Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences

The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences (SOC) is a collaborative effort between a number disciplines at the University of Helsinki that aims to create the best research environment for doctoral training in social sciences. It covers the widest areas of social science research in Finland.

The disciplines included in the programme offer field-specific teaching and supervision to doctoral researchers. The programme annually organises courses, seminars and other events open to all of its doctoral researchers, including teaching by both international scholars and its own experts.

The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences is coordinated by the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Social Sciences, a leading scholarly unit in the field. The Faculty’s comprehensive range of disciplines and broad-based interdisciplinary collaboration provide doctoral researchers with a large international research community.
The programme provides an extensive, interdisciplinary operating environment to support doctoral researchers and their supervisors as well as tools for productive cooperation between disciplines and research communities.
Key Research Areas

Faculty disciplines included in the programme are global development studies, political history, social and cultural anthropology, social psychology, social work, sociology, economics, economic and social history, social and public policy, political science, and media and communication studies.

From other faculties, the programme encompasses area and cultural studies, Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian studies, and human geography. It also includes five research units of the Faculty of Social Sciences: the Centre for European Studies, the Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, the Centre for Consumer Society Research, the Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health, the Centre for Social Data Science and the Aleksanteri Institute at the Faculty of Humanities.
Events and Activities

The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences organizes get-togethers and other events for the doctoral researchers within the programme. Every autumn, the doctoral programme hosts an inspiring welcome event where the programme director, Petri Ylikoski, shares valuable tips for applying for grants. The participants will also have the opportunity to hear personal experiences and insights from recent graduates about their journey to earning their doctorate.

The disciplines of the doctoral programme organize regularly open lectures, workshops and other events which are open to all doctoral researchers within the programme and advertised on the programme mailing list.
Courses and Studying

A doctoral degree comprises two components: doctoral studies (30 cr) and a doctoral thesis. 

Component 1: Doctoral studies (30 cr) 

  • Discipline-specific studies, including a research seminar, theory and methodology studies as well as internationalisation
  • Studies in general transferable skills, including compulsory research ethics and, for example, university education and career skills

Component 2: Doctoral thesis

Doctoral researchers can flexibly choose their studies and completion methods that support their doctoral research and goals.

The Studies Service enables doctoral researchers to familiarise themselves with the structure, content and targeted learning outcomes of degrees from the programme level to individual courses. 
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