Doctoral Programme in Geosciences

The Doctoral Programme in Geosciences (GeoDoc) is a multidisciplinary postgraduate research training programme for students interested in Earth's crust, its dynamics, phenomena and social dimensions. Geosciences have a significant role in solving global problems and challenges, such as energy and raw material sufficiency, climate change, and chemicalization of the environment which has led to an increased demand of geoscientists in all sectors nationally and internationally. Finland is located on the edge of the Arctic region which has significant natural resources but is also highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. In addition, Finland's bedrock has exceptional discovery potential for many hi-tech metals and critical minerals which provide excellent circumstances for geoscientific research and innovations. Disciplines represented in GeoDoc also make a decisive contribution to the understanding of and anticipation to natural hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic activities and extreme climatic events. International scientific collaboration networks, high-class infrastructure, multidisciplinary and high quality supervision practice of GeoDoc will support postgraduate research and help develop the researcher identity of doctoral students, and develop their competence for demanding international expert positions in geosciences.

GeoDoc offers high quality postgraduate degree studies, research infrastructure, facilities, and supervision in Geology, Physical Geography, Solid Earth Geophysics, and parts of Archaeology. Research focal areas are Biogeography, Economic Geology, Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Global Change, Hydrogeography, Hydrogeology, Isotope Geology, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, Petrology, Quaternary Geology, Raw materials of Earth's crust, Remote Sensing, Sedimentology, Seismology, and Spatial Modelling. GeoDoc is a joint programme of the Department of Geosciences and Geography, the Department of Physics, and the Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies.

News

Applying for a doctoral study right

Salaried doctoral student positions

Degree requirements

Activities

Funding

Supervision

Contact

News

The Doctoral School in Natural Sciences organizes events for all of its students:

Orientation for new doctoral students May 23th from 14 to 17. The event is meant for all new students (those who have started 1.1.2017 ->). There will be a official part including lots of information about studies and stuff and an unofficial part with food and drinks. More information and a link to registration are coming soon!
“How to manage with your PhD? Supporting skills and self-regulation of PhD students” is an event, which is organized in cooperation with HYVÄT ry and Center for Teaching and learning (HYPE). The event takes place in Kumpula Campus on May 30^th from 9 to 12. More information and a link to registration are coming soon!

Applying for a doctoral study right

Planning to apply for a doctoral study right at our programme? Good choice! To start with, you should read the University’s general instructions for doctoral applicants and instructions for the educational documents you are requested to submit to verify your eligibility. Once you’re acquainted with those, come back here to read more about the programme-specific selection criteria and instructions for applicants.

First of all you need to find a supervisor for your PhD project. Unfortunately, the GeoDoc coordinator cannot help you to find a supervisor but you must contact suitable researchers yourself. To get started, please see the list of our supervisors.

Once you have found a supervisor and agreed on a PhD project with him/her the next step is to apply for a PhD study right at GeoDoc.

The application process in a nutshell.

Starting in autumn 2017 the University of Helsinki will have common admission periods for doctoral candidates. Applicants will be informed of the admission results, including the reasons for them by a letter of acceptance, to be sent by e-mail to the address given in the application. Admitted applicants must report whether they accept the offer by a specified deadline. Those who fail to report whether they accept the offer or to submit the requested documents by the deadline will lose their place. During the academic year 2017-2018 the admission periods are as follows:

Application period	Letters of acceptance to be sent by	Deadline for accepting the offer	Study right begins
1.-14.9.2017	16.11.2017	30.11.2017	1.12.2017
1.-14.11.2017	9.1.2018	23.1.2018	24.1.2018
1.-14.2.2018	28.3.2018	11.4.2018	12.4.2018
3.-16.4.2018	15.6.2018	29.6.2018	2.7.2018

After the call opens, the electronic form can be found here. Please, see below the sections 1-6 before filling the application. The possible questions concerning the call are to be sent to phd-admissions@helsinki.fi.

Kindly note that the applications, along with the required additional documents, must be submitted by the end of the application period. Applications are submitted via an electronic application form which must be submitted before 15:00 Helsinki time on the last day of the admission period (either EEST/GMT+3 or EET/GMT+2).

Admission criteria for doctoral programmes in the Doctoral School in Natural Sciences
These guidelines apply to doctoral education for which applications can be submitted as of 1 August 2017. The guidelines will apply until further notice.

1. The following admission criteria apply to the programmes in the Doctoral School in Natural Sciences, including the Doctoral Programme in Geosciences (GeoDoc)

2. General information
Student admission to the doctoral programmes is based on the University of Helsinki’s general admission guidelines for doctoral education as well as the programme-specific details.
All postgraduate research students pursue a doctoral degree. The right to complete a degree may only be obtained through an admission procedure. The application periods in the 2017–2018 academic year are indicated on the table above.

3. Eligibility
Pursuant to section 37 of the Universities Act (558/2009), eligible applicants for studies leading to a research degree have completed
1) An applicable second-cycle university degree,
2) An applicable second-cycle degree from a university of applied sciences, or
3) An applicable education at an institution abroad providing eligibility for equivalent higher education in the country in question.

All studies required for a second-cycle degree or equivalent education must be completed before the deadline for applications, and a certificate of this degree must be presented before the doctoral study right can be granted (see deadline for accepting the offer above).

An applicant may also be admitted to pursue a postgraduate research degree if the University finds him or her to have otherwise obtained the required knowledge and skills.

4. Admission criteria
Admission criteria for doctoral education include the applicant’s potential for success in academic postgraduate education, the quality and feasibility of the applicant’s research proposal, the applicant’s motivation, and the supervisory and other resources available for the research. Other criteria include the applicable content of previous studies to the prospective doctoral programme, the suitability of the research proposal for the research profile of the doctoral programme as well as the ability to complete the studies in the target duration. The applicant’s potential and motivation will be assessed on the basis of the quality and feasibility of the research proposal as well as previous academic performance and research experience. The ability to complete the studies in the target duration will be judged on the study plan, research proposal and funding plan. The study plan will be assessed specifically for its feasibility and
appropriateness. Before submitting their application, applicants must request a supporting statement from their dissertation supervisor(s) which will be sent separately to the Admission Services by post.

5. Application documents required
Applicants wishing to be considered must submit the following documents in Finnish, Swedish or English:

A. Electronic Application (form open during the application period), including

A1. A research proposal, including a funding plan. Please use the University of Helsinki research plan template to draw up your research plan.

A2. A study plan. Please acquaint yourself with the doctoral programme’s curriculum before drawing up your study plan.

A3. The title and summary of your Master´s thesis or equivalent or a description of previous academic publications.

A4. The names of the GeoDoc supervisors, who have agreed to supervise your thesis. For further information on the requirements placed on supervision, please see the programme specific selection criteria

B. Attachments to the Electronic Application

B1. Copies of your previous degree certificate(s) (Master's degree or equivalent and potential Bachelor's degree)

B2. Transcript of records for your previous degree(s) (Master's degree or equivalent and potential Bachelor's degree)

B3. Verification of language skills, (see instructions for English, Finnish or Swedish)

B4. A permit by an Ethical Review Board and/or by the National Animal Experiment Board, if required by the research arrangement

B5. A signed letter of commitment from the supervisor(s), who have agreed to supervise your thesis

C. Additional documents to be sent by post (applicants whose previous degree is not from the University of Helsinki)

C1. An officially certified copy of your previous degree certificate (Master's degree or equivalent)

C2. An officially certified copy a of detailed transcript of studies included in the Master's degree (or equvalent)

All educational documents must be either officially certified by the awarding institution, or legalised, unless the degree has been awarded by the University of Helsinki. Officially certified copies issued by a Finnish Notary Public will also be accepted. Please note, however, that there are country-specific document requirements in place for some degree-awarding countries. Documents from these countries must be attested or submitted in a certain way. These Country-Specific Requirements must be followed first and foremost, before any regular requirements for attesting documents.

C3. Verification of language skills. The University of Helsinki demands an indication of academic level language skills of all applicants. See information on the options of verifying your language skills in either Finnish, Swedish or English.

C4. A supporting statement by the dissertation supervisor(s). A separate statement submitted by the supervisor(s) directly to the University of Helsinki admissions service.

Applicants can also submit other enclosures to demonstrate that they have the knowledge and skills required to complete a doctoral degree. The Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003) stipulates that applicants must be provided a reasonable period to supplement a deficient application. Applicants have two weeks to supplement a deficient application, such as a supporting statement by the supervisor(s).

NOTE ALSO THAT all studies required for a second-cycle degree or equivalent education must be completed before the deadline for applications. Applicants for the right to complete a doctoral degree must enclose with their application a copy of their degree diploma and a transcript of studies or of other certificates with which they wish to demonstrate that they have the required knowledge and skills. The copies accompanying the application (incl. of the diploma) must be certified; however, certificates of language tests must be original certificates from the awarding institution. The other documents attached to the application must be in Finnish, Swedish or English, or a translation into one of these by an authorised translator that includes the translator’s signature and stamp. Copies of the degree diploma and the transcript of studies are sufficient if the degree that provides eligibility for postgraduate studies under section 37 of the Universities Act was completed at the University of Helsinki. Applicants must have the language proficiency specified in the University of Helsinki’s general admission guidelines.

6. Submitting the application
All applications must be submitted using the electronic application form. The required additional documents must be sent by post and must arrive by the end of the application period. Applications and additional documents sent by email are not accepted. Incomplete applications are not considered.

The required additional documents should be sent to:

Admission Services
P.O.Box 3
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland

If sent via courier service, please use the following address:

Admission Services / University of Helsinki
Fabianinkatu 33, 1st floor
00170 Helsinki
Finland

In case of questions concerning application of doctoral study right, please send e-mail to admissions@helsinki.fi .

7. Granting the right to complete a degree
The steering group of each doctoral programme assesses the applications of all applicants to the programme who meet the formal requirements. The purpose of student selection is to assess the motivation, commitment and aptitude of the applicants for studies. The right to complete a doctoral degree is granted on the basis of diplomas, certificates and other documents. The admission criteria include previous academic performance, the applicable content of previous studies to the prospective doctoral programme, the study plan and the research proposal.

When selecting students for doctoral education, it must be ensured that the admitted students have access to high-quality supervision and support related to the topic of their doctoral dissertation. Applications can be rejected if no suitable supervisor can be designated for the dissertation. See programme specific admission criteria for more details.

The steering group then draws up an admission proposal for the faculty’s decision-making. This proposal indicates the names of the admitted and rejected applicants, together with the reasons for each decision. The final decision on admitting an applicant to complete the degree is made by the degree-awarding Faculty.

8. Target degrees
The primary postgraduate degree offered at the University of Helsinki is a doctoral degree. The right to pursue postgraduate studies is always requested and granted with a doctoral degree as the primary goal. However, a Licentiate degree can also be completed in the disciplines represented by each doctoral programme. Faculties which grant the right to complete a doctoral degree (Doctor of Philosophy) in the Doctoral Programme in Geosciences are the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts.

9. Announcement of admission results and acceptance of a place offer - one place rule
The faculty responsible for the target degree will announce the admission results, including the reasons for them by a letter of acceptance, to be sent by e-mail to the address given in the application. Admitted applicants must report whether they accept the offer by a specified deadline. Admitted students who fail to notify the University of their acceptance of a place and to submit the relevant documents by the date determined by the University will lose their right to pursue studies.

Section 38 of the Universities Act states that applicants may accept only one place in a degree programme that leads to an academic degree and begins in the same term.

The main points of the one place rule are:

If you are offered more than one study place at a higher education institution leading to a university degree starting at the same term, you may accept only one of them
A place of study granted through a university-to-university transfer within Finland is not governed by this rule.
Accordingly, you may be completing several on-going degree programmes simultaneously, but only if your admission to these programmes has been granted in different terms.

10. Appeals
Applicants dissatisfied with admissions decisions may appeal in writing to the faculty council or a body appointed by it within 14 days of the announcement of the admission results. Should you receive a decision rejecting your application, it will be accompanied by information on the appeals procedure, as referred to in sections 82 and 83 of the Universities Act.

Salaried doctoral student positions

Being a doctoral student and having funding for the doctoral studies are two separate things. Therefore, applying to the programme can refer to two things:

applying for a right to pursue a postgraduate degree, or
applying for a salaried position in the doctoral programme.

This section describes the application procedure for funding.

The Geodoc programme annually has some open salaried positions. The 2017 call for university funded PhD positions in Geodoc was open in September and is now closed.

The next call will most probably be in September 2018.

Degree requirements

As of 1.8.2017 a doctoral degree at the Doctoral Programme in Geosciences consists of

a doctoral dissertation
scientific studies (at least 30 credits), and
studies in transferrable skills (10 credits).

The scientific studies consist of discipline-specific studies supporting the thesis research work as well as a course in research ethics. Compulsory courses in this module are: Research Ethics (DONAS-401), 1 credit, GeoDoc Milestone Seminar (GEOD-001), 1 credit, Literature and Seminar in Field of Research (GEOD-002), 10 credits. Other possible courses are From draft to publication (GEOD-003), 2 credits, GeoDOc research ethics (GEOD-004), 1 credit and Colloquium in geosciences (GEOD-005), 2 credits. Rest of the courses for the module must be anvanced-level courses in either the master programme in geology and geophysics, the master programme in geography or other courses which support the dissertation work. The supervising professor will decide if the courses are suitable for the module.

The requirements for transferrable skills studies are common to all programmes of the Doctoral School in Natural Sciences and consist of

courses in different skills related to academic work (at least 4 cr; codes DONAS-1** or PED-5** or other suitable courses)
international activity and mobility (1-4 cr; codes DONAS-2**)
societal communication and organising tasks (codes DONAS-3**)

Information on degree requirements and courses offered can be found from the WebOodi Course Catalogue Service.

More information on the degree structure is also available on the University's general website on doctoral education.

Instructions for doctoral candidates on transferring to new degree structure (more detailed information can be found on Flamma).

Activities

The Doctoral Programme in Geosciences

organizes in-depth scientific courses and seminars to support doctoral students' research work
provides travel grants for scientific visits and international conferences
promotes best practices in research supervision

Funding

Funded PhD positions
There are currently no open funded positions.

Financial support for research training events
The doctoral programme provides financial support for research training events (guest lectures, intensive courses, workshops, etc) that are within the research areas of the programme and benefit its students.

The application time is continuous. A free-form application should be submitted to the GeoDoc coordinator preferrably two months before the start of the event. The application should include a description of the event as well as an approximation of the total costs of the event.

Travel support for doctoral students

Travel grants are intended to support doctoral students’ foreign and domestic travel for academic purposes (doctoral courses, learning in other research groups or participating in scientific conferences, seminars or workshops). All doctoral students belonging to a doctoral programme at the DONASCI doctoral school may apply for travel grants.

More information and application periods at the DONASCI web pages.

Supervision

The programme has supervisors from different Faculties and Departments of the University of Helsinki as well as from other research organizations. The list of current supervisors of the doctoral students is below:

Professors and associate professors

Fortelius, Mikael, professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; palaeontology)

Gibbard, Phil, professor (Department of Geography, Cambridge University; clastic sedimentology)

Hjulhammar, Marcus, PhD, assistant professor (Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies; Baltic maritime archaeology)

Kahma, Kimmo, research professor (Finnish Meteorological Institute; oceanography)

Karhu, Juha, professor, Head of Department (Department of Geosciences and Geography; geochemistry and hydrogeology)

Kotilainen, Aarno, research professor (Geological Survey of Finland; marine geology)

Kukkonen, Ilmo, professor (Department of Physics; solid earth geophysics)

Lahtinen, Raimo, research professor (Geological Survey of Finland; bedrock geology)

Lavento, Mika, professor (Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies; archaeology)

Luoto, Miska, professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; physical geography)

Moore, John, research professor (Arctic Centre, University of Lapland; cryosphere, glaciology)

Pellikka, Petri, professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; geoinformatics)

Poutanen, Markku, professor, Director (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute; geodesy)

Rämö, Tapani, professor, Director of GeoDoc Program (Department of Geosciences and Geography; petrology, physical geology)

Salonen, Veli-Pekka, professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; quaternary geology, environmental geology)

Seppä, Heikki, professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; palaeoecology, climatology)

Soininen, Janne, PhD, professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; aquatic ecosystems)

Wagner, Thomas, professor (School of Geosciences, RWTH Aachen University, Germany; economic geology)

Whipp, David, PhD, associate professor (Department of Geosciences and Geography; geodynamics)

Principal Investigators and other supervisors

Arppe, Laura, PhD, curator (Finnish Museum of Natural History, Natural Sciences Unit; stable isotope geochemistry, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology)

Eronen, Jussi, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; paleoenvironments)

Halkoaho, Tapio, PhD, docent (Geological Survey of Finland; magmatic petrology, mineralization)

Halla, Jaana, PhD, docent (Finnish Museum of Natural History, Natural Sciences Unit; bedrock geology)

Heikkinen, Pekka, PhD, Research Director (Department of Geosciences and Geography; seismology)

Heikkinen Risto K., PhD (Finnish Environment Institute; climate change impact modelling, biogeography)

Heinonen, Aku, PhD, postdoctoral researcher (Department of Geosciences and Geography; petrology, isotope geology)

Heiskanen, Janne, PhD, (Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki; remote sensing)

Helama, Samuli, PhD, docent (Natural Resources Institute Finland; dendrochronology)

Hölttä, Pentti, PhD, docent (Geological Survey of Finland; metamorphic petrology)

Kaakinen, Anu, PhD, academy research fellow (Department of Geosciences and Geography; sedimentology)

Kohonen, Jarmo, PhD, docent (Geological Survey of Finland; sedimentary petrology)

Koivisto, Emilia, PhD, lecturer (Department of Geosciences and Geography; applied geophysics)

Korja, Annakaisa, Head of Institute of Seismology (Department of Geosciences and Geography; seismology, tectonics, lithospheric research)

Korkka-Niemi, Kirsti, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; hydrogeology, environmental geology)

Kultti, Seija, PhD, university lecturer (Department of Geosciences and Geography; environmental geology, paleoclimatology)

Lahelma, Antti, PhD, docent (Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies; history, archaeology)

Lindroos, Antti-Jussi, PhD, docent (Natural Resources Institute Finland; pedology)

Luoto, Tomi, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; paleolimnology, arctic environments)

Luttinen, Arto, Head Curator, PhD, docent (Finnish Museum of Natural History, Natural Sciences Unit; geochemistry, petrology)

Maeda, Eduardo, PhD, postdoctoral researcher (Department of Environmental Sciences; remote sensing, environmental change)

Miettinen, Arto, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; paleoceanography)

Muukkonen, Petteri, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; geoinformatics, remote sensing)

Mõttus, Matti, PhD, academy research fellow, docent (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; remote sensing)

Mänttäri, Irmeli, PhD, senior research scientist (Geological Survey of Finland; isotope geology)

Mäntyniemi, Päivi, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; seismology)

Nevalainen, Liisa, PhD, docent (Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä; paleolimnology, aquatic ecosystems)

O’Brien, Hugh, PhD, senior research scientist (Geological Survey of Finland; isotope geology)

Oinonen, Markku, PhD, docent, laboratory director (Finnish Museum of Natural History, Natural Sciences Unit; dating methods)

Ojala, Antti, PhD, docent (Geological Survey of Finland; limnology, paleoenvironments)

Okkonen, Jarkko, PhD (Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu; ground water modelling)

Poutiainen, Matti, PhD, docent (Department of Geosciences and Geography; metamorphic petrology)

Ruth, Olli, PhD, university lecturer (Department of Geosciences and Geography; physical geography)

Sirén, Anders, PhD, senior lecturer (Department of Geosciences and Geography; spatial bioeconomic modeling, land use dynamics)

Sorjonen-Ward, Peter, PhD, docent (Geological Survey of Finland; structural geology)

Viranta-Kovanen, Suvi, PhD, docent (Institute of Biomedicine, evolution biology)

Väliranta, Minna, PhD, docent (Department of Environmental Sciences, Environmental Change Research Unit; palaeoecology, plant macrofossil analysis)

Väre Henry, PhD, docent (Finnish Museum of Natural History, Natural Sciences Unit; tundra vegetation)

Zwinger, Thomas, PhD (Finnish Center for Scientific Computing, glaciology)

Contact

The Board of the GeoDoc Programme in 2018

Professor Ilmo Kukkonen (director)

Professor Tapani Rämö

Professor Miska Luoto

University lecturer Seija Kultti

Professor Janne Soininen

University lecturer Petteri Muukkonen

Academy research fellow Teija Alenius

Doctoral student Minja Seitsamo-Ryynänen

Doctoral student Julia Kemppinen

Coordination of the Geodoc programme

The coordination of the programme is taken care of by the new PhD Office staff at the Kumpula Campus.

For more information about studies: geodoc-info (at) helsinki.fi

For more information about admissions: phd-admissions (at) helsinki.fi

For more information about pre-examination and approval of doctoral dissertations: sci-phd-thesis (at) helsinki.fi for students in the Faculty of science and hum-postgrad (at) helsinki.fi for students in the Faculty of arts.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your supervisor-supervisee relationship (you are either the supervisor or the student), you can contact any member of the board or send e-mail to geodoc-info (at) helsinki.fi

University of Helsinki

Doctoral Programme in Geosciences

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News

Applying for a doctoral study right

Salaried doctoral student positions

Degree requirements

Activities

Funding

Supervision

Contact