Finding supervisors willing to guide you through your thesis project is one of the most important steps when preparing your application. But it’s not always an easy feat. Here are a few tips on how to go about it:

• Start early. And when we say early, we’re talking about months rather than weeks. Finding the right match can be a time-consuming business.
• Do your research. You are more likely to get a positive response if the researchers you approach actually share your research interests. Think of approaching the prospective supervisors in a sense like you would applying for a job – sending the same generic message to various recipients is unlikely to provide the hoped-for results. Acquaint yourself with the supervisors' research profiles, and try to pick the people you approach based on actual mutual research interests.
• Pay attention to detail. At least one of your supervisors has to be in a permanent or long-term employment to the faculty awarding your prospective target degree, and at least one needs to hold the title of docent or similar scientific qualifications – i.e. be a senior researcher in your field. When you find potential supervisors, make sure in the further discussions that at least one of them fills these conditions.
• Be precise. Supervisors get a lot of email. When you approach a prospective supervisor, present your interest and motivation in a clear, succinct manner.
• Be patient and prepare for disappointments. In the process of finding a supervisor, you are likely to receive several negative responses – or, sometimes, no response at all. If you get a negative response, move on. Be also aware that, especially if your research interest is of a field that’s not widely represented here, it’s also possible that you will not find a supervisor.

Supervisors in the DPDR work in the area of drug research and toxicological research. They are usually professors and principal investigators at the University of Helsinki. An extensive list of DPDR supervisors can be found from the University of Helsinki research portal.

Lists for doc­toral can­did­ates

All DPDR doctoral candidates should join the dpdr-candidates(a)helsinki.fi mailing list, which is used to advertise DPDR activities as well as to distribute information relevant to PhD candidates. Another relevant mailing list is the DSHealth doctoral school list (all DPDR-candidates list members automatically receive the DSHealth mails as well). Also, consult your supervisor for other relevant mailing lists to join.

To subscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo(at)helsinki.fi. Leave the subject-line empty and in the message field write subscribe DPDR-candidates. Please use your helsinki.fi email address.

To unsubscribe the list send an e-mail to majordomo(at)helsinki.fi and write in the message field unsubscribe DPDR-candidates and nothing else. Please note that you should send the email from the same address that you joined the list with.

Email list for DPDR su­per­vi­sors

Primary supervisors are added to the DPDR-supervisors@helsinki.fi email list, other supervisors may join the list like this:
To subscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo(at)helsinki.fi. Leave the subject-line empty and in the message field write subscribe dpdr-supervisors.