Please make sure you read both the general instructions and those specific to AGFOREE.
The University of Helsinki (UH) annually allocates funding to doctoral programmes for salaried positions (employment contract).
The next application period for salaried positions will be on 29.08.-14.09.2023.
Salaried doctoral researcher positions are aimed at enabling full-time work on doctoral dissertations and doctoral studies, with the goal of completing a doctoral degree in four years. The exact duration of employment, its’ start and end dates are determined in the employment contract.
The salary and other further details concerning the employment relationship are available in the call for applications (available when the call is open).
You can apply for a salaried position in a doctoral programme if you are currently a doctoral student at the University of Helsinki or are planning to pursue a doctoral degree.
If you already have a doctoral study right at the University of Helsinki, you can apply for a salaried position, if you have not yet spent a total of four years with a UH funded doctoral researcher salary.
Please read your doctoral programme’s instructions below.
Applications for a salaried position in a doctoral programme are submitted by completing the application form and enclosing the required attachments.
If you do not yet have the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, you can apply for the right in the September study right call or in the spring at the latest. Please note that this may result in your employment beginning later than 1 January 2024.
If you are offered a salaried position, you must apply and be awarded the right to pursue a doctoral degree in your doctoral programme within the six-month trial period.
Please note that you may apply for a UH-funded doctoral candidate position from a maximum of two doctoral programmes. If an applicant has submitted more than two applications, the two most recently dated will be considered and reviewed.
If you already have the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, you may also apply for a salaried position from another doctoral programme that suits your research profile.
If you receive a salaried position from another doctoral programme, you will need to change your doctoral programme. This means that you may need to reapply for study right if your faculty or target degree changes. This application should be made in the spring at the latest. Please note that this may affect the start date of your potential employment. If you are applying for a salaried position in more than one doctoral programme, please complete a separate application form for each one.
You will find more instructions on applying from the doctoral programme specific instructions below.
On these pages you will find information on how to use the recruitment system.
Further information can be requested by writing to phd-positions(at)helsinki.fi
AGFOREE welcomes applications from researchers whose doctoral thesis research focus and research questions are directly relevant to sustainable use of renewable natural resources.
AGFOREE offers salaried doctoral researcher positions starting from 1st January 2024 (1.1.2024).
The following number of positions are available for full-time research:
Applicants must apply for full years (12 month periods), i.e. one, three or four years, corresponding to the length of time required to complete the PhD. The minimum period is 12 months (one year) starting in 2024.
Applicants must clearly state the number of full years they require in their applications.
Please note that you cannot be awarded funding for more years than you apply for.
1) The University of Helsinki Doctoral School allocates ten (10) four-year salaried doctoral researcher positions from 2024-2027 in a strategically targeted thematic call: Multidisciplinary research on One Health including a global dimension
One Health is understood in its widest scope referring to an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment.
The global dimension may be evident in the research proposals in the spirit of global responsibility, with a special focus on Africa. Groundbreaking basic research, open-minded curiosity and cooperation that transcends boundaries are supported. The projects are expected to increase our knowledge towards building a sustainable future by finding solutions to both local and global issues and thereby benefiting the global community.
A multidisciplinary thematic evaluation panel will select applicants for these places based on high-scoring four-year applications from each doctoral programme.
If your four-year doctoral research plan fits into this theme, please indicate this by completing the section 'Thematic call' on the application form.
2) The University of Helsinki Research Foundation allocates ten (10) four-year salaried doctoral researcher positions from 2024-2027 to high-scoring four-year applicants.
The Research Foundation emphasizes multidisciplinarity and the applicant's ability to explain which societal problems or questions the research aims to answer.
If your four-year doctoral research plan fits the requirements of the Research Foundation and your application is highly-scored by the doctoral programme, you may be considered for these positions.
Applicants must have completed their Master's degree by the end of the application period AND either have active post-graduate study rights at the University of Helsinki OR are applying for post-graduate study rights in either the September 2023 or January 2024 admissions call.
If you are applying for post-graduate study rights in September 2023 or January 2024, please read carefully the Admissions to doctoral studies pages.
Please note that applications for the right to pursue a doctoral degree are processed according to a different schedule by the responsible Faculty. The relevant faculty makes decisions regarding study rights and applicants are personally notified in a separate notification to salaried doctoral researcher positions.
Applications for salaried positions are submitted via the University of Helsinki recruitment system.
The application form is open during the application period, 29th August - 14th September 2023.
The application form is available from the University of Helsinki Open positions webpages.
Please note that you may apply for a UH-funded doctoral candidate position from a maximum of two doctoral programmes. If an applicant has submitted more than two applications, the two most recently dated will be considered and reviewed.
For technical reasons, the application form closes at midnight on 14th September. However, please note that any questions regarding the application form or application process will not be answered after 16:00 local Helsinki time (EEST-Eastern Europe Summer Time) on 14th September.You are therefore strongly recommended to submit your application in plenty of time before the end of the application period.
Application language: applications must be submitted in English.
Application attachments: all attachments must be combined as a single PDF file and attached to your application in the ‘CV’ section of the application form. The maximum size of the combined file is 5 MB. You may use programs such as PDF2GO, SmallPDF or Adobe to combine your files.
1) Research plan
To ensure the equal treatment of applicants, you must use the research plan structure presented in the template and follow the maximum number of characters including spaces indicated in the template. Your application may be rejected if the instructions are not followed.
Research plan template (word document)
2) CV
To ensure the equal treatment of applicants, your CV must follow the template of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK). Your application may be rejected if the instructions are not followed.
Font: Arial/Calibri
Size: 11 points or similar if not using Word
Line spacing: minimum 1,15
Maximum length of CV: 2 pages
CV template information (webpage)
Please note that before applying for a salaried doctoral researcher position the applicant is required to find an appropriate research group and supervisor(s). The applicant is expected to contact prospective supervisor(s) independently and agree on the details of the thesis project before applying for the salaried doctoral researcher position. All applicants must have at least two supervisors and two thesis committee members.
An excellent application should:
In order to be eligible for evaluation, the application form must be completed in English and submitted by the deadline for the application to be valid. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
Please indicate how your personal laboratory/field work/other research costs will be covered in addition to salary costs.
1. Applications received in time and fulfilling the both the general and AGFOREE application criteria are evaluated and scored by an evaluation panel. The evaluation panel consists of members of the AGFOREE board and possibly other experts in the fields of the doctoral programme.
The evaluation of the applications is based on the following criteria:
2. Based on the evaluation panel scores, the top applicants will be invited for interview.
3. The interview panel consists of AGFOREE board members.
Applicants will be evaluated and scored on their ability to discuss their research project in detail, their understanding of the relevance of their project and their motivation.
Interviews for selected applicants will be held in English on Wednesday 8th November from 1000-1300.
Interviews may be held in person or online via Zoom.
Interview invitations will be sent via email approximately 10 days before the interviews.
All applicants will be personally notified of the decisions by the end of November.
The names of the applicants selected for the positions will be published on the doctoral programme’s web pages (if the applicant has given permission).
The board of the doctoral programme makes a proposal regarding the appointment of salaried doctoral researcher positions to the relevant University of Helsinki Faculty/Department/Research Programme/Research Institute.
The director of the relevant employment unit makes the final decision on the appointments, and employment contracts are then handled by the HR personnel of the employment unit.
AGFOREE received 38 complete and eligible applications, which were evaluated by a nine member evaluation panel. Eleven applicants were invited for interview.
Lukas Bornholdt, 4 years, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Jussi Heinonsalo
Zoárd Kenessey, 4 years, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Péter Poczai
Mikko Kesälä, 4 years, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Marjo Palviainen
Rodney Okwasiimire, 4 years, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Pekka Uimari
Matilda Kattilakoski, 3 years, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Jenni Hultman
Pauliina Turunen, 3 years, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Mari Pihlatie
Bijaya Neupane, 1 year, Faculty of Agriculture & Forestry, supervisor Edward Webb