Doctoral studies: Dissertation supervision

The instructions are valid during the 2026 admission rounds to doctoral programmes at JYU.

Before submitting their application, applicants must arrange supervision for their dissertation. At the University of Jyväskylä, each doctoral student must have at least two supervisors, one of whom acts as the supervisor-in-charge. All supervisors must hold a doctoral degree and have sufficient academic merit. The supervisor-in-charge must be employed by the University of Jyväskylä. In addition to the supervisor-in-charge, at least one other supervisor must be a researcher at the level of docent or higher.

Applicants must provide information about their supervisors on the application form. If you have not yet contacted potential supervisors, familiarise yourself with the research conducted at the University of Jyväskylä via the university's website. Which faculty conducts research in your chosen field? Who is conducting the research? Contact researchers in the field, introduce yourself, and present your ideas for your dissertation research. Ask them if they would be willing to supervise your dissertation. Tell them about your doctoral study plan and funding plans. Please note that researchers receive many enquiries from potential applicants. Think about how you can stand out in a positive way.

Read about the research conducted at the University of Jyväskylä.

If you cannot find a field of research that interests you, it may be that the University of Jyväskylä does not conduct research in that area. In this case, you could consider doctoral programmes at other Finnish universities or adapt your research idea to align with the research areas of the University of Jyväskylä.

Faculty-specific guidelines will be updated by the end of February 2026.

Prospective doctoral students must contact the specialisation representative at the department organising the doctoral education via email well before before sending the application. You can contact the specialisation representative before the application period begins. Please note that failure to contact specialisation representative may result in your application being rejected.

Contact persons by doctoral programme:

Doctoral programme of the Department of History and Ethnology: contact the specialisation representative
Doctoral programme of the Department of Language and Communication Studies: contact the specialisation representative
Doctoral programme of the Department of Music, Arts and Culture Studies: contact the specialisation representative
Doctoral programme of the Centre for Applied Linguistics: contact the doctoral programme representative
Doctoral programme in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy: contact the specialisation representative

Detailed information on contact persons can be found on the website of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, under the section "Degree Programme Representatives and Specialisation Representatives". You can find the contact information of the contact persons on the university's contact information page.

If necessary, the contact person directs the applicant further.

During the application phase, the applicant’s previous studies and grades are assessed. In addition, the research plan, funding plan, the doctoral study plan and possible supervisors are discussed.

If they wish, doctoral programmes or specialisations may interview applicants or ask for a video. Applicants will be contacted and sent separate instructions if they are invited for an interview or if a video is requested.

The planned dissertation topic must be in line with the field of study and doctoral degree you wish to pursue. Find out more about the research carried out at the Faculty and contact the researchers in the research group you are interested in to ask about the possibility of getting supervision for your dissertation work.

To be considered for the doctoral programme, applicants must already have at least one supervisor (supervisor-in-charge) who has an employment relationship with the Faculty of Information Technology with an open-ended contract or a fixed-term contract or tenure track of at least four years from the start of the doctoral studies. In addition to the supervisor-in-charge, at least one other supervisor is appointed for all doctoral students. All supervisors must have a doctoral degree.

The information on the supervisors, who have agreed to the role, must be given on the electronic application form in Studyinfo.fi. In addition, the applicant must attach to their application the supervisor-in-charge endorsement from, which is signed by the intended supervisor-in-charge. More detailed instructions on the form can be found on the Required attachments page.

Finding a supervisor at JSBE

The planned dissertation topic must align with the field of study and the doctoral degree the applicant wishes to pursue. The applicant should familiarize themselves with the research conducted in the Faculty and contact the teaching and research staff of the School of Business and Economics to inquire about the possibility of obtaining supervision for the dissertation. The supervisor-in-charge must be employed by the University of Jyväskylä, be a member of the faculty’s teaching and research staff, hold a doctoral degree, and have sufficient scientific merits. More information about supervision can be found on the Doctoral study supervisors page.

It is important to contact the potential supervisor-in-charge well in advance (at least one month before the application deadline) to inquire about their availability for supervision. Send the preliminary research and doctoral study plan (use templates on the Required Attachments page) and possible recommendation letters to the supervisor. The supervisor will assess whether the dissertation topic meets the requirements of the study field and degree objective, whether the doctoral study plan is realistic, whether the applicant’s previous studies are suitable for the planned doctoral degree, and whether they are willing to commit to supervising the dissertation.

The applicant must name the proposed supervisor-in-charge in the Studyinfo application and attach the supervisor’s endorsement to the application, confirming their support for the research and doctoral study plan and commitment to supervision.

If the applicant is selected, a follow-up group must be appointed for them. The follow-up group includes at least one person with doctoral degree, who is not the supervisor of the student in question and is not closely linked to student's dissertation research, for example as a co-author, or in a role that enables the production of research-based information. Follow-up group members may be external to the University. More information can be found on the Follow-up group page. It is advisable to discuss the composition of the follow-up group with the potential supervisor-in-charge already during the application period.

All doctoral programmes

Those planning to apply for a right to pursue a doctoral degree must arrange supervision well in advance of submitting their application. In all doctoral programmes in the Faculty of Education and Psychology, securing supervision before submitting an application is one of the selection criteria used to assess applications for doctoral studies. Please note that the absence of supervisors in accordance with the application guidelines may result in rejection of the application.

Every doctoral student must have a designated supervisor-in-charge and at least one other supervisor. All supervisors need to have a doctoral degree. A supervisor-in-charge can be a professor, an assistant/associate professor, a docent or a person who has significant scientific evidence equivalent to a docent, who is employed at the Faculty of Education and Psychology¹. The supervisor-in-charge must have a non-fixed-term employment contract or alternatively, a fixed-term employment contract during which a doctoral dissertation can be expected to be finished. The supervisory group formed by the supervisors must have at least one supervisor from the faculty² who has a non-fixed employment contract or a tenure track employment contract. There can be members in the supervisory group also outside the University of Jyväskylä.

¹In the doctoral programme in education alternatively at Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius or Finnish Institute for Educational Research

² In the doctoral programme in education alternatively at Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius

The doctoral study plan signed by the supervisors and a member of the follow-up group has to be scanned as an attachment to the electronic application form.

Doctoral programme in cognitive neuroscience

Please read the general instructions above. The potential main supervisors are (in alphabetical order):

Piia Astikainen, Associate Professor
Jarmo Hämäläinen, Professor
Jan Kujala, Professor
Paavo Leppänen, Professor
Miriam Nokia, University Researcher
Tiina Parviainen, Associate Professor
Jan Wikgren, Senior Lecturer

Finding a supervisor

The research topic must align with the research conducted in the Faculty; thus, the applicant must familiarize themselves in advance with the Faculty’s research areas.

Before applying, the applicant must contact the professor in charge of the research area / specialisation or the teaching and research staff of the Faculty to inquire about the possibility of obtaining supervision for the dissertation. The supervisor-in-charge must be employed by the University of Jyväskylä, be a member of the faculty’s teaching and research staff, hold a doctoral degree, and have sufficient scientific merits. More information about supervision can be found on the Doctoral study supervisors page.

It is important to contact the potential supervisor-in-charge well in advance (at least one month before the application deadline) to inquire about their availability for supervision. Send the preliminary research and doctoral study plan (use templates on the Required Attachments page) and possible recommendation letters to the supervisor. The supervisor will assess whether the dissertation topic aligns with the research conducted in the Faculty, whether the doctoral study plan is realistic, whether the applicant’s previous studies are suitable for the planned doctoral degree, and whether they are willing to commit to supervising the dissertation.

The applicant must name the proposed supervisor-in-charge in the Studyinfo application as well as one or two other supervisors who do not need to be employed by the University of Jyväskylä. Additionally, the application must include the details of a member of the follow-up group. The follow-up group includes at least one person with doctoral degree, who is not the supervisor of the student in question and is not closely linked to student's dissertation research, for example as a co-author, or in a role that enables the production of research-based information. Follow-up group members may be external to the University. More information can be found on the Follow-up group page.

The applicant must attach to their application the supervisors' approval form (use template on the Required Attachments page) signed by all supervisors, the member of the follow-up group, and the main representative of the subject, confirming their support for the application and commitment to their tasks.

Find out more about the research being done in the faculty and get in touch directly with potential supervisors in the field of research you want to pursue. At the time of granting of the study right, each doctoral student will be assigned at least two supervisors and a follow-up group in accordance with the university and faculty guidelines. Applicants need to have at least one committed supervisor (supervisor-in-charge) at the application stage. The information on the supervisors, who have agreed to the role, must be given on the electronic application form in Studyinfo.fi. The information on the follow-up group can be given on the electronic application form in the Studyinfo portal, or according to separate instructions after the application period has ended.

Positive selection decisions are not made without information about the supervisors and the follow-up group.

Doctoral studies: Dissertation supervision

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Faculty of Information Technology

Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics

Faculty of Education and Psychology

Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences

Faculty of Mathematics and Science