Riktlinjer och riktlinjer för doktorandhandledning
Key university policies and guidelines on supervision help to foster a fulfilling supervisory relationship. They offer a comprehensive overview of essential university regulations and practices that support doctoral supervision, helping you, as a supervising professor or thesis advisor, to effectively navigate the various stages of doctoral education and ensure high-quality supervision. On this webpage, you can access a streamlined guide that outlines the main aspects of curriculum design for doctoral programmes, as well as detailed guidance on the doctoral thesis process and its requirements, all grounded in university regulations.
How do university policies and guidelines help with doctoral supervision?
Find information on the practicalities of Doctoral thesis, pre-examination and defence as well as how to propose pre-examiners and opponent.
- The Degree Regulations on Doctoral Education cover all the fundamental aspects of the organisation of doctoral education.
- The doctoral programme curricula are designed and implemented in line with the university strategy, as well as a range of academic policies and regulations.
- Aalto University General Regulations on Teaching and Studying (in force from 1 August 2021) regulate the degrees and languages of degrees among others.
- Aalto University guidelines on the languages of degree and instruction regulate the languages of degree and instruction, including the marking the language of the study attainment of the student and linguistic rights of the students in studies.
- The Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity in Studies provides guidance on research, education and artistic activities in the context of studying, learning and teaching. This includes, for example, matters related to academic integrity, good research practices in education and studies as well as any research misconduct, such as plagiarism.
- In addition, the Code of Conduct sets out the ethical principles and legal compliance policies that govern what we do and what we expect from each other, in all aspects of university life.
Aalto-universitetets allmänna regler för undervisning och studier (i kraft fr.o.m 1.8.2021)
Aalto-universitetets allmänna regler för undervisning och studier (i kraft fr.o.m 1.8.2021)
Examensstadga för doktorandutbildning
Examensstadga för doktorandutbildning
Riktlinjer för examens- och undervisningsspråk vid Aalto-universitetet
Riktlinjer för examens- och undervisningsspråk vid Aalto-universitetet från 17.3.2015 (riktlinjerna för 2015)
God akademisk praxis i studier vid Aalto-universitetet (i kraft fr.o.m 1.1.2025)
God akademisk praxis i studier vid Aalto-universitetet
Doctoral curriculum and teaching practices
The doctoral programme curricula are designed and implemented to align with the overarching goals and strategic vision of the university. In addition, the curricula are guided by a comprehensive set of academic policies and regulations, which frame the structure and content of the programmes. These policies ensure that the curricula adhere to high academic standards, promote rigorous research practices, and support the intellectual and professional development of doctoral candidates.
Degree structure and curriculum
The doctoral degree at Aalto University consists of 3 modules:
- General research studies
- Research field studies
- Doctoral thesis
The study modules 'General research studies' and 'Research field studies' comprise a total of 30* or 60 ECTS (30* ECTS in the fields of art and design & technology, 60 ECTS in the field of business). The scope and content of each of the study modules are described in the curriculum of the doctoral programme. Credit points are not awarded for the doctoral thesis.
Please check the curriculum requirements of your doctoral programme before confirming any DPSPs.
You can advise your doctoral student to find courses through the following course offering:
- Compulsory courses of the doctoral programme
- Other courses offered by the programme / School for doctoral students
- Language and communication courses for doctoral students & Finnish/Swedish courses by Aalto Language Centre
- Courses on transferable skills and competences offered at Aalto
- Courses from other Finnish universities, or from our networks like N5T, Cluster, Unite! etc.
- Aalto University Pedagogical training
* 40 ECTS for doctoral students who have started their studies before 1.8.2024. They can also switch to complete their studies according to the new 30 ECTS curricula.
Teaching doctoral students follow the same principles as all other teaching leading towards a degree offered by Aalto University: it is planned and offered in the 2-year curriculum planning cycle, following the University's guidelines and schedules.
Each doctoral programme has its own curriculum, which consists of the degree requirements and course descriptions approved by the Academic Committee of the School, and which follows the degree structure presented above.
Courses aimed for doctoral students bear the letter 'L' in their course code. Often Master’s level courses bearing the letter ‘E’ in their course code are also planned so that they can be included in doctoral studies.
If you are interested in offering a course for doctoral students in your School, contact the planning officer of your School and note the 2-year planning cycle.
In addition to the courses taught at Aalto University, doctoral studies often include independently completed individual studies, e.g. conference presentations, summer schools, publications (not included in the thesis), literature reviews, etc. The supervising professor and the doctoral student agree about the inclusion of these type of studies and about their completion in the Doctoral personal study plan (credit plan) before hand. After the student has completed the studies and given a report, the supervising professor evaluates the studies and grants the credits for them.
Independently completed individual study courses
As part of the curriculum 2024-2026, course descriptions and codes have been created for the most typical independently completed individual studies in each doctoral programme. The course descriptions provide more information on the types of activity that can be credited and how many credits can be granted. The grading is always pass/fail. You can find the course descriptions in with the course code. Each School has their own codes and course descriptions, which might be slightly different from each other.
The curriculum of the doctoral programme dictates what kind of individual studies can be credited and how many of these credits can be placed in each study module of the degree (General research studies and Research field studies). Here is a list of the type of activities that can be credited through the independently completed individual study courses - note that all of them are not available in all Schools:
XXX-L2010 Presenting research at a conference I D
XXX-L2020 Academic advising I D
XXX-L2030 Teaching at higher education I D
XXX-L2040 University practices I D
XXX-L2050 Reviewing a scientific manuscript I D
XXX-L2060 Literature I D
XXX-L2070 Publishing research I
XXX-L2080 Summer or Winter Schools I D
XXX-L2090 Art production I D
(XXX represents the School code, e.g. ARTS or SCI)
Full list of individual study courses and codes in each School (aalto.fi)
Doctoral students will present to their supervising professor a filled-out form and any possible additional report of the completed activity (e.g. their presentation, literature review or written/oral report). Reporting can also happen in the form of a book exam or other form of assessment.
Other independently completed individual studies
Supervising professors can also grant credits for students following the old system, if the student has started their studies before 1 August 2024, or if there is a need to give credits beyond the course codes (as long as it is not restricted by the curriculum of the doctoral programme).
In this case, the same form is used, but the student submits the form differently in Sisu and the study attainment will have a different kind of code created automatically by Sisu.
Key terms, Pre-examination, and Public Defence
This information regarding the pre-examination and public defence process is specifically compiled for supervising professors and thesis advisers. Our guidelines are designed to assist you in proposing qualified pre-examiners who will uphold the scholarly integrity of the doctoral work.
NB! Doctoral students have access to comprehensive instructions and resources on their dedicated webpages, specifically designed to support them at every stage of their doctoral thesis journey.
After the pre-examiners have been appointed in Doctoral Programme Committee meeting, the Doctoral programme's Doctoral education services (in BIZ, Department's secretary) will send them the manuscript with further instructions. The instructions linked below can also be used to explain the responsibilities of a pre-examiner to potential examiners.
ARTS instructions
BIZ instructions
CHEM instructions
ELEC instructions
ENG instructions
SCI instructions
It is recommended that the key terms of the thesis are made available in a term bank, for example, in the Helsinki Term Bank for the Arts and Sciences, in the language of the thesis and in Finnish or Swedish. For more detailed information, please see the term bank instructions and guidance for doctoral students. This recommendation is currently in a testing period.
Before pre-examination
It is responsibility of the supervising professor to
- ensure that the doctoral student is aware of the requirements for a doctoral thesis and of the stages included in the preliminary examination and the public examination of the thesis
- confirm that the manuscript is ready for pre-examination
- confirm that the authors contribution description written by the doctoral student in the doctoral thesis is correct and also, if applicable, that the clarification of subcontracting is correct.
- strong recommendation: use the Turnitin originality report in their evaluation of the unpublished parts of the thesis in order to notice possible plagiarism (see below)
- agree with the doctoral student about the language revision of the thesis, following their School's guidelines.
- find two independent pre-examiners for the doctoral thesis and ensure their impartiality, see below more information on Proposing pre-examiners and opponents
- fill out the necessary parts on the pre-examination application form (306). Application form available at the page Doctoral student forms.
During pre-examination
After the pre-examiners have been appointed in Doctoral Programme Committee meeting, the Doctoral programme's Doctoral education services (in BIZ, Department's secretary) will send them further instructions and the manuscript.
When the statements have arrived the Doctoral Programme sends them to the doctoral student and the supervising professor.
After pre-examination
It is responsibility of the supervising professor to make sure that the doctoral student makes all the necessary corrections to the thesis manuscript that have come up as a result of the pre-examination process.
The Doctoral Programme Committee grants the permission for public defence (i.e. permission for publishing the dissertation and to proceed to the defence). The opponent can be appointed directly after the pre-examination stage, if all the needed details are available.
It is recommended that the key terms of the thesis are made available in a term bank, for example, in the Helsinki Term Bank for the Arts and Sciences, in the language of the thesis and in Finnish or Swedish. For more detailed information, please see the term bank instructions and guidance for doctoral students. This recommendation is currently in a testing period.
After the pre-examiners have been appointed in Doctoral Programme Committee meeting, the Doctoral programme's Doctoral education services (in BIZ, Department's secretary) will send them the manuscript with further instructions. The instructions linked below can also be used to explain the responsibilities of a pre-examiner to potential examiners.
ARTS instructions
BIZ instructions
CHEM instructions
ELEC instructions
ENG instructions
SCI instructions
After the pre-examiners have been appointed in Doctoral Programme Committee meeting, the Doctoral programme's Doctoral education services (in BIZ, Department's secretary) will send them the manuscript with further instructions. The instructions linked below can also be used to explain the responsibilities of a pre-examiner to potential examiners.
ARTS instructions
BIZ instructions
CHEM instructions
ELEC instructions
ENG instructions
SCI instructions