Rights and responsibilities of students and supervisors during a thesis process

Students are expected to: 

Supervision and progress of research  

• prepare a supervision agreement with their supervisor(s)   
• keep the supervision agreement and personal study plan up-to-date    
• stay on the schedule agreed with the supervisor   
• inform the supervisor of all changes that may significantly affect the progress and schedule of  their research    
• take responsibility for the progress of their research   

 

Good scientific practice  

• be familiar with and adhere to the principles of academic integrity and research ethics   
• become familiar with and comply the principles of good scientific practice during the thesis process (such as learn how to identify violations of good scientific practice)    

 

Meetings between student and supervisor  

• prepare carefully for each meeting with their supervisor   
• send excerpts of their thesis to the supervisor well in advance before a meeting   
• write a short memo of the points discussed at the meeting and send it to the supervisor  
• contact the supervisor through mutually agreed upon channels to request guidance and support but work independently and show initiative   

 

In addition, licentiate/doctoral students are expected to:  

Supervisory meetings and research progress   

• ensure that they complete the mandatory and optional studies counted towards their doctoral degree in accordance with the study plan besides conducting dissertation research     
• discuss the overall progress of their dissertation and the achieved results with their main supervisor on an annual basis  The other supervisors are also advised to attend these annual meetings.     
• To ensure that licentiate/doctoral students make effective progress towards their degree, supervisors are encouraged to discuss progress with full-time students at least once a month and with part-time students at least four times a year.   

Dissertation and publication   

• maintain active contact with their supervisor while writing their research papers   
• agree on the principles concerning co-authored publications in advance with the supervisor   
• The author of a dissertation is responsible for the language and content of the final dissertation (including text, images, tables and references) and for the research data, results and conclusions presented in the dissertation.      

Mobility and funding   

• seek to build professional relationships with international partners as agreed upon with the supervisor    
• look into potential funding opportunities and actively seek funding for their research    

  

Students who meet the above requirements are entitled to receive active supervision.   

  

Supervisors are expected to:   

Supervision and progress of research  

• prepare a supervision agreement with the student. The agreement must at least specify the topic of the thesis and the target completion time, identify the supervisors and their mutual division of duties, and describe the practical supervisory arrangements.    
• guide and support the student in the choice of research topic and with defining research questions, mapping out existing body of knowledge, preparing a detailed research plan and conducting the research      
• advice the student on how to agree on the use of research data and store data  

Good scientific practice  

• adhere to the principles of academic integrity and research ethics and ensure that the student becomes familiar and complies with the principles of good scientific practice (such as learn to identify violations of these practices)     

Meetings between student and supervisor  

• prepare carefully for each meeting with the student    
• look into the materials submitted by the student before each meeting    
• stay on the schedule agreed with the student and respond to the student’s questions and feedback requests within a reasonable time    
• inform the student of any changes that may significantly affect the supervisor’s ability to provide supervision to the student   
• attend events where the student presents his or her work, if possible   

Mobility and funding  

• at their own discretion, write letters of recommendations and statements related to, for example, research funding awarded to the licentiate/doctoral student or the building of professional contacts in Finland and abroad    

  

In addition, the supervisors of doctoral students are expected to:   

Dissertation and publication  

• monitor that the manuscript satisfies the scientific and formal requirements for doctoral dissertations
• ensure that a manuscript intended as a doctoral dissertation undergoes an originality check and examine the originality report produced by the plagiarism detection software together with the student from the perspective of good scientific practice   
• participate in refining the student's research papers and identifying relevant publication channels    
• agree on the principles concerning co-authored publications in advance with the student  
• The main supervisor decides when a manuscript intended as a doctoral dissertation is ready to be submitted for preliminary examination  

Supervisory meetings and research progress  

• discuss the overall progress of their dissertation and the achieved results with the student on an annual basis The other supervisors are also advised to attend these annual meetings.  
• make peer support available to the doctoral student, if possible (such as regular research seminars, group meetings between students and their supervisor, etc.)  
• To ensure that licentiate/doctoral students make effective progress towards their degree, supervisors are encouraged to discuss progress with full-time students at least once a month and with part-time students at least four times a year.  
• participates in the preparation of a supervision agreement and the student’s personal study plan and in updating the documents   
• supports the students in exploring potential future employment and career options in and outside academia    

Mobility and funding  

• If a student is pursuing a double degree, the supervisor and members of administrative staff are responsible for preparing the required agreement and agreeing on the management of the double degree with the partner university.      
• support the student in the acquisition of research funding, if possible   
• Encourages the student to seek international experience and offers advice on the timing and other arrangements concerning a study period abroad    

  

When supervisors meet these requirements, they are entitled to expect their students to make progress towards their degree according to plan