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112 doctoral graduates answered the graduate survey in 2022.

Funding and study time

The majority of the respondents were employed by Aalto University as doctoral researchers at some point of their doctoral studies. 25% received individual grants for their doctoral studies.

For 84% of the respondents the main study mode was full-time studies. The median study time was slightly under 5 years, compared to the official target time of 4 years for full-time studies.

The most cited reasons for exceeding the official target time were a demanding or time-consuming research topic (32% of all respondents), work tasks elsewhere (not related to the doctoral studies) (24%), COVID-19 related effects on the research (e.g. access to labs, data collection) (21%) and a project or research work that did not contribute towards the doctoral studies (20%).

Experiences of studies

93% of the respondents considered that during their doctoral studies they gained the knowledge and skills needed to apply scientific research methods independently and critically and to produce new scientific knowledge within their field of research.

85% thought that they received enough guidance for writing the doctoral thesis.

Employment

During their studies 45% of the respondents aimed for an academic career path. The rest planned to work in the industry, public sector or as entrepreneurs.

At the time of the graduation, 85% were employed, more than half of them in the academia.

More information on employment experiences:

Results of the doctoral career monitoring survey (aalto.fi)

Processing of the results

The survey results are processed at general level in the doctoral education working group DEWG and in the Schools' Doctoral programme committees. The results are used to develop the support for doctoral students.

The doctoral graduate survey is organised by the Doctoral education services.