Doctoral study supervisors

Doctoral study supervisors and their responsibilities

General instructions on doctoral study supervisors

According to the Degree Regulations of the Ģ��ֱ��, each doctoral student must have a personal supervisor-in-charge, designated by the dean. The supervisor-in-charge must have an employment relationship with the Ģ��ֱ��, a doctoral degree and sufficient academic merits. In order to ensure continuity of supervision and guidance, a new supervisor-in-charge shall be nominated for the doctoral student if the first supervisor discontinues the task.

In addition, the JYU Graduate School for Doctoral Studies has stated that to ensure the continuity of supervision, it is recommendable to designate one or more other supervisors in addition to the supervisor-in-charge for a student.

Dissertation supervision ensures that the doctoral student achieves the scientific competencies required for a doctorate and that the dissertation meets the university's dissertation requirements.

The doctoral student and the supervisors must register a collaboratively created plan for the supervision and the completion schedule of the doctoral dissertation using the supervision document service. The annexes of the document describe the duties of the doctoral student, the supervisor and the follow-up group, as well as the dissertation requirements of the Ģ��ֱ��.

Supervision document

Appendix 1 of the supervision document: Responsibilities of the doctoral student, supervisor and follow-up group

Appendix 2 of the supervision document: Dissertation requirements at the Ģ��ֱ��

Dissertation supervisor's checklist

I will supervise the creation of the doctoral study plan, the research plan and the funding plan and make sure the student understands their responsibilities related to these plans.
Together with the student, I will register a supervision document and go through the content of its attachments.
I will make sure the student has at least two supervisors and a follow-up group.
I will introduce the student to the responsible conduct of research, as well as to the publishing policy and the research data policy at the Ģ��ֱ��.

I will meet or otherwise contact the student and give feedback regularly.
I will share the instructions and announcements of the Graduate School and the doctoral schools of faculties with the student.
I will give objective, constructive and encouraging feedback about the student’s progress and output.
My goal as a supervisor is that the student will be able to produce a scientifically high-quality dissertation and complete a doctoral degree in the target time set in the doctoral study plan.
In case of an article dissertation, I will ensure that the articles are eligible for publication before they are submitted to the publisher.
When possible, I will participate in events in which the dissertation research is handled and help the student in preparing for the events.
I will promote the student’s integration with the scientific community and encourage them to create a peer support network.
I will discuss with the student about their career plans.
I will follow the progress of the doctoral studies regularly (e.g. in follow-up group meetings).
I will give advice on applying for funding and, when possible, aim to take the financial needs of doctoral training into account when I apply for project funding.
I will write references and statements on the student’s request.

I will ensure that the dissertation manuscript is eligible for preliminary examination.
I will make sure the dissertation manuscript is scanned with the plagiarism detection software and interpret the results.
If the student is supervised by two or more faculties, I will participate in assessing the share of supervision so that compensation for the supervision can be applied for.

Resolving of conflicts and problematic situations

For more detailed guidance on how to resolve conflicts and problematic situations, see the follow-up group guidelines.

The supplementary instructions of the Faculties

Appointing the supervisors: when the doctoral study right is granted, new doctoral student is appointed supervisor-in-charge and other supervisor(s):

The person selected as the supervisor-in-charge should be an employee of the Ģ��ֱ�� and should hold a doctorate and have sufficient academic merits.
One or two additional supervisors are also nominated. The supervisors must have completed a doctoral degree. The criteria for the choice of supervisors include the supervisor’s expertise on the subject and the division of supervision duties within the department. The supervisors may not serve as examiners of the future dissertation.

Changes in supervision

During the doctoral studies, a need to change the existing supervision arrangements may arise. This may happen for various reasons, for example, a supervisor may retire. Primarily, any changes in supervision should be negotiated between the doctoral student and the supervisors. The changes in supervision can be proposed by the student or the supervisor(s).

After consulting the doctoral student and the supervisors, the department's vice head is responsible for proposing a new supervisor. In the other departments of the faculty, the vice head responsible for research is responsible for the matter, and in Centre for Applied Language Studies (Solki), the vice head responsible for education. The vice head of the department sends to the faculty's doctoral studies coordinator the proposal on the changes in supervision using . The dean makes the decision on changes to the supervision. The coordinator responsible for faculty's doctoral studies informs the department and the doctoral student when the decision has been made, and the coordinator also makes the needed changes to Sisu's tutoring groups. After this, the doctoral student must update the changes in their supervision document.

Policy on the supervision of doctoral theses in the Faculty of Information Technology (September 25, 2023):

In the Faculty of Information Technology, each doctoral student is assigned a personal supervisor-in-charge (responsible supervisor) and at least one other supervisor.

The responsible supervisor must be a person with a permanent employment contract with the faculty, or a person with a fixed-term contract or tenure track of at least four years from the start of the postgraduate studies.

A supervisor other than the supervisor-in-charge may be a person from outside the faculty if the work requires expertise in a particular subject area that is not covered by the faculty's own staff or if the progress of the work is for some other specific reason significantly supported by the involvement of an external supervisor.

All supervisors must hold a doctoral degree.

Changes in supervision

In situations requiring a change in the supervision

The doctoral student and the supervisors will consult each other in the first instance. If necessary, members of the follow-up group may also be involved.
Once changes have been agreed between the doctoral student and the current and potential new supervisors, the supervisor-in-charge will discuss the issue with the specialisation representative (Head of the division in question; in cognitive science, Associate Professor Tuomo Kujala). The proposal for changes is made using the faculty form.
Specialisation representative sends a proposal for changes to the coordinator of doctoral education (or to doctoral-studies-it@jyu.fi).
The coordinator will inform the parties concerned when the Dean's decision on the changes has been made.
The doctoral student must then update the changes in their supervision document, which is approved by the responsible supervisor.

Changes in the supervisory arrangements at JSBE

When the doctoral study right at JSBE is granted, the decision includes a decision on the supervisor(s). In case there is later a need to change the supervisors, the Dean will decide on the new supervisory arrangements. The process of proposing for the changes goes as follows:

Doctoral student, old and new supervisors and the Head of the Discipline in the doctoral studen't specialisation agree on the future supervisory arrangements, and fill in a form of the proposed changes (please download it below):

Proposal for changes in supervisors or follow-up group (.doc)
Head of the Discipline signs the proposal for changes and sends it to the administrative coordinator of the doctoral school via HelpJYU form .
Coordinator brings the proposal for Dean's decision and informs the doctoral student and the supervisors once the decision is made.

After the decision the doctoral student must make the respective changes to their supervision document.

All doctoral programmes of the faculty

Every doctoral student must have a designated supervisor-in-charge and at least one other supervisor. All supervisors need to have a doctoral degree. A supervisor-in-charge can be a professor, an assistant/associate professor, a docent or a person who has significant scientific evidence equivalent to a docent, who is employed at the Faculty of Education and Psychology¹. The supervisor-in-charge must have a non-fixed-term employment contract or alternatively, a fixed-term employment contract during which a doctoral dissertation can be expected to be finished. The supervisory group formed by the supervisors must have at least one supervisor from the faculty² who has a non-fixed employment contract or a tenure track employment contract. There can be members in the supervisory group also outside the Ģ��ֱ��.

¹In the doctoral programme in education alternatively at Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius or Finnish Institute for Educational Research

² In the doctoral programme in education alternatively at Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius

(This definition does not change already existing supervisory groups.)

Changes in supervision: During the doctoral studies, a need to change the existing supervision arrangements may arise. This may happen for various reasons, for example, a supervisor may retire. To change supervisors, use (Intranet UNO, requires login).

Supervision of doctoral studies

Each student will be appointed 1 main supervisor and 1-2 additional supervisors (if needed). The faculty requires principally that at least one supervisor and preferably the main supervisor is a professor or at least a docent of the faculty. In multidisciplinary work it is advised to seek for synergy in group guidance.

When the doctoral study right at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences is granted, the decision includes a decision on the supervisors and follow-up group. In case there is later a need to change the supervisors/follow-up group, the Dean will decide on the new supervisory arrangements. The process of proposing for the changes:

Doctoral student, old and new supervisors agree on the new supervisory arrangements and fill in a form of the proposed changes.
Supervisor-in-charge or doctoral student sends the signed proposal for changes to the administrative coordinator of the doctoral school via
Coordinator of the doctoral school submits the proposal to the Head of the Doctoral Programme for approval and then to the Dean for decision. In case the Head of the Doctoral Programme is the supervisor of the Doctoral student and thus is disqualified to approve, the proposal is submitted to the Vice Dean for approval.
Coordinator of the doctoral school informs the doctoral student and the supervisors once the decision is made.
The doctoral student must make the respective changes to their supervision document in the Supervision Document Service.

Read about progress and follow-up of the doctoral studies in the follow-up group instructions.

Policy on the supervision of doctoral theses in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science (March 14, 2023):

Each doctoral student must have a designated supervisor-in-charge (responsible supervisor), and at least one other supervisor. Supervisors are nominated when awarding the doctoral study right. The second supervisor does not need to be employed by the Ģ��ֱ�� but must hold a doctoral degree and must have demonstrated sufficient competence to supervise the doctoral thesis (competence is assessed by the doctoral programme). Nominating a second supervisor ensures the stability and continuity of supervision in unexpected situations. The supervisor-in-charge must have a sufficiently long employment contract with the Ģ��ֱ��. The purpose is to ensure continuity of supervision during the doctoral thesis. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to monitor that the supervision document is up to date and to confirm the supervision document without delay.

Changes in supervision

In situations requiring a change in the supervision

The doctoral student and the supervisors will consult each other in the first instance. If necessary, members of the follow-up group may also be involved.
Once changes have been agreed between the doctoral student and the current and potential new supervisors, they will be discussed with the Head of the Doctoral Programme. The proposal for changes is made using the faculty form.
Head of the Doctoral Programme sends a proposal for changes to the coordinator of doctoral education .
The coordinator will inform the parties concerned when the Vice Dean's decision on the changes has been made.
The doctoral student must then update the changes in their supervision document, which is approved by the responsible supervisor.

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