becomes profoundly familiar with his or her research field and its social ...
supervision makes a proposal for the admission of the postgraduate student to
the .... may complete the Licentiate degree as an independent degree, for
example, as an ...
Approved by the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences 16th February 2016
Standing orders concerning third-cycle research degrees at the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences of the University of Helsinki
Third-cycle research education According to Government Decree No 794/2004 on University Degrees, the aim of postgraduate (i.e., third-cycle) education is that the student •
Becomes profoundly familiar with his or her research field and its social significance, acquires within that field the ability to apply scientific research methods critically and independently, and contributes to scientific knowledge
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Becomes familiar with the historical development, fundamental issues and research methods of his or her field
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Acquires a sufficient understanding of general scientific theory and the disciplines related to his or her research field so as to be able to follow future developments
1 Admission to third-cycle research education The right to pursue a doctoral degree is granted by the Faculty Council. For such a right to be granted, the Faculty must deem the applicant’s previous degree and education to have provided him or her with adequate qualifications to pursue postgraduate studies in the Faculty disciplines, and the doctoral programme must recommend that the applicant be admitted. To be admitted to third-cycle research education at the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, the applicant must hold a second-cycle degree (basic degree). Moreover, the applicant must be able to present a postgraduate study plan; a research plan approved by the supervisor representing the discipline; a supervision agreement signed by all the supervisors, the student and the head of department; a Master’s degree diploma; and, in the case of applicants whose native language is not Finnish or Swedish, a certificate of adequate language skills in Finnish, Swedish or English. The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences assigns each postgraduate student at least two supervisors who hold a doctoral degree. At least one of the supervisors must also hold the title of docent or equivalent scientific qualifications, and at least one must represent the Faculty discipline in which the student is to pursue the doctoral degree and to which his or her dissertation project is related. The supervisor representing the Faculty discipline must be accepted by the doctoral program. Each postgraduate student must have a valid supervision agreement which details the rights and responsibilities of the student and the supervisors. A supervisor representing the discipline may choose to be a secondary supervisor if the amount of supervision is less than usual. The supervisor representing the discipline ensures that the postgraduate studies are planned and carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University, the Faculty and the doctoral programme. The proposals to the Faculty Council on admitting postgraduate applicants are made by the steering groups of doctoral programmes and by the postgraduate study coordinator. The duty of the supervisor representing the discipline is to monitor the progress of postgraduate studies and, when necessary, address problems hindering the smooth progress of studies.
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The right to pursue postgraduate studies is granted for the completion of the doctoral degree, with the exception of the Licentiate degree that includes training leading to a specialist degree in psychology. 2 Third-cycle research degrees offered by the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences The postgraduate degrees available at the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences are the Licentiate and doctoral degrees in philosophy, psychology and education. The Doctor of Philosophy and the Licentiate of Philosophy degrees can be completed with a major in education (in Finnish or Swedish) or adult education (in Finnish or Swedish), or in special education, educational psychology, home economics, craft science, cognitive science, psychology, logopedics and phonetics. The Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) and Licentiate of Arts (Psychology) may be completed by postgraduate students majoring in psychology, provided their second-cycle degree includes advanced-level studies in psychology. The Doctor of Education and the Licentiate of Education degrees may be completed with a major in education (in Finnish or Swedish) or adult education (in Finnish or Swedish), or in special education, educational psychology, home economics and craft science, provided the postgraduate student’s previous studies or third-cycle degree includes advanced-level studies in education. Specialist psychologist education is offered through the Psykonet university network in the fields of development and education, neuropsychology, psychotherapy, health psychology, as well as work and organisation psychology. These programmes have a separate application procedure. 3 The doctoral degree For the doctoral degree, the student must complete •
A doctoral dissertation
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40 credits (depending on the basic degree) of postgraduate studies which deal with the major subject and subjects supporting the research topic, as well as with other advanced, intermediate or professional specialisation studies that support the writing of the dissertation
Postgraduate studies may include courses in the philosophy of science and research ethics as well as studies related to international academic activities and to the development of scholarly expertise and professional skills. In addition, postgraduate studies may encompass courses in research methods, methodology, language and communication, the research topic, as well as national and international seminars. All students who have initiated their postgraduate studies after 20 March 2012 are required to complete a minimum of two (2) credits in research ethics. Students who are pursuing a doctoral degree in education but do not have a second-cycle degree in the subject may be required to complete 20 credits of advanced studies in education. No credits are awarded for the doctoral dissertation. The supervisor representing the discipline approves postgraduate study modules, as well as any changes made to a previously accepted postgraduate study plan. Permission to defend the doctoral dissertation in a public examination cannot be granted until all postgraduate studies have been completed and entered as modules in the Student Register.
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Licentiate degree studies that meet the Faculty’s requirements for the content of postgraduate studies can be included in a doctoral degree by a decision of the supervisor representing the discipline. The content of such studies must also appear in the transcript of studies. The doctoral dissertation The doctoral dissertation is a consistent scholarly work based on independent research that makes an original contribution to knowledge, on a topic belonging to one of the disciplines represented at the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences. Besides taking the form of a monograph, the dissertation may also be a compilation of several separate scholarly articles or manuscripts (i.e., an article dissertation). The maximum length of a monograph is 250 pages. If, in addition to the monograph, the author has previously published reports on the same research topic (B1, B2 and A1), they must be referred to in the monograph in the same manner as other previous research. Furthermore, previous scientific publications must be mentioned in the report on the doctoral candidate’s scholarly contribution required when the dissertation is submitted for preliminary examination. The minimum requirement for an article dissertation is three articles for which the doctoral candidate is mentioned as the first author and which have been published or are in press in peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as a summary of these articles. When submitting the dissertation for preliminary examination, the doctoral candidate must provide a written report, approved by the supervisor, stating his or her scholarly and independent contribution to co-authored publications. In addition, the doctoral candidate may include an account of his or her contribution to co-authored publications in the list of publications of the printed dissertation. The report on the candidate’s independent contribution must be written in the language of the doctoral dissertation. For an article dissertation, the scope of contribution must be described for each article. In the case of monographs, the contribution of both the candidate and others (e.g., the supervisor or outside experts) must be described separately regarding the planning of research, the collection and analysis of material, IT-related matters and the layout design of the dissertation. In addition to the minimum requirement of three published or accepted articles (for which the doctoral candidate is cited as the first author or equivalent contribution), the dissertation may include submitted articles which have not yet been accepted for publication. In such cases, however, the doctoral candidate and the supervisor must write a statement describing the grounds for choosing the articles, as well as their contribution to and necessity for the dissertation when the dissertation is submitted for preliminary examination. After a case-specific assessment, articles that are being used in two separate dissertations may be included in an article dissertation. Such an assessment requires that the doctoral candidate devise a well-grounded plan for the use of the article in two separate dissertations, and that this plan receive the supervisor’s approval. If, in addition to the article dissertation, the author has previously published reports on the same research topic (B1, B2 and A1), they must be referred to in the article dissertation in the same manner as other previous research. Furthermore, previous scientific publications must be mentioned in the report on the doctoral candidate’s independent contribution required when the dissertation is submitted for preliminary examination. The Faculty Council will appoint a minimum of two preliminary examiners for a doctoral dissertation. The preliminary examiners must have the qualifications of at least a docent or equivalent academic qualifications. The proposal for the preliminary examiners is made by the supervisor representing the discipline after consulting with the others. The doctoral candidate must defend his or her dissertation in a public examination. The Faculty Council will appoint one or two opponents for the dissertation and a custos for the public examination. A proposal regarding the opponents will be submitted by one of the supervisors after consulting with the other supervisors and the head
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of department. The proposals for the preliminary examiners and the opponents must be accompanied by sufficient information about their academic qualifications; this is of particular importance when the nominees hold no professorships or docentships. Doctoral candidates must have the opportunity to inform the Faculty Council of their objections, if any, to the appointment of the preliminary examiners and opponents. As a rule, the preliminary examiners and the opponents must come from outside the University of Helsinki. If the proposals for the preliminary examiners or opponents include an expert from the University of Helsinki, a written statement indicating the reasons for such a choice must be submitted to the Faculty Council. Docents of the University of Helsinki who are employed outside the University of Helsinki or the relevant department of the Faculty may be appointed as preliminary examiners and opponents. If one of the preliminary examiners is proposed as an opponent, the reasons for such a choice must be described in writing to the Faculty Council. When granting permission for the public defence of the dissertation, the Faculty Council also appoints the dissertation grading committee, which consists of the opponent and custos, provided that the custos has not supervised the dissertation. The custos must be a full professor in the Faculty. If the supervisor representing the discipline of the dissertation is a professor, he or she usually serves as the custos. However, the supervisor may also propose some other professor for the duty. If the custos has supervised the dissertation, the Faculty Council appoints an impartial expert member to the grading committee in his or her place. This expert member must have the qualifications of at least a docent or equivalent academic qualifications. After the public defence, the opponent and the other member of the grading committee convene, and both submit their own proposal on the grade. The examination and grading of doctoral dissertations and Licentiate theses are governed by the regulations concerning examinations, the grading of completed studies and the degrees and the protection of students’ rights at the University of Helsinki. 4 The Licentiate degree Postgraduate students may complete the Licentiate degree as an independent third-cycle research degree or as an intermediate degree towards the doctoral degree. For the Licentiate degree, the student must complete •
A Licentiate thesis
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40 credits (depending on the basic degree) of postgraduate studies leading to the doctoral degree (see section 3)
Provisions on the content and method of completion of a Licentiate of Arts (Psychology) degree that includes a specialist degree in psychology are given in separate regulations. No credits are awarded for the Licentiate thesis, except for that completed for a Licentiate degree that includes training leading to a specialist degree in psychology. The Licentiate thesis A monograph or a minimum of two articles published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed scholarly journals may be approved as a Licentiate thesis, provided that the author of the thesis is the first author of the articles and that the thesis contains a summary of the articles. In some cases, a Master’s thesis with the grade of laudatur may be accepted as a Licentiate thesis, if adapted appropriately. The Faculty Council will appoint a minimum of two examiners for a Licentiate thesis, both of whom must hold a doctoral degree or have otherwise adequate scholarly qualifications. The thesis supervisor will propose the examiners. The examiners will propose to the Faculty Council the approval of the thesis as well as a grade.
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The thesis for a Licentiate degree including a specialist degree in psychology consists of one article (20–30 pages), which does not need to be published (40 credits). The Licentiate thesis can be approved even if the postgraduate studies have not yet been registered. However, the Licentiate degree diploma will not be awarded until all the required studies have been completed and registered.
5 Grading scales applied for postgraduate studies Grading scale of the doctoral dissertation Doctoral dissertations are graded using a three-level grading scale: Pass with Distinction, Pass and Fail. Grading scale of the Licentiate thesis Licentiate theses are graded using a three-level grading scale: Pass with Distinction, Pass and Fail. Grading of other postgraduate studies The studies (40-60 credits) leading to postgraduate degrees are mainly graded using the pass/fail scale.
6 Entry into force of the standing orders and provisions for a transition period These standing orders shall enter into force on 16th February 2016. Students granted the right to pursue postgraduate studies before the entry into force of these standing orders have the right to continue their studies in accordance with their approved study plan or to complete their degrees in accordance with the Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004), in which case the student must also comply with these new standing orders. If the student has not completed his or her degree by 16th February 2016, he or she will automatically pursue studies in accordance with Decree No 794/2004 and the relevant standing orders. After the transition, the Faculty will ensure that the transition will not unnecessarily hinder or prolong the student’s completion of the degree. The student will agree with his or her supervisors on the implementation of the postgraduate study plan as well as on any amendments to it.
