91ÇàÇà²Ý

News

Aalto granted 178 positions in doctoral education pilot

Most of the positions are in Finnish flagship programme areas
Henkilö tekemässä kokeellista tutkimusta.
Photo: Aalto University / Unto Rautio.

Aalto University was granted 178 additional positions in the new doctoral education pilot funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The majority of the positions are in the flagship programme areas of the Research Council of Finland. At Aalto, flagships in the areas of quantum technology, materials bioeconomy and artificial intelligence received the largest number of positions.

‘The result is excellent for us, and the number of positions is large relative to our size. Now, we’re rolling up our sleeves to face the exciting challenge of finding the right doctoral students and supporting them so they can complete their degree in time,’ says Jyri Hämäläinen, Aalto University Vice President for Research.

Aalto will start recruiting new doctoral students as soon as possible, and the first ones will start this August.

The ministry is providing funding for 1000 doctoral researchers in Finland, 800 of whom will focus on areas in the flagship programmes of the Research Council of Finland, while 200 will be in other research fields. 

In 2023, 230 doctoral degrees were completed at Aalto. These 178 new positions will thus be a significant increase in the number of doctorates at the university. 

The positions granted 91ÇàÇà²Ý University are:

Finnish flagship areas 

  • Quantum, 40 positions
  • Circular Materials Bioeconomy Network: From bio-based resources to advanced materials (FinnCERES flagship), 35 positions
  • (), 30 positions
  • Doctoral Education Pilot for Mathematics of Sensing, Imaging and Modelling (FAME flagship), 14 positions
  • Digital Waters Doctoral Education Pilot (DIWA flagship), 14 positions
  • PREIN Doctoral education pilot, 14 positions
  • EDUCA Flagship doctoral school pilot project, 4 positions

Other research fields

  • MIcroELectronics doctoral school pilot, 10 positions
  • Intelligent Work Machines, 8 positions
  • Doctoral pilot in software engineering, 5 positions
  • Sustainability Transformations, 4 positions

The Ministry of Education and Culture will allocate EUR 255 million to universities for piloting new practices in doctoral education in 2024–2027. This additional funding will be allocated to 1000 doctoral researchers who will have an employment contract.

The pilot is a major effort to strengthen research activities and the impact of research and expertise in society at large. The project aims to increase the number of doctors and to reform doctoral education and strengthen its social impact.

The growing need for researchers was identified in the report of the Finnish Parliamentary Working Group on Research, Development and Innovation. The doctoral education pilot will enable universities to respond to the ever-increasing talent shortage and supply the workforce with researcher training across sectors without compromising the quality of education.

Read more

Two people in laboratory working with research equipment wearing safety goggles.

Open positions in doctoral education pilot

Vacancies will be added to this page as they are published.

Doctoral education pilot
TechPromootio2016_hatut

Doctoral education

Everything there is to know about doctoral education for doctoral students, supervising professors and thesis advisors.

Research Council of Finland Flagship programme funding

A flagship is an effective mix of cutting-edge research, impact in support of economic growth or society, close connections to the business sector and society at large, adaptability, and a strong commitment from host organisations. Flagships are high-quality, high-impact competence clusters.

Research & Art
  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!

Read more news

Two people wearing headphones sit at a desk with a large screen in a dimly lit office.
Cooperation, University Published:

Unite! Networking Hub Launches: Exchange best practices and learn from peers across Europe

The Unite! Networking Hub is an online space for Unite! faculty and staff to meet to connect and engage with colleagues in the same field of expertise, share and discover best practices, and support one another in addressing work-related challenges.
Person sits inside large circular opening in wall, wearing black shirt, grey trousers and white hat.
Studies Published:

Student Sarah Asfar balances studies and competitive sports in her daily life

Sarah Asfar, who plays badminton at a competitive level, studies Energy and Mechanical Engineering at Aalto University. What particularly interests her about the field is its relevance to the future and the practical nature of the studies. The flexibility of the program has allowed Sarah to pursue elite sports and part-time work alongside her studies.
An illustrative figure comparing disease-induced immunity (left) and randomly distributed immunity (right) in the same network. Illustration: Jari Saramäki's research group, Aalto UIniversity.
Research & Art Published:

Herd immunity may not work how we think

A new study from researchers at Aalto University suggests that our picture of herd immunity may be incomplete — and that understanding how people are connected could be just as important as knowing how many are immune.
AI applications
Research & Art Published:

Aalto computer scientists in ICML 2025

Department of Computer Science papers accepted to International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML)