral degree at the University of Turku can be applied for by persons who meet the eligibility criteria for pursuing a doctoral degree, as stipulated in the Universities Act (558/2009, Section 37), as well as the prerequisites for pursuing a doctoral degree at the Faculty Social Sciences or Faculty of Medicine.
Eligible for studies leading to an academic postgraduate degree is a person who has completed
1. an applicable higher university degree in Finland
2. an applicable higher polytechnic degree in Finland; or
3. an applicable education completed outside Finland which in the awarding country gives eligibility for corresponding higher education.
Faculty of Medicine
Instructions on the website:
> Who can apply for doctoral training at the Faculty of Medicine
> Before applying, section 'Degree giving the eligibility'
Language requirements for admission / Right to study for a doctoral degree:
Research plan
The most significant part of an application is the research plan. A high-quality research plan is the most essential selection criteria and it demonstrates the applicant's capabilities for doctoral training. The research plan is done independently. Preparing your research plan carefully will help you stand out from other qualified applicants. Please note that the Doctoral programme on Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State will evaluate the suitability of your research topic in relation to the research profile of the discipline as well as in relation of the research themes of flagship project INVEST.
Structure of the research plan depends on the requirements of a faculty:
- Faculty of Social Sciences (psychology and sociology) research plan
- Faculty of Medicine (child psychiatry) research plan
By including the research plan to the application the applicant gives permission for checking the research plan with Turnitin OriginalityCheck (system for electrical plagiarism detection).
Study plan
Those applying to the Faculty of Medicine attach a preliminary postgraduate study plan in pdf format to the application. The planned study attainments and the estimated credits they give must form min. 40 credits altogether. The study plan has to follow the curriculum of the DPInvest Doctoral Programme (above).
Links to available postgraduate courses at the Faculty of Medicine, for your help:
> Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Medicine, section ‘Available postgraduate courses’
There's a call for applications twice a year. The call for applications will be published before the application period begins. You can apply to the doctoral programme by filling in online application forms (in Studyinfo for the study right and in TalentAdore for a fixed-term funded doctoral researcher position), available only during the application period. Follow the instructions for applying carefully.
You can apply:
- a right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Turku (both application periods, spring and autumn)
- funded doctoral candidate positions (only the autum application period)
Faculty of Social Sciences
The objective of the selection process of doctoral researchers is to have students suitable for a research career track who are skilled, motivated, and committed to research and doctoral studies.
A general prerequisite for the right to pursue postgraduate studies is an applicable higher academic degree, or a relevant degree from abroad which in the country in question provides eligibility for corresponding postgraduate studies.
The selection criteria are as follows:
- a sufficient grade in the advanced studies stage of a master’s degree - usually at least a good evaluation is required
- a sufficient grade for the master’s thesis – usually at least cum laude approbatur
- the level and feasibility of the applicant’s research plan
- availability of resources for supervision
Also sufficient English language skills are required (remember for instance language test, when needed).
Evaluation process:
- The applicants’ formal eligibility for doctoral training will be checked by the doctoral programme
- The applications selected for the next stage will be delivered to the disciplines for evaluation
- The person responsible for doctoral training in the discipline will prepare a proposal for selections
- After this, the applications are processed in the steering committee of the doctoral programme
- The steering committee of doctoral programme prepares a decision proposal for the Faculty
- Dean of the Faculty makes a decision, which will be published by the end of November
Faculty of Medicine
Descriptions of the assessment of the applications for the right to study and of the decision process are behind the links below.
The application consists of an electronic form and attached documents in pdf format, which the applicant has prepared according to the instructions.
The required enclosures of the application of the DPInvest doctoral programme are listed in the call for applications (a link on the bottom of this web page).
> The decision process and the confirming of the study place
The fixed-term funded doctoral researcher positions with an employment contract can be applied in each autumn. The amount of available positions varies each year. For each application period a call for applications is published. It includes instructions for applying and the criteria for evaluation.
The board of the doctoral programme will process the applications and may invite external experts to evaluate them.
In the evaluation, particular attention will be paid to the following:
- quality of the research plan (general quality, feasibility, relation to doctoral programme research profile)
- success in previous studies [master’s thesis (or equivalent) grade and other studies]
- academic merits and progress in studies towards a doctoral degree
- how well the research plan is linked with the research themes of the programme
The evaluation is carried out as an overall assessment, taking into account the stage of the research career. The funding needs of applicants in relation to the funding periods available will also be taken into account. The doctoral programme is multidisciplinary and aims to promote all research fields, which may be taken into consideration when
positions are filled.
Evaluation process of applications:
- doctoral programme checks and evaluates the applications
- applications may be send for external evaluation
- the Steering Committee of the doctoral programme makes a proposal to the Head of INVEST Research Flagship Centre for the selection of doctoral researchers
- the Head of INVEST Research Flagship Centre will decide on recruitment of the applicants for a fixed-term doctoral researcher positions
- Socioeconomic and intergenerational inequalities (professor Elina Kilpi-Jakonen, elina.kilpi-jakonen(a)utu.fi)
- Demographic changes and family dynamics (professor Marika Jalovaara, marika.jalovaara(a)utu.fi)
- Education, skills and learning (professor Johanna Kaakinen, johanna.kaakinen(a)utu.fi)
- Child and adolescent psychosocial well-being and mental health (professor Kirsi Peltonen, kirsi.peltonen(a)utu.fi)
- Public health and health equity (professor André Sourander, andre.sourander(a)utu.fi)
Major subjects in DPInvest are: sociology, psychology and child psychiatry.