20668 Guidance and supervision

Guidance in doctoral studies
Supervision in doctoral research
Tips for supervisees

Guidance in doctoral studies

In the accordion below you'll find the contact information of the coordinator of your doctoral programme:

You can also contact the officers at the faculties for guidance:

Philosophical Faculty: Kaisu Kortelainen
Faculty of Science and Forestry: Kaisa Laitinen
Faculty of Health Sciences: Ella Koistinen
Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies: Annikki Honkanen or Anne Korhonen
Information concerning Doctoral School and the transferable skills studies: Merja Lyytikäinen

Supervision of doctoral research

Requirements

Each doctoral researcher must have at least two supervisors, both of which must hold a doctoral degree. In addition, there are faculty-specific requirements for the supervisors;

In the Philosophical Faculty one of the supervisors must be a professor or associate professor (supervising professor) in the Faculty. Other supervisors must hold a doctoral degree.
In the Faculty of Science and Forestry, one of the supervisors must be a professor, associate professor or assistant professor (Tenure Track) in the Faculty.
In the Faculty of Health Sciences, one of the supervisors must be a professor or hold a title of docent or equivalent at the University of Eastern Finland. The principal supervisor must primarily hold the title of docent.
In the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, principal supervisor must be a professor, associate professor, hold the title of docent or a person with equivalent qualifications in the Faculty.

It is possible to change the supervisor(s) during the doctoral studies. The change must be reported using the form below:

Change of supervisors

Roles of supervisor and supervisee

A supervisor has a crucial role in the progress of doctoral studies. According to scientific studies, satisfaction of the doctoral researcher increases in the case the supervisor and the doctoral researcher have a mutual understanding on the supervisor's duties, and the contents and frequency of supervision (Pyhältö et al. 2015). In addition, support from the supervisor and research community decreases the risk of drop-outs and burn-outs (Peltonen et al. 2017). It is recommended that you and your supervisor jointly prepare a written supervision guideline about the practices of supervision in detail, possibly including reporting and feedback in the document.

Below, you'll find the instructions of your Faculty on research supervision.

Philosophical Faculty

A doctoral researcher is assigned at least two supervisors, one of whom is the main supervisor and must have an employment relationship with the Philosophical Faculty. All instructors must have a doctoral degree. The main supervisor must be an adjunct professor or have an equivalent scientific qualification.

Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology

At least two supervisors are appointed for doctoral researchers, one of whom is the main supervisor and at least one of whom is a member to the university staff. All supervisors must hold a doctoral degree. The scientific qualification of the main supervisor must be equivalent to at least the level of docent. If the main supervisor is not a university staff member, also university staff members the qualification of the supervisor must be at least equivalent to that of a docent.

Faculty of Health Sciences

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.

Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies

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.

Tips for supervisees

Produced in a workshop in Seminar for PhD students and their supervisors in 2018 (see Sway presentation How to improve PhD supervision).

Tell about your working style and communication style to your supervisor (self-leadership, need for interaction etc).
Talk, discuss, express your expectations and feelings to your supervisor.
Make sure that you agree on the goals and norms. Establish mutual understanding.
Prepare for meetings with the supervisor in advance. Define your goals and send information beforehand.
Make memos during the supervisory meetings.
Give (also positive and encouraging) feedback to your supervisor.
Find your networks and meet your colleagues in informal settings. Social support from peers enhances your wellbeing.
Balance work and free time and keep your working hours reasonable. Relaxation will not slow you down but, in fact, helps you to become more efficient.
Take a break, sleep enough, exercise, get fresh air, break the routines.
Positive thinking is important. Focusing on the problems is not efficient. Try to change the angle. If something in your relationship with your supervisor is not functional, you can take the initiative for making a change.

More information

Shared rules vitally important in the doctoral researcher-supervisor relationship by Tieteentekijät
Role perception rating scale (RPRS)- tool a for making mutual expectations visible.
Research Supervision (1145010) - a course targeted for doctoral researchers
Materials from the Seminar for PhD Students and Their Supervisors (2018)

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