Doctoral Programme in Engineering and Natural Sciences (TLTO)
The Doctoral Programme in Engineering and Natural Sciences covers the following fields: Bioengineering, Chemistry, Energy Technology, Environmental Technology and Physics. The graduates of the programme are awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (Technology). It is also possible to complete the degree of Licentiate of Science (Technology) and – upon specific conditions – the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Admission
The programme accepts applications throughout the year, and they are reviewed monthly except in July. The candidate must have a M.Sc. degree in the research field of the programme (list above) and a committed responsible supervisor at Tampere University (list of eligible supervisors here). The relevant documents in the application are the research plan, study plan including the description of supervisory arrangements, and the funding plan. Please note that typically a seed funding of at least 6-12 months is required. The Doctoral Committee reviews the application, and the Dean makes the official decision of the admission. Doctoral study right applications are submitted via Opintopolku.
Studies
A minimum of 40 credit points of postgraduate studies is required for the doctoral degree. The studies are split into Discipline- and Field-specific Studies of at least 25 credits and general academic studies of at least 10 credits*:
- Discipline- and Field-specific Studies consist of courses marked as eligible for postgraduate studies. It is also possible to include courses outside the field of the thesis if they are relevant to the methodology or know-how of the research work. In that case, a justification from the responsible supervisor is required. Study credits can also be collected from, e.g., conference presentations and summer schools, etc.
- The general studies include two mandatory courses: (i) TAU.TRI.102 Orientation to Doctoral Studies (4 cr) and (ii) TAU.TRI.203 Research Ethics I (1 cr) or TAU.TRI.204 Research Ethics I (1 cr, online). Study credits can also be obtained from transferable skills development, e.g., teaching, mentoring, positions of trust, etc.
*Please note that students, who were admitted in the doctoral programme before August 2020, can complete their studies according to the previous requirement of only 5 cr of general studies. The total extent of the studies is the same as presently (40 cr). The transition period ends on 31.7.2024, which is the latest graduation date with the previous requirements.
The approval of the studies is done in Sisu.
The completed studies appear in blue (“Add to the plan”) bar on the left side of the PSP structure page. Add the studies to suitable blocks (General Academic Competences / Discipline- and Field-specific Studies). Please note that the studies need to be discussed and approved by the responsible supervisor before you send them for approval in sisu.
Dissertation
The doctoral thesis consists of an introductory part and scientific publications. The number of publications is typically 4-5, but the official minimum is 3 publications. In the case of 3 publications, the candidate must have had a significant role in all the papers, and they must have been published in highly ranked journals in the field. In the case of >3 publications included in the thesis, at most one manuscript can be in the “submitted” phase, i.e., under review in the journal.
Formally, it is also possible to compile the dissertation in the form of a monograph, but this is strongly discouraged in the Doctoral Programme in Engineering and Natural Sciences.
Review process
Once the thesis has been completed by the candidate and reviewed by the supervisor(s), the following steps are required:
1. TurnitIn check is completed by the candidate and the responsible supervisor.
2. The thesis and the proposal of pre-examiners** (the form proposal for pre-examiners is at the end of this page) are sent to the Education Specialist (kaisu.kalliomaki [at] tuni.fi).
**Please note the following criteria for the appointment of all the reviewers, i.e., the pre-examiners and the opponent: 1. A reviewer must have never worked in collaboration (joint publications or research projects etc.) with the doctoral candidate. 2. It is recommended that the supervisors (responsible supervisor and other supervisors) do not have joint publications with the reviewers from the past three years before the defence. 3. The reviewers must not have had significant mutual collaboration.
3. A member of TLTO Doctoral Committee carries out an internal review of the thesis. The internal review and the thesis are discussed in the committee meeting. The filled form is sent to the candidate, who revises the thesis if needed.
4. After revisions (if any), the Dean appoints the pre-examiners, and the thesis is sent to pre-examination (up to 2 months).
5. If any changes are suggested by the pre-examiners, the thesis is revised accordingly, and a response is sent to the pre-examiners and to the Education Specialist (kaisu.kalliomaki [at] tuni.fi).
6. Application for right to publish and publicly defend the doctoral dissertation and Proposal for opponent**, chairperson and date of the public defense are sent to the Education Specialist (kaisu.kalliomaki [at] tuni.fi). (The forms are at the end of this page.) The forms are discussed in the Doctoral Committee and approved by the dean. It is recommended to reserve at least a minimum of one month for defence preparations. In particular, the library and the printing house must be contacted well in advance (see below).
**Please note the following criteria for the appointment of all the reviewers, i.e., the pre-examiners and the opponent: 1. A reviewer must have never worked in collaboration (joint publications or research projects etc.) with the doctoral candidate. 2. It is recommended that the supervisors (responsible supervisor and other supervisors) do not have joint publications with the reviewers from the past three years before the defence. 3. The reviewers must not have had significant mutual collaboration.
Defense arrangements
The candidate should contact:
- Campus assistants, kampusassistentit [at] tuni.fi (kampusassistentit[at]tuni[dot]fi,) for practical arrangements (lecture hall, coffee, ceremony, etc.) Usually campus assistant Sari Toivonen helps with ENS defense arrangements.
- Communications Unit for preparing the mandatory press release of the dissertation, viestinta.tau [at] tuni.fi (viestinta[dot]tau[at]tuni[dot]fi), https://libguides.tuni.fi/dissertationpublishing/pressrelease Make sure it's published at least 10 days before the defense.
- Printing house for printing the dissertation, dissertations [at] punamusta.com (dissertations[at]punamusta[dot]com), (more information here). The bill that faculty gets about the books from the printing place, should not be of more than of 50 books.
- Give the following invoicing address to Punamusta:
- Reference should be marked as: Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 3106000/31000277.
- Library, dissertations [at] tuni.fi (dissertations[at]tuni[dot]fi,) for the electronic version and for obtaining the permissions from the publishers to include the publications in the thesis.
and prepare:
Formalities concerning the public examination of the doctoral dissertation
The candidate is also expected to organize a “karonkka” dinner for the honor of the opponent according to the practices of the research group or unit.
After the defence
1. The opponent submits the review report of the dissertation. This is recommended to be completed soon after the defence, preferably on the same day before the dinner.
2. Based on all the review reports, the Doctoral Committee – or commonly the internal reviewer of the committee – proposes a grade*** of the thesis to the Faculty Council.
3. The dissertation is officially approved and graded by the Faculty Council.
4. Graduation is applied in Sisu – assuming that all the postgraduate studies have been completed and approved.
***For an accepted doctoral dissertation, the grade is either Approved (A) or Approved with Distinction (D). The final grade is proposed by the Doctoral Committee based on all the review reports and the respective grades. Assuming two pre-examiners and one opponent, i.e., three reviewers, the possible combinations of respective grades are thus AAA, DAA, DDA, DDD. As a guideline, AAA or DAA can never lead to D, whereas DDA may lead to D, and DDD commonly leads to D. The report of the opponent has a slightly higher weight than those of the pre-examiners.
Administration
The Head of the Programme is Professor Marika Kokko.
The Education Specialist of the Programme is Kaisu Kalliomäki (substituting Anna Nykänen on 25.1.-26.11.2024). Please contact kaisu.kalliomaki [at] tuni.fi if you have any questions about the programme.
Members of the Doctoral Committee:
Professor Marika Kokko (chair)
Professor Lasse Laurson
Associate Professor Tapio Niemi
Associate Professor Matti Rissanen
Associate Professor Nonappa Nonappa
Doctoral Researcher Ella Meriläinen
Doctoral Researcher Olga Lem (deputy member)
Education Specialist Kaisu Kalliomäki
Important dates
The meeting dates in autumn 2024 with the respective deadlines for materials are:
20.8.2024 (DL 12.8.2024)
24.9.2024 (DL 16.9.2024)
22.10.2024 (DL 14.10.2024)
19.11.2024 (DL 11.11.2024)
10.12.2024 (DL 2.12.2024)
The meeting dates in spring 2025 with the respective deadlines for materials are:
21.1.2025 (DL 13.1.2025)
18.2.2025 (DL 10.2.2025)
25.3.2025 (DL 17.3.2025)
24.4.2025 (DL 14.4.2025)
20.5.2025 (DL 12.5.2025)
10.6.2025 (DL 2.6.2025)
Forms and other materials are sent to kaisu.kalliomaki [at] tuni.fi.
Doctoral study right applications are submitted via Opintopolku. In the autumn 2024, the application period starts on 1.8.2024 at 08.00 and ends on 29.11.2024 at 15.00.
The meeting dates of Faculty Council can be found can be found here.
More information
Please note also the annual “PhDay” organized by the doctoral students (contact person: olga.lem [at] tuni.fi).
Forms