Doctoral education pilot for businesses

A national doctoral education pilot initiative aims to develop doctoral education and to educate new experts to the service of society and, in particular, research, development and innovation activities in businesses. As part of the initiative, Tamper University will recruit 106 doctoral students for a three-year term in 13 different fields. By participating in the pilot activities, you will be able to join in the training of the next generation of RDI experts and to network nationally with doctoral researchers and scholars.

How will your business benefit from participating?

The doctoral education pilot is a unique opportunity for companies and other partners to bring societal and working life oriented research ideas to the attention of professors who supervise doctoral dissertations, and possibly also for directly participating in the guidance of doctoral studies together with an academic supervisor.

Business representatives’ views on the effective dissemination path of the different projects are also heard from the point of view of the societal impact of research. Dissemination is discussed with the partners in the spirit of co-creation.

How will we collaborate?

Collaboration with business representatives is conducted in accordance with the principles of co-creation. The primary goal of each doctoral researcher is to produce a high-quality public doctoral dissertation.

Any IP materials that may be generated as a secondary outcome of the projects are subject to the established contractual policies of Tampere University as regards the processing of pre-existing know-how, possible foreground, IP transfers and valuation.

Businesses’ employees are welcome to apply for the pilot positions themselves, but please note that the employment contract of the doctoral researchers at Tampere University must be 100% for three years starting from 1 August 2024 or 1 January 2025.

Contact us and step on board!

If you have any questions or wish to step on board, please contact us by email yrityspalvelut [at] tuni.fi or call us +358 29 452 4500.

Learn more about our doctoral education pilots

Tampere University has the coordinating role in three pilots:

We participate in ten other pilots:

Circular Materials Bioeconomy Network (CIMANET): From bio-based resources to advanced materials
Doctoral Education Pilot for Mathematics of Sensing, Imaging and Modelling
Doctoral Education Pilot in Precision Cancer Medicine
EDUCA Flagship doctoral school pilot project
Finnish Doctoral Program Network in Artificial Intelligence
National Doctoral Education Pilot based on Immune system
Quantum
Doctoral pilot in software engineering
Interdisciplinary Doctoral School of Social Services
Sustainability Transformations

The national doctoral education pilot initiative in short

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has granted €255 million in funding for universities to pilot new practices in doctoral education in 2024–2027. The additional funding will be allocated to 1,000 doctoral researchers whom universities will hire to fixed-term, three-year employment relationships to complete their doctoral degree. The share of Tampere University is €27 million, i.e 106 doctoral candidates.

In the pilot initiative, universities work together to develop doctoral education and reinvent practices. The pilots aim to increase the mobility of doctoral graduates between universities, businesses, research institutes and other organisations. Goals also include the development of supervision and guidance, and the promotion of the employment of doctoral graduates in different sectors of society.