Doctoral Programme of Education and Society, 240 cr

GOALS OF POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

In line with the Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004), the purpose of the postgraduate education is for the doctoral researchers to become well-versed in their own field of research: its development, basic problems, research methods and social significance. In addition, they must acquire competences in the field of research enabling independent and critical engagement with scientific methods and creation of new knowledge.

The purpose of the Doctor of Philosophy (Education) and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, and the Licentiate degree is to ensure that the doctoral researchers become well-versed in the interdisciplinary field of education and to gain the knowledge and skills needed, working in research groups and networks and to contribute to a specific area of specialization within educational sciences. With the acquired knowledge and skills the doctoral researchers are able to follow national and international scientific developments and to interpret, engage with and generate research findings. The doctoral researchers develop independent and critical thinking in the field of research as well as the capacity to operate within global scientific communities and to convey the results of their research to the general public. In addition, the doctoral researchers gain a strong grasp of ethics, the societal responsibility of research, and the practices of teaching and supervision.

The curriculum builds on the following principles:

(a) connection between doctoral studies and the focus areas of educational research in the Faculty of Education and Culture,

(b) community development among incoming doctoral researchers, other doctoral researchers and all supervisors,

(c) distributed support along with focused supervision,

(d) flexibility and choice.

The annual cohort of new doctoral researchers is encouraged to interact in a reciprocally supportive way to facilitate knowledge construction and collegial relations beyond one’s own research group and dissertation topic.

STRUCTURE OF THE PhD (Education) and PhD DEGREES

The PhD studies comprise 240 credits, organized as in the following:

· Research work: Writing the dissertation and defending it in public (180 credits)

· Studies (60 credits)

The studies (60 credits) are divided in two sections:

General Academic Competences: Studies supporting the development scientific expertise (20 credits)

In the curriculum, the sections are divided into modules that define the contents of the studies. With the exception of the mandatory courses 

General Academic Competences: 

- Research ethics, 

Discipline- and Field-Specific Studies: 

- Focal areas and approaches in educational research and 

- Active participation in the research seminar 

the modules serve as a guiding frame for the doctoral researchers’ own choices. The number of credits within modules is not restrictive but is meant to give a sense of the weight of the given contents to be taken into account when planning the studies. 

The specific courses or other activities within the modules are negotiated between the doctoral researcher and the supervisors and recorded in the Personal Study Plan. Each doctoral researcher has the responsibility to request a meeting with the supervisors to update, revise and resubmit the Personal Study Plan once a year by the given deadline of February 28. The courses can be selected from the offerings of the Doctoral Programme of Education and Society, from the Tampere University Doctoral School or from other appropriate academic contexts.

When the credits are to be obtained by work other than courses, the doctoral researcher must provide the supervisors with a detailed written description of the work, its duration in number of hours (1 credit corresponds to 27 hours of work approximately) and its relevance for the doctoral studies. The reports on these activities are submitted for approval annually as a comprehensive set with a detailed description for each activity and in connection with the submission of the Personal Study Plan. As the annual update of the Study Plan requires an overview of the progress made with the dissertation and the studies, it is recommended that the credits for these activities are obtained annually in good time before the deadline to submit the Personal Study Plan. These documents are signed by the supervisors and sent to the Study Coordinator of the programme.

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Dissertation