Finnish Doctoral Programme in Oral Sciences - for the Doctoral researchers

FINDOS-Turku doctoral researchers are privileged to participate in an excellent doctoral training program including basic and advanced research courses in oral science as well as extensive transferable skills courses offered by the doctoral program, FINDOS network and UTUGS. The goal is to achieve the doctoral degree from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku in four years net time. In addition to the supervisor, the progress of the doctoral researcher is supported by a carefully selected follow-up group and FINDOS.

Aims

The purpose of the FINDOS-Turku doctoral programme is to provide high quality and well structured doctoral training in the different fields of oral sciences. In addition, the programme is aimed at facilitating contacts between the doctoral researchers and research groups in the field of oral sciences. These networks bring depth and motivation to the PhD work.

Training and teaching in FINDOS are based on locally organized regular seminars and journal clubs complemented with joint annual symposia, summer schools and research training courses. The program invites both doctoral researchers and their supervisors to jointly participate in seminars, thematic symposia with international partners, laboratory-oriented methodology workshops, summer schools and journal clubs.

Welcome!

Welcome to postgraduate studies at the University of Turku, the Faculty of Medicine and the Finnish Doctoral Programme in Oral sciences!

The University of Turku Graduate School UTUGS is responsible for the development of doctoral education and provides support for doctoral researchers during doctoral training: UTUGS - for Doctoral Researcher

Faculty of Medicine grants the right to study for doctoral degree, approves the entity of doctoral studies as a part of the doctoral degree, approves the doctoral thesis and issues the degree certificate: Doctoral Training at the Faculty of Medicine

Welcome to Turku

Welcome to the University of Turku

Turku Campus

Student life in Turku

Services and support for international staff and researchers

General instructions for doctoral studies

At the beginning

Plan your studies in the Peppi-system. Use the Study Guide as help.
Take courses.
Apply for study credits on studies (courses, scientific seminars, conferences etc.) organized outside UTU with an electronic form which you can find in UGIS portal.

Yearly

Convene a follow-up committee meeting.
Hand in a annual progress report in January.
Remember the Registration with the University yearly from 1 June to 31 August.
Take part in the doctoral program's annual meetings in December.

In the final stage

Allow enough time for the pre-examination and dissertation process
Make sure that you have completed the required number of studies and apply for approval of the completed postgraduate study entity.
You will find instructions on how to iniate the preliminary examination process and necessary electronic forms from UGIS portal.
Deliver the necessary forms with attachments to the faculty well in advance of each meeting's Documents for the Doctoral Committee at the latest -date .

Postgraduate studies

Information on Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Medicine

Courses and seminars in Turku

Finnish doctoral Programme in Oral Sciences (FINDOS-Turku) Seminars
Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Education Unit, PGE
Turku BioNet Seminar Calender
FINDOS-Turku Seminars
Seminars at the Institute of Dentistry
My UTUGS - Tools for Doctoral Researchers (in the beginning of each semester)
Turku Annual Meeting for Doctoral Researchers and Supervisors (yearly in November/December)
All FINDOS-Turku doctoral researchers and supervisors are welcome to attend. Doctoral researchers have possibility to give short presentation about the topic and progress of their dissertation. Doctoral researchers get 1 ECTS for participating in the full program including the oral presentation. For more information, please contact the coordinator.

Courses organized by the partners in the National FINDOS network

Applying for study credits

Attendance to postgraduate courses, scientific seminars, conferences etc. organized outside UTU can be accepted as part of your postgraduate studies with an electronic form which you can find in UGIS portal (if you have been granted the right to study for a doctoral degree after 1 January 2013).

> UGIS portal > Links > Apply for study credit / Tohtorikoulutuksen opintosuorituksen rekisteröinti

Follow-up committee meeting and annual progress report

The progress of the doctoral researchers in FINDOS is evaluated annually by the follow-up group (annual follow-up committee meeting) and by the FINDOS doctoral programme (annual progress report). The progress of the thesis work and the result of the follow-up committee meeting should be stated in the annual progress report.

Follow-up committee meeting

The annual follow-up committee meeting is convened by the doctoral researcher. The follow-up committee will monitor the progress of the doctoral researcher’s PhD project until the dissertation.

The goal of follow-up committee meetings is to ensure progress of thesis work and postgraduate studies, to provide external views on research undertaken by doctoral researchers, and to support doctoral researchers and supervisors in possible conflict situations. The aim is to enable successful completion of thesis work and to provide expert instruction in the field of the thesis and the execution of thesis work. You can earn a maximum of 4 credits from follow-up group meetings, 1 credit per annual follow-up committee meeting, and meeting minutes.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOW-UP COMMITTEE

The aim of the follow-up committee is to promote the progress of the thesis work by providing expertise in the subject matter and in the implementation of the thesis work. When needed, changes to the study plan and/or the research plan can be made based on these discussions.

The follow-up committee convenes at least once a year to evaluate the progress of the thesis work and doctoral studies. The future career plans of the doctoral researcher should also be discussed each year.
The doctoral researcher arranges the annual meeting and draws up a report on their progress and sends it to the members of the follow-up committee and to the supervisor(s) prior to the meeting. The meeting may be organized remotely. In addition, the doctoral researcher writes a free-form memo about the meeting and attaches it to the UGIS portal event (Lifecycle/Supervisory Meetings/Meetings/Advisory committee of Follow-up committee meetings).
In case problems related to the thesis work or the supervision arise, the doctoral researcher may contact the committee also between the annual meetings. The doctoral researcher must have the opportunity to discuss these problems in confidence with the follow-up committee. At the end of the meeting, the doctoral researcher will have a brief discussion (5-10 min) with the supervisory committee in the absence of the supervisor(s).
For more information, see also the study guides for postgraduate training in the Faculty of Medicine, section 4.4: Follow-up committee for doctoral training and annual reporting.

MEETINGS AND REPORTING
The follow-up committee convenes once a year until thesis defense. It is the responsibility of the doctoral researcher to organize the follow-up committee meetings. The content of these meetings changes according to the progression of the thesis work and the maturity of the doctoral researcher. In addition to following the progress of the project, each meeting has its specific aims, which may vary depending on, e.g. the former studies and progress of the doctoral researcher.

The recommended structure of the meetings (assuming a 4-year duration for the thesis work):

Meeting 1: Formulating a personal study plan together with the doctoral researcher, verification of faculty registration of the project. Introducing the current state of the research project, plans for continuation, and the state of possible funding applications. Discussion about career plans.
Meeting 2: Monitoring the implementation of the postgraduate study plan and the progress of the research project (including careful inspection of results and findings/publication plan). Evaluating the state of research funding and future funding possibilities. Discussing the doctoral researcher's career plans.
Meeting 3: (and subsequent meetings when needed): Following up on the personal study plan, progress of the research project, and career plan, thorough check of research results and publication plan. Discussing about the research funding and career plans.
Meeting 4: (The final meeting): Accepting the PhD project as completed, writing a statement to the faculty in support of beginning the preliminary examination process of the thesis manuscript. In addition, post-doctoral research funding or other career plans are discussed.

Arranging the meeting

One week prior to the meeting the doctoral researcher writes up the annual progress report and sends it to the follow-up committee members and supervisor(s). The follow-up committee members are expected to familiarize themselves with the report in advance. The doctoral researcher, supervisor(s), and the follow-up committee members must all participate in the follow-up committee meeting. The meeting can be organized online to reduce travelling.

During the meeting

The doctoral researcher presents the current status and future plans of the PhD project, including the publication plan.

Follow-up committee members:
evaluate the progression of the thesis work, and make suggestions for additional experiments etc., if needed.
check the study attainments, which produce study credits, that are completed by the doctoral researcher and give advice on future studies that would furnish the doctoral researcher with adequate knowledge of, and expertise in the field.
The doctoral researcher will also have the opportunity to discuss briefly (5-10 min) with the supervisory committee in the absence of the supervisor(s).

After the meeting

The doctoral researcher writes a freeform memo of the follow-up committee meeting. This memo should be attached to UGIS-portal.
Please note that the follow-up committee meeting can be arranged at any time during the calendar year! Many supervisors and follow-up committee members have several follow-up committee meetings they need to attend to and are thus very busy close to the progress report deadline (January).

Annual progress report

In order to maintain an active study right, a doctoral researcher is required to enrol every year, either as an attending or a non-attending student. As an attending student, a doctoral researcher is required to hand in an annual progress report (electronic form) to their doctoral programme in January. In addition, the doctoral researcher's supervisor must express support for maintaining an active study right.

Instructions of the Faculty of Medicine on Follow-up Committee Meeting and Annual Progress Report

Additional information on the aims, members and meetings of the follow-up committee as well as on annual reporting is available under section 4.4 (Follow-up committee for doctoral training and annual reporting) of the Faculty of Medicine´s Study guide for doctoral training 2022–2024.pdf.

Dissertation process and graduation

Instructions for the dissertation process are available at the UGIS portal and the whole process is carried out in the portal. Further instructions at the Faculty of Medicine website.

Nervous of oral presentations or your thesis defense?

We have listed some tips for you below

1. You are not the only one being scared of keeping oral presentations including the thesis defense, so you are not alone. Talk to your doctoral researcher mates, colleagues and supervisor(s) - you probably find (peer) support surprisingly easy!

2. Practice giving scientific presentations from the very beginning of your studies. First, start in a safe environment: give a talk related to your thesis work to your friends, family or fellow doctoral researcher. You can tell them that you are not a big fan of giving presentations and would like to be supported in this issue. Second, take part to eConference and give a presentation there. Finally, when you feel ready, give a scientific presentation to live audience in a conference or seminar series.

3. Do not forget to register to the FINDOS Annual Meeting and give a short presentation there. Also, the FINDOS-Turku seminar series is a great place to practise giving presentations.

4. Get familiar with the defense process.

Go listening to the dissertations of your own field.
Read the guidelines for the dissertation defense so that you know what to expect. Link to dissertation guidelines.

5. Remember that you can contact University of Turku Study Psychologist (opintopsykologi@utu.fi) or, if you are employed by UTU, use the services of Occupational Health Care Psychologist of Mehiläinen to get help.

6. Tell your supervisor that you are nervous. You can together find solutions such as selecting an emphatic opponent.

7. Tips for the actual dissertation defense:

Before the dissertation defense: Practice keeping your lectio praecursoria and get feedback to it from your supervisor and friends. Visit in the defense lecture hall beforehand to get to know the place, how lights are functioning and so on.
Beginning of the event: While keeping lectio praecursoria focus on the friendly faces of your friends or family. Remember to breath. Deep breathing calms the body’s stress reaction.
Examination of the dissertation: Remember to continue breathing. If you do not know what to answer your opponent right away, start by saying “What an excellent question, I have to think about the answer a bit.”
After the dissertation defense: Celebrate - it is over! PhD is a great achievement!

FINDOS-Turku steering committee

The term of office: 1.8.2025-31.7.2029

Director
Professor Ulvi Gürsoy

Professor Arzu Tezvergil-Mutluay (Deputy Director)
Professor Timo Närhi
Professor Hanna Thorén
Professor Klaus Elenius
Professor Pekka Vallittu (InFLAMES)
Professor Satu Lahti
Adjunct professor Vuokko Loimaranta
Adjunct professor Jaana Willberg
Doctoral Researcher Katri Palo (Deputy Member Doctoral Researcher Hanna Suokko)

Secretary, Coordinator Maiju Kannisto

Useful links