Doctoral Training at Turku School of Economics

The Doctoral Programmes of Turku School of Economics are part of the University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS). In addition, Turku School of Economics is actively involved in many national doctoral programmes.

Doctoral researchers at Turku School of Economics may belong either to the Doctoral Programme of Turku School of Economics (all majors except Health Economics), Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research (Health Economics as major subject) or the Doctoral Programme in Technology (Information Systems Science as major subject).

Applying

Doctoral researchers at Turku School of Economics may belong either to the Doctoral Programme of Turku School of Economics (all majors except) or to the Doctoral Programme in Mathematics and Computer Sciences (MATTI) (Information Systems Science as major subject).

In both Doctoral Programmes, the applicants must fulfill the admission and eligibility criteria of Turku School of Economics but the Doctoral Programmes have their own application enclosure requirements so applicants must follow carefully the instructions of the Doctoral Programme they are applying to:

The general instructions about applying can be found from the webpages of the Graduate School UTUGS: https://www.utu.fi/en/tutkimus/tutkijakoulu/hakuohjeet

General instructions for doctoral researchers

Useful links

Funding

Information about funding is available on the page of the University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS) and from the Intranet pages of the Research Funding Unit.

 

Registering to courses

All TSE courses can be found from the study guide. Registration to courses is done in Peppi if not otherwise stated in the study guide (always check the study guide bofore registering to a course; there may be some information that is clearer in the study guide than in Peppi). You can see when the course is organized from the additional information of the course. In addition, more detailed information about when a course is organized and when and how you can register to it will be published as follows: for the autumn term on 15.6. and for the spring term on 15.11. This information will show as a blue box just below the name of the course, and by opening that blue box you will see the details. Most of the postgraduate courses, however, do not have traditional classes but they are completed independently. In order to complete these courses, you need to contact the responsible teacher of the course by email.

 

Planning your studies

After admission to the doctoral studies at Turku School of Economics, the doctoral researcher must make a personal study plan (PSP) in Peppi system (instructions). You can also draft a preliminary personal study plan in excel form together with the supervisor which shows the schedule of the dissertation and doctoral courses. It is advised then to do the PSP to Peppi because all your completed courses are registered to Peppi and they are shown in your transcript of records as they are in your Peppi PSP (for example if you have not chosen the studies to your PSP, all those courses are automatically moved to the category "courses outside of the PSP"). You may ask the coordinator for help! The personal study plan should be updated regularly with the supervisor.
 
The supervisor and the doctoral student must also draw up a supervision plan. Please send a copy of the supervision plan to the Coordinator of the Doctoral Programme Jenni Heervä (jenni.heerva@utu.fi). You can also use the electronic form. Remember to make the supervision plan together with your supervisors, for example in a supervision meeting.
 
The degree requirements and course descriptions are available in the electronic Study Guide.

Credit transfer

A TSE student can include in their degree credits completed elsewhere or use them to replace complusory courses in his/her degree structure (such as KATAJA courses). Doctoral researchers should always talk with their supervisor before taking courses to make sure the courses are suitable for the degree and that they support the doctoral thesis.

After the course is done and you would like to have the credits in Peppi, you need to fill in an electronic form and attach there the course description and transcript/course certificate. You must be prepared to show the original transcript on demand.

Please give the following information when filling in the form:

1) Title of Study Credit. Please tell here if you wish to replace a compulsory course, for example: "KATAJA Reserach Traditions in Marketing, I apply to replace with this the course KV205001 MAJ11". You can find the course codes from this document.

2) ECTS credits suggested

3) Describe the course and tell here whether you would like to include this course to your major studies, general postgraduate studies or elective studies. For example "I have completed the course on 3 November 2017 at the University of Vaasa and I would like to include this to my major studies".

4) Attach the course description and certificate.

5) The form can be found here

If you need any advice concerning the structure of the doctoral degree, the doctoral courses or basically if you have any questions at all, please contact the Coordinator of the Doctoral Programme Jenni Heervä (jenni.heerva@utu.fi).


Follow-up Groups

Each Doctoral Researcher can have a follow-up group. Please read TSE's guidelines.

Postgraduate studies

Structure

The studies for the degrees of Doctor of Science in Economics and Business Administration, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Social Sciences comprise of the following:

DOCTORAL DEGREE 240 cr

  1. General postgraduate studies 15 cr
  2. Postgraduate studies in major subject 32 cr
  3. Elective studies 13 cr
  4. Doctoral dissertation 180 cr

1. General postgraduate studies (minimum of 15 credits) can include

  • YLJ courses offered by the Turku School of Economics
  • Courses offered by the University of Turku Graduate School UTUGS (link to the UTUGS courses: https://opas.peppi.utu.fi/en/degree-programme/11196) or
  • Courses offered by different doctoral training networks (e.g. (KATAJA, KAVA/FDPE, NFF, TVA/FFA, TUCS, FDPSS, EIASM) or other Universities

There are two compulsory courses: Information Resources and Tools for Research (3 ECTS) and Ethics of Academic Research (2 ECTS).

2. There are 32 credits of studies in the major subject in the postgraduate degree. The studies in all major subjects consist of the following modules (each major subject defines the specific contents and requirements under the modules):

  • I. the core theoretical content and literature of the discipline 8-40 cr, including Specialisation Area 1-12 cr
  • II. research methodology and methods 6-20 cr
  • III. research seminar 1-6 cr
  • IV. other special skills 0-12 cr (Research Mobility and Networking 1-6 cr; Academic Conference Presentation 1-6 cr; Popularising Science 1-2 cr; Teaching Given by the Doctoral Reasearcher 1-6 cr; Practical Training as an Expert 1-6cr)

3. Postgraduate degree includes 13 credits of elective studies. These studies can be for example courses in the major subject or other subject, courses in general postgraduate studies or other courses at least on advanced level that support the research, doctoral studies and developing the transferable skills of the doctoral researcher. Elective studies may also include pedagogical studies.

Doctoral researchers at TSE choose their studies from

  • The curricula of Turku School of Economics (in Study Guide)
  • Courses offered by University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS)
  • Courses offered by national and international doctoral training networks (e.g. (KATAJA, KAVA/FDPE, TVA/FFA, TUCS, FDPSS, EIASM)
  • If possible courses offered by other faculties of University of Turku and from the courses of other Finnish universities (Flexible Study Right - JOO Agreement)

The doctoral studies are at postgraduate level and also advanced studies can be included in the doctoral degree. Intermediate or basic level courses are not accepted to a doctoral degree.

The most important part of the doctoral degree is the doctoral thesis. Conducting research requires an independent outlook and often active seeking of research funding.

Your research for the thesis is supported by

  • active and high-quality supervision
  • completing postgraduate courses
  • presentations at research seminars
  • participating in conferences
  • visiting foreign universities and
  • collaborative writing and working in research groups

Current Affairs

TSE is part of UTU-GreDiT that recruits 25 doctoral researchers focusing on Green and Digital Transition, providing these with an interdisciplinary and international training ecosystem, supported by a host of external partners and secondment options, to enable them to develop as experts able to bring about transformative change. The call for applications for the UTU-GreDiT doctoral researchers’ positions will be open from 23 November 2023 to 22 January 2024. >> https://sites.utu.fi/utugredit/how-to-apply/