Science&Research

Doctoral Schools

University of Helsinki to have four doctoral schools

The University will introduce a doctoral education system consisting of four doctoral schools at the beginning of 2014. The objective is to improve doctoral education and enhance its international visibility.

The research fields of the four schools will not follow faculty or campus structures but will, instead, be based on cooperation in research and doctoral education. The doctoral schools will be established in the following fields:

Humanities and social sciences
Natural sciences
Health sciences
Biological, environmental and food sciences

The schools will comprise doctoral programmes that are closely related in terms of their scientific foundation. In the future, all the University’s doctoral students will belong to a doctoral programme, which will provide teaching and supervision. The University’s Rector will decide in June which programmes will be running at the University as of 2014.

Doctoral programmes as of 1 January 2012

In 2012 the University of Helsinki coordinates a total of 28 doctoral programmes funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture (salaries) and the Academy of Finland (operational appropriations). These programmes include 212 doctoral student positions. Three of the programmes are local and 19 national. In addition, the University is involved in more than 30 doctoral programmes coordinated by other universities.