Board of the University of Jyväskylä decides on reform of the University’s doctoral education

The group has met six times and status updates on the issue have been provided to the University Management Team, Science Council, University Board and the University Collegium during February and March. The Science Council guides the work of the development group.

At its meeting, the Board outlined that the reform of the doctoral school’s structure will be prepared based on the proposed two-tier model. The key areas to be reformed include the structure of the doctoral school, the strategic management of doctoral education, PhD supervision, and the monitoring and support of the progress of doctoral researchers. The aim is to organise doctoral education in such a way that shortens the time to complete degrees, improves the quality of education, and enables skilled individuals to enter the workforce more quickly. These are also the joint goals for the universities during the 2025–2028 contract period with the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The reform is based on the final report of the Research Assessment Exercise 2023 of the University of Jyväskylä, the recommendations of Unifi’s Future Direction of Doctoral Education in Finland 2024, and the final report by the University’s steering group for the development of doctoral education from spring 2024.

The group’s proposal has been discussed by the Science Council on 23 April 2025 and University Management Team on 28 April 2025. Following the presentation to the Board, the main outlines of the reform will be presented to the university community on 9 June 2025. At that time, there will be an opportunity to comment on them. The revised structure and operating principles of the doctoral school will be submitted to the Board for a decision in September 2025.

The Board decided on the contractor for Agora’s facility changes, with Rakennusliike Seiska selected as the contractor for the project. The cost estimate for the facility changes is 3 million euros.

The Board decided that the University will join Hansel’s joint procurement “State Electricity 2026 (00175)” once the current electricity procurement contract expires. Hansel’s joint procurement includes a price protection mechanism, and the higher volume allows for a lower price margin. The joint procurement also takes sustainability into account, allowing the University to purchase renewable electricity, such as higher quality options like EKOenergy. The total value of the procurement for the upcoming four-year contract period is about 4.2 million euros.

The Board was presented with a status report on the implementation of the University’s strategy and discussed changes in the operating environment. In addition, the Board received the verification practices report, which includes annual reviews of risk management, safety, quality management, occupational safety, data protection, and information security.

The next meeting of the Board of the University of Jyväskylä will be on 13 June 2025.