Profile and activities

A doctoral degree in the programme comprises of a doctoral thesis and 40 credits of doctoral studies. The studies are divided into discipline-specific and transferable skills.

We also organise research seminars, where you get to present your own work, receive feedback and get to know your fellow doctoral researchers.

Courses in research ethics and transferable skills are offered throughout the academic year by the Doctoral School in Environmental, Food and Biologiacal Sciences (YEB).

To get started:

• Visit the doctoral programme’s study guide and get to know the degree structure
• Check out upcoming research seminars and courses in the programme
• Browse transferable skill courses organized by the doctoral school

MBDP offers support to attend MOOC

MBDP offers the opportunity to complete the in depth MBDP thematic courses by attending MOOCs.

You may include a MOOC in your degree if you find a suitable course. In order to get the credits, you must obtain a course certificate. To obtain the certificate, you usually need to pay a fee. MBDP supports its doctoral candidates’ participation in field-specific MOOCs with approximately 50 Euro.

The financial support can be applied using this online application form. Before applying, please discuss with your supervisor about the course you are planning to take, to make sure it fits your study plan. The planning officer Mia will review the application and decide on the funding. You should first pay the course certificate fee yourself and MBDP will then reimburse the cost to you.

Here is a collection of links for you where you can find interesting courses that can be included in your degree.
https://www.coursera.org/
https://www.mooc.org/
https://mooc.helsinki.fi/course/index.php?categoryid=2
https://www.classcentral.com/collection/ivy-league-moocs

If you have any questions about the funding, please contact the planning officer by emailing to mbdp-office(a)helsinki.fi.

Upcoming courses:

MBDP-002 MBDP/​YEB ori­ent­a­tion Spring 2021
Tue  9 February 2021 at  10:00 - 12:00 via Zoom
Registration in WebOodi 23.11.2020-2.2.2021

MBDP-107 Introduction to LINUX
Late February to early March 2021
More information: Mia Vehkaoja
Organised as distance learning
Registration in WebOodi

MBDP-102 Microbiology & biotechnology 2: Metagenomics
26-30 April 2021
Oranisers: Jenni Hultman and Antti Karkman
Registration in WebOodi
Organised as distance learning

Mini-symposium: "Virus nanobiotechnology/vaccine production in plants"
Spring 2021
Organiser: Kristiina Mäkinen
Registration in WebOodi

MBDP-108 Advanced LINUX
September 2021
More information: Mia Vehkaoja
Organised as distance learning
Registration in SISU

MBDP-109 Statistical analysis with R
November 2021
More information: Mia Vehkaoja
Organised as distance learning
Registration in SISU

MBDP-103 Microbiology & biotechnology 3: Human microbiome
November 2021
Organiser: Reetta Satokari
Registration in SISU

Phytobiomes/phytomicrobiome
Autumn 2021
Organiser: Fred Asiegbu
Registration in SISU

MBDP-106 MBDP first manuscript
December 2021 - March 2022
More information: Mia Vehkaoja
Registration in SISU

Seminar series

MICROBIOLOGY SEMINARS (MBDP-302)
Fridays at 9.15
2021:
26 February 2021
Jérôme Collemare, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, the Netherlands

19 March 2021
Arthur Ouwehand, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences

16 April 2021
Jussi Heinonsalo, Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki

Organiser: Miia Mäkelä, miia.r.makela(at)helsinki.fi
10 attendances = 1 ECTS, own presentation = 1 ECTS
Maximum Microbiology Seminar credits = 3 ECTS
 

VIRUS CLUB (MBDP-301)
Thursdays at 14:30
2021:

Organisers: Ausra Domanska, Alesia Levanova and Ilona Rissanen, e-mail: mbdp-office(at)helsinki.fi
10 attendances = 1 ECTS, own presentation = 1 ECTS
Maximum Virus Club credits = 3 ECTS

Annual meeting

MBDP annual meeting takes place every year during spring. The event consists of inspiring speakers and relaxed get-together. The annual meeting aims to gather MBDP students, supervisors and board members to meet in relaxed atmosphere once a year. Annual meeting participants are rewarded with one study credit.

Annual First manuscript writing course

The programme also organises annually First manuscript writing course. The course gives guidance on the academic writing process and enables during the course to write all the sections of a scientific manuscript. Participants will receive critical assessment by the course teacher and peers.

Events taking place at the Viikki campus are listed in this calendar (however, most info is not up-to-date)

• Cell Biology Club (by ILS doctoral programme )
• Developmental biology journal club (by ILS doctoral programme )
• Genome club (by ILS doctoral programme )
• Food Science seminar series LINK to program

Many courses relevant for MBDP doctoral candidates are organised all over the world.

You may find interesting and useful courses among these:

• PhD courses organised by the NOVA network
  The Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine are members of the NOVA (The Nordic Forestry, Veterinary and Agricultural University Network). Students of member faculties may participate on NOVA courses free of charge (travel and accommodation not included). Please find more information here.
• NorDoc – Nordic Doctoral Training in Health Sciences network provides doctoral training courses in health offered by the NorDoc partner organisations
• PhD courses organised by other doctoral programmes and schools
• Information skills courses by the Helsinki University Library
• You may also find relevant courses in the Master’s Programmes of the University of Helsinki.
• Or you can search from all University of Helsinki courses in English.
• CSC – IT center for science arranges many kinds of courses and workshops
• See national course list, for example, in FinBioNet (Finnish Doctoral Programme Network in Life Sciences) page → FinBioNet course calendar