Orientation day for doctoral candidates (1cr)

Evaluation scale

Approved/Rejected

Objective

After successful completion of this course, the doctoral researcher will be able to:
- interpret how to get started successfully with the research project in her/his particular situation
- perceive key characteristics, expectations and stakeholders in the system of carrying out doctoral studies at the University of Lapland.

Execution methods

The doctoral researcher participates actively in the discussion, including a brief pre-task on Moodle. After the orientation day the doctoral researcher updates her/his doctoral study plan and gets an approval for the plan from the supervisor, autonomously informing the course organiser about the approval. Reading literature referred to is voluntary yet recommended, but it will be beneficial for the doctoral researcher before the orientation day and also later.

Accomplishment methods

Active participation in the orientation, (voluntary) reading of literature, updated doctoral study plan (in English: ulapland.fi/dsp, in Finnish: ulapland.fi/jops) approved by the doctoral researcher’s supervisor.

Content

The orientation day is designed to provide an overview of the core issues of becoming a doctoral researcher. Doctoral researchers from all fields can benefit from the orientation as it encourages the participants to think about realistic ways of conducting and making progress in doctoral studies, to perceive what belonging to the research community at the University of Lapland means, and to become connected with key stakeholders.

Location and time

Pre-assignment submission on Moodle, deadline 24 August 2022.

The orientation day takes place on Friday 26 August 2022 (10–15:30) at the University of Lapland, in Rovaniemi, Finland. You can also participate online in the day online.

Orientation day, Friday 26 August 2022, programme:

10:15 Welcoming words

10:30 Alumni speaking
Attorney and Founding Partner of Kotiranta & Co Attorneys, Professor of Practice Kai Kotiranta (law alumnus)
Teacher of career planning course and coordinator of PhD career café, PhD Krista Kohtakangas (social sciences alumna)

[short break if needed]

11:15–12:15 Getting started with the research project
Leader of thematic doctoral programme, University Lecturer Juha Himanka

[lunch break]

13–13.30 to be continued: Getting started with the research project
Leader of thematic doctoral programme, University Lecturer Juha Himanka

[break]

13:45–14:00 Ethical review
Research Expert Petra Falin

14:00–14:45 Alumni speaking
Specialist at National Audiovisual Institute KAVI Lauri Palsa (education alumnus)
University Researcher Ashley Colley (art & design alumnus)

14:45–15:00
Tieteentekijät – FUURT
FUURT Lapland board member, Junior Researcher Salla Kalliojärvi & FUURT Lapland chair, FUURT board member, PhD Hanna Lempinen

Closing words, Q & A

Thank you for participating.

Materials

Literature (voluntary):

Dunleavy, Patrick. 2003. Authoring a PhD. How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation. London: Palgrave.

Kiriakos, Carol; Svinhufvud, Kimmo. 2015. Tohtoritakuu: Kirjoittamisen opas jatko-opiskelijalle ja tutkijalle. Helsinki: Art House.

Phillips, Estelle M.; Pugh, Derek S. 2015. How To Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and
their Supervisors. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.

Stubb, Jenni. 2012. Becoming a scholar: The dynamic interaction between the doctoral student and the scholarly community (Doctoral dissertation). University of Helsinki.

Vekkaila (née Tuomainen), Jenna. 2014. Doctoral student engagement – The dynamic interplay between students and scholarly communities. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Helsinki.

Teaching methods

Pre-assignment via Moodle and participation in the orientation day (in situ or online).

Student workload

Guidelines for the pre-assignment, deadline 24 August:
Log on to Moodle (https://moodle.eoppimispalvelut.fi/login/index.php) and look for the course ‘TUKO1243 Orientation day for doctoral candidates, autumn 2022’. The self-enrolment key is: research. Once logged in, find the general discussion forum: please present yourself and the general idea of your research topic briefly, and tell about your motivation for doctoral studies. You are also encouraged to comment on other doctoral researchers' posts. It would be ideal if you can already recognise fellow doctoral researchers who may have similar research interests – these persons may be your future collaborators.


Guidelines for the orientation day, 26 August:
You can come to Rovaniemi in person or optionally participate via an online link. The online link is available on Moodle.


After the orientation day:
After the orientation day the doctoral researcher updates her/his doctoral study plan (www.ulapland.fi/dsp in English, www.ulapland.fi/jops in Finnish) and gets an approval for the plan from the supervisor. Please note that the doctoral researcher is expected to autonomously inform the course organiser about the approval. After receiving the approval, the course organiser will be able to grant the credit.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The grading scale for this course is pass/fail.

Pass:
- submitted pre-assignment
- active participation in the orientation day
- updated doctoral study plan (in English: ulapland.fi/dsp, in Finnish: ulapland.fi/jops) approved by the doctoral researcher’s supervisor
- (voluntary reading of literature).

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Pass/fail

Qualifications

The doctoral researcher must be enrolled in a doctoral programme (thematic or field-specific). The orientation is open to all new and newish doctoral researchers at the University of Lapland.