Each doctoral researcher has a supervising professor who is to be appointed already at the application stage and who agrees to support the application. The role of the supervising professor is administrative unless s/he acts as a primary supervisor. The tasks of the supervising professor include discussing the contents of the doctoral researcher’s personal study plan and overseeing the thesis submission and examination process. The thesis is supervised by the doctoral researcher’s primary supervisor, who must hold a doctoral degree. If the supervising professor is also the primary supervisor, a second supervisor is to be appointed.
Two or more persons are appointed on application as the supervisors for doctoral studies. Of these, all must hold a doctoral degree and at least one must be a professor, an associate professor, a senior researcher (Tenure Track) or a research director in the faculty. If a person other than a professor, an associate professor, a senior researcher (Tenure Track) or a research director in the faculty is proposed as the main supervisor of a doctoral dissertation, his or her up-to-date list of
publications must accompany the application.
In the Faculty of Health Sciences each doctoral researcher must have a minimum of two supervisors. All supervisors must have a doctoral degree and the main supervisor must hold, at the minimum, the qualification of a docent or have a corresponding scientific qualification. At least one of the supervisors must be employed by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland.
The main supervisor shall hold a professor's, associate professor’s or a docent's title with the University of Eastern Finland or have a corresponding qualification and be a member of staff in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. The second supervisor must hold a doctoral degree.