Doctoral study supervisors
General instructions on doctoral study supervisors
Dissertation supervision ensures that the doctoral student achieves the scientific competencies required for a doctorate and that the dissertation meets the university's dissertation requirements.
The doctoral student and the supervisors must register a collaboratively created plan for the supervision and the completion schedule of the doctoral dissertation using the supervision document service. The annexes of the document describe the duties of the doctoral student, the supervisor and the follow-up group, as well as the dissertation requirements of the University of Jyväskylä.
Instructions on supervisors (doctoral study right begun before 1.8.2026)
These instructions apply to doctoral students whose doctoral study right has begun August 1, 2026. However, if there are changes to supervisors on or after August 1, 2026, the instructions below will apply to the new supervision arrangements.
According to the Degree Regulations of the University of Jyväskylä, each doctoral student must have a personal supervisor-in-charge, designated by the dean. The supervisor-in-charge must have an employment relationship with the University of Jyväskylä, a doctoral degree and sufficient academic merits. In order to ensure continuity of supervision and guidance, a new supervisor-in-charge shall be nominated for the doctoral student if the first supervisor discontinues the task.
In addition, the JYU Graduate School for Doctoral Studies has stated that to ensure the continuity of supervision, it is recommendable to designate one or more other supervisors in addition to the supervisor-in-charge for a student.
Instructions on supervisors (doctoral study right begun 1.8.2026 or after, and changes in supervision)
The following guidelines apply to doctoral students whose doctoral study right begins on or after August 1, 2026, and, starting August 1, 2026, also to doctoral students whose doctoral study right began on or before January 1, 2026, if there are changes to their supervisors. These guidelines are based on Degree Regulations 36§ and the Vice Rector’s decision on the operating principles of the University of Jyväskylä Graduate School (March 27, 2026).
Each doctoral student must have at least two supervisors appointed by the dean, one of whom is the supervisor-in-charge. All supervisors must hold a doctoral degree and have sufficient academic merits.
The supervisory team must possess sufficient expertise and ensure continuity. The supervisors’ academic merits must be relevant to the research topic of the dissertation. At least one supervisor at the level of docent must have an employment relationship with the University of Jyväskylä that continues until the estimated completion date of the dissertation, or must be on a tenure-track path.
Supervisor-in-charge:
- The supervisor-in-charge must be employed by the University of Jyväskylä.
- The supervisor-in-charge must be a researcher at the level of docent or higher.
- A researcher in a part-time employment relationship may be appointed as the supervisor-in-charge if the part-time employment is at least 50%.
- A professor of practice may serve as the supervisor-in-charge if they meet all of the above conditions.
Other supervisors:
- In addition to the supervisor-in-charge, at least one supervisor must be a researcher at the level of docent or higher.
- A researcher whose academic merits do not meet the level of docent (for example, a researcher who has recently received their doctoral degree) may be appointed as the third supervisor of the dissertation.
The term “supervisor at the docent level” as mentioned above refers to a researcher who has completed a doctoral degree and has produced independent scholarly research equivalent to at least two doctoral dissertations. The term “docent level” does not mean that the researcher must hold the title of a docent granted by the university or that they must meet all of University of Jyväskylä's eligibility requirements for the title of docent. The adequacy of the supervisor’s scientific merits and the docent level are assessed by the faculty when appointing a supervisor.