Sharing Research & Building Community: the EDUPSY-Doc Summer School 2026
The summer school opened with a warm welcome from Professor and Vice Dean Taru Feldt. This was followed by an inspiring keynote talk by Sirpa Eskelä-Haapanen, Head of the Department of Teacher Education and Adjunct Professor, who spoke on the importance and impact of doctoral research.
The programme also featured an insightful workshop on transversal skills for doctoral researchers, organised by Research Professor Terhi Nokkala (Finnish Institute for Educational Research) with postdoctoral researchers Josephine Lau and Abdul Kadir Khan (read more at METEOR Workshop “Transversal Skills at Doctoral Education” for EDUPSY-Doc Summer School 2026 | University of Jyväskylä.) During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to practice preparing research tenders and to reflect on how their skills can be applied in this context.
A key highlight of the day was the presentation of 24 doctoral projects across eight oral presentation sessions, complemented by two poster presentations. The sessions provided doctoral researchers with an opportunity to present their work at all stages of the doctoral journey—from research plans and preliminary findings to completed sub-studies, articles, and dissertation summaries.
Participants commented the sessions as “a good opportunity to see what other doctoral researchers are doing, and how you can help them” and “it was nice to see different stages of the doctoral journey”. The participants also emphasised the importance of peer support, whether through active discussion during sessions or informal exchanges during lunch and coffee breaks.
The event concluded with a panel discussion titled “Towards Life after Doctoral Degree”, moderated by Research Coordinator Milla Saajanaho (Faculty of Education and Psychology). The panellists - Senior Lecturer Eija Hanhimäki (Department of Education), Professor Marianna Alesi (University of Palermo), and Research Director Jani Ursin (Finnish Institute for Educational Research) - shared insights from their career paths and gave tips on how to manage the doctoral journey as well as careers after.
The summer school was organised by a team of doctoral researchers working under the guidance of Research Coordinator Milla Saajanaho. One committee member described the experience as “an opportunity to work on the other side of event organisation and support fellow researchers.” The event demonstrated that a successful and impactful programme can be delivered with modest resources when supported by strong teamwork and faculty backing.
The first edition of the EDUPSY-Doc Summer School was highly valued by doctoral researchers, supervisors, and faculty leadership alike. Building on this success, the shared aim is to establish the summer school as an annual tradition within the faculty.
The abstract book of the summer school is available at 1.6.2026 EDUPSY-Doc Summer School | University of Jyväskylä
For more information, please contact Milla Saajanaho.
