Resources for doctoral supervision development
Training and self-study materials
Elements of successful doctoral supervision
Finnish Doctoral Training Network (Findocnet) offers free online courses and material. Please, check out the material they have for you on how to succeed in the doctoral supervision process.
Diversity, equality and inclusion
Over 40% of doctoral students at Aalto are foreigners. In a multicultural university such as Aalto the challenge of mutual understanding and constructive communication is significant. You can find more information on these matters in this section.
Equality, diversity and inclusion at Aalto
We are committed to foster an empowered community where everyone feels a sense of belonging and thrive by working together
EDI learning hub
Practical tips for fostering equality, diversity and inclusion.
Teamwork First-Aid Kit
Teamwork First-Aid Kit gathers tools that have proved to be useful in supporting diverse teams tackling ill-defined problems and building the foundations for successful teamwork. It is a small step toward educating game-changers who can make a team more than a sum of its parts. Undeniably, teamwork skills are among the most pivotal work-life skills that younger generation entering the workforce are expected to master.
Findocnet course: Interaction in supervision
Findocnet course: Intercultural supervision and inclusion
Supporting wellbeing of doctoral students
Doctoral students may have needs that do not require the sole attention of the supervising professor. Below, you can explore the various forms of support already available at Aalto. Both your own supervisor and resources like HR or Doctoral Education Services can provide additional assistance.
Doctoral student wellbeing and support
Support services, challenging situations, progressing in your studies and research, study skills and wellbeing
Ombudspersons for doctoral students
Confidential contact persons for doctoral students wishing to discuss with a professor with experience in academic practices
Support for challenges during your doctoral studies
Support network and help for challenging situations for doctoral students
Best practices from schools
This selection of supervision practices at Aalto University is meant to serve as a tool for peer-learning, providing practical tips and illustrating experiences on doctoral supervision from the ground.
Majakka – Doctoral Education Project
Operating within the Water & Development Group, focuses on co-creating doctoral
education and water research. Its aim is to make doctoral education increasingly systematic and better supervised, and thus to enhance its role in and for the society. The main goals of Majakka was to create a systematic model to support practices and supervision on doctoral education and research collaboration.
Key factors:
- Academic freedom combined with academic responsibilities
- Subsidiarity & co-creation
- Clear roles, goals, and feedback
- T-shaped competence profile and linkages to industry
Key benefits:
- Diverse research activities and continuous development, excellence reputation
- Work-life skills, including teamwork, communication and networking
- Early actions to meet the rising needs, self-organizing culture and activities without professors facilitating and coordinating everything
- Supervising professors and thesis advisors have active collaboration networks and innovative, proactive team to work with
- Highly engaged team to apply for external funding
- Holistic wellbeing and resilience to sudden changes
- Respect and appreciation of all
| Interaction | Transparency | Diversity | Peer Support | Mindset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students and Supervising professors & Thesis Advisors | Actively search and engage with key beneficiaries and practitioners to increase the value and impact of your research and to support decision-making (student). Be aware of interdependency risks when researchers closely collaborate with others using data or method development (student, supervisor). | Agree on expectations and structures for continuous two-way feedback focusing on encouragement and support (student, supervisor). | Acknowledge that individuals with different backgrounds have different expectations and needs (supervisor). Organize supervision in diverse teams of advisors and mentors (supervisor). | Acknowledge that risk-taking and the associated failure is intrinsic to academic work in order to prepare students for journal and grant rejection, or sudden unreliable sample results (supervisor). | Actively communicate your ideas, make bold decisions, and enjoy life-long learning (student). Recruit individuals with a curious and proactive attitude to learn (supervisor). |
| Research Group | Organize regular events to bring all staff together. Create structures to match similarities and diversity: people with a common denominator, e.g., method or stage of the thesis; Rookies or Synthesis writing clubs. Use co-creation and feedback tools, e.g., journey mapping, for systematic reflection on ways of working. | Plan and share responsibilities to support development of leadership and management skills of all team members, including doctoral students and postdocs. | Make use of group members’ diverse networks and integrate doctoral students into them. Build cohesiveness in diverse teams by identifying shared interests and organizing joint activities. | Create a sense of belongingness via virtual and physical spaces for working and collaboration, e.g., shared offices. Establish peer groups for sharing experiences, increasing accountability, and developing together. | Lead by example and promote multi- and interdisciplinary collaboration to make use of diverse skills sets, facilitate learning, and reduce competition. |
| Industry and Practitioners | Create easy beginnings for collaboration: practice-oriented events, mentorships, small pilot projects, workshops, hackathons, end-user analysis, and jointly funded PhD projects. Participate in special courses; encourage employees to strengthen their alumni relations. | Highlight the practical relevance and limitations of research and innovations throughout the project duration. | Strive for diverse and multidisciplinary stakeholder representation in boards or associations. Organize or attend seminars and workshops for academics to create shared understanding. | Communicate the practical importance of the work and help with diversifying the network. Help the researchers to identify the key beneficiaries and end-users of the research and jointly communicate the research outputs. | Acknowledge the competence of and employ PhDs to senior positions early in their career. Invest in jointly-advised industrial PhDs to strengthen the university-industry collaboration. |
Read more about Majakka:
For any questions regarding Majakka, please contact Postdoctoral researcher Maija Taka
(maija.taka@aalto.fi)
Professor Jani Romanoff: (Aalto login)
Professor Simo Särkkä: Sharing good advice for efective supervision
Planning officer Päivi Väätäinen: Writing doctoral research - managing your writing
Professor Mark Hughes: Toolkit for doctoral students - summing up
Professor Adam Foster:
Open Science
Your expertise in open science can support students' success and ensure that they are well-equipped for the future academic environment, which values open and collaborative research. Here is some information provided by Aalto University on this matter for you.
Data Management Plan (DMP)
Create a Data Management Plan (DMP) to ensure your research data is high-quality and FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
Open science and research
The principle of openness is the key principle of science and research. At Aalto University, the most visible forms of open science are open access publications, open research data and metadata, and combining openness and commercialisation.
Open Access Publishing
Open access ensures that scientific publications are accessible to everyone free of charge.
Facilitating doctoral students’ research networking
It is important that you actively support your students networking so that they can build a network of contacts that can be a valuable resource for their current research and future careers. In this way, you can foster students' professional development and success in the academic world.
Aalto University is known for its diverse collaboration with industry. Here is some information and tips for you on what it may contain:
(Aalto login)
Aalto International Talent Program & Aalto University Mentoring Program
Aalto University aims at high quality of international standards in research and education. International cooperation is an integral part of the doctoral education of Aalto University, and one method for such cooperation is arrangements for the joint supervision of doctoral degrees. A student may earn a degree under a joint supervision arrangement between two universities provided that joint supervision is based on genuine scientific cooperation, brings added value to the doctoral thesis and enhances the quality of the research.'
A new Cotutelle Agreement template is available for use when organizing a jointly supervised doctoral degree with an international partner. Assistance for using the template is provided by the Doctoral Education Services.
If your student is employed by Aalto University, they can begin a paid internship in companies only after the pre-examination has started. Alternatively, the internship can be conducted with a side job permit. Networking-type activities are possible at company premises, but no compensation can be received for this work.