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PhD Thesis

So, you decided that doing a PhD thesis is good for your future. Along the long and winding road you may find the following instructions useful.

Stage 0 - Find supervisor and apply for doctoral studies (year 0)

You must be absolutely sure that you want a PhD degree since it means four years of super heavy work under (possibly) monstrous supervisor. On the positive side, you will learn how to make science and that opens the door to the academic career. In addition, many R&D labs of big companies appreciate PhD degree from their employees.

In order to apply you need to fill and submit a number of super boring bureaucratic forms that insist your commitment and also commitment from your main supervisor (make sure you found a good one):

Before applying send an email to doctoral studies office and ask for the list of things to be submitted and a link to the electronic application system.

Welcome, you just started your jorney toward magic of science.

Stage 1 - Do research (years 1-4)

Input: 1) you, 2) your supervisor, and 3) funding for your salary and research.

This is the most challenging part, but don't worry, your supervisor will tell you all the necessary details and tricks. However, you may find the following links helpful or at least fun to read:

Output: Novel scientific knowledge. More concretely, a number of peer-reviewed scientific articles.

Stage 2 - Write the thesis manuscript (year 4)

Input: Sufficient amount of scientific contributions, typically in the terms of the articles from the previous stage.

It is difficult to tell a generic rule when you're ready to start writing your thesis as that varies a lot between the fields, even between fields close to each other. You should discuss with your supervisor each year what is the stage of your PhD studies and she/he certainly tells you when it is time to start writing.

There are recommendations for PhD thesis from DPCEE. It is worth to read through and perhaps adopt their structure, but of course you should follow practices in your field and discuss with your supervisor. However, it seems that the committee provides a lot of feedback if you do not follow these recommendations.

Before writing you need a suitable template. Vast majority of people prefer Latex as it is just so convenient for writing scientific text.

Output: A thesis manuscript that summarizes your research and results. The thesis can be a monograph or a compilation thesis that includes your original articles. Write using a meaningful structure and beautiful grammar and send it for comments to your supervisor(s) before proceeding to the next stage.

Stage 3 - Pre-examination

Input: Final draft of thesis and fixed using the comments from your supervisor. The pre-examination form.

Your supervisor selects two reviewers, makes sure they are available and willing and fills out the official form (see below). You need to send the following two documents to your doctoral program academic officer (contact details and submission deadlines):

  1. The "proposal of pre-examiners" form filled (ask your supervisor to help).
  2. PhD thesis in PDF format. If a compilation thesis, then it should include the articles. Make a single PDF and if its size >15MB you should downscale your images before compiling the PDF

You may also want to read general guidelines from the university.

Your documents will be processed by the Faculty council (they meet ~once a month) and you will receive an email notification once this is done. Your pre-examiners will also receive a formal invitation and the submitted PhD thesis. Now you cross your fingers, wait for two months and hope for positive reviews. Time to think about what you will do next in your life and perhaps start to look for a position in academia or industry!

Also, start taking care of your ECTS. Once you are done, send an email to the academic officer and ask if everything is ok.

Output: Faculty council decision for pre-examination. Official invitations to the pre-examiners.

Stage 4 - Apply for permission to defend and publish the thesis

Input: positive statement from the pre-examiners. Form to publish the thesis.

You are almost done. Next, you need just a little bit of planning. Now, you pick a date for your defence (a Friday but other days are also possible) and, if the defence is in person, book the room (via campus assistants - go to an info-desk/reception or find their email). Your supervisor selects 1-2 opponents who will come and publicly "torture" you, i.e. ask nasty questions about your thesis.

Submit the following documents to the Academic Officer of your doctoral program (contact details and submission deadlines):

  1. The "Application to apply the right to publish the dissertation" form.
  2. The "Proposal of opponent(s), custos and the public defence date" form.
  3. The final version of your thesis.
  4. A document describing the changes requested by the pre-examiners (if requested) -- see the bottom of the "Application to apply the right to publish the dissertation" form. This document is similar to the "Revision letter" where you reply to reviewers' comments if they requested "major revision" for your article. If necessary discuss with your supervisor how to do these.

You also need to publish your thesis, i.e. make it publicly and openly available. The official permission comes from the Faculty council (~1-2 weeks after the document submission deadline), but meanwhile, you can already proceed with the next steps to save time if you feel that you will get the permission to print (e.g. reviewers didn't raise major concerns etc). Contact the library and start doing their 9-step checklist (see the bottom right) as you are waiting for permission to print and defend.

After the Faculty council informs you that the permission to publish is granted, notify the library so they could publish your thesis in Trepo and the printing house so they will print you the physical copy. Tell your supervisor to send the link to the thesis to the opponent(s) -- remember you can't directly contact your opponents.

Tip

Order at least 5 copies for personal use: your supervisors will probably ask for a signed copy as well as you will need to give/send a copy to each opponent.

Output: permission for the public defence, date and room for defence, printed and published manuscript

Stage 5: Prepare for defence

Now you should have the date and time of your defence and a booked room. Here are some things you need to do before the defence:

  1. If the defence is in person, ask your supervisor about the dress code and rent the tailcoats if all parties (you, supervisor, opponents) agreed.
  2. If in person, make sure to ask campus assistants (and the AV team) to give you a tutorial in the defence auditorium (check the sound on slides etc).
  3. If the defence is online, make sure you have tested everything (Zoom, playing sounds during presentation if needed, etc).
  4. If the defence is in person, order lunch for you, your opponents, and custos. Also, order cake and coffee for after the defence for participants who were attending in person.
  5. Prepare a 15-min presentation for the defence (Lectio Praecursoria).
  6. Ask your supervisor to make arrangements for the opponents (hotel, travel, etc).
  7. Attend a few defences, follow them online, or watch recordings.
  8. In Finland, it is expected to have a "Karonkka" dinner after the defence honouring the opponents and others who contributed to your thesis. So, make the necessary arrangements for that. If you don't know about it, search for "post-defence dinner" on the Finnish university websites. Also, ask your supervisor and ex-students for expectations and experience in your field.

This stage is stressful but keep calm and carry on.

Tip

Since you can't contact your opponent directly, but you still want to let them know that you will have the karronka to celebrate your defence, you may ask your supervisor to send them the following: "May I let (your name) know your dietary preferences for the post-defence dinner?"

Tip

You can order two different cakes for the post-defence "coffee and cake" event.

Stage 6: Defence

This is a formal "act" with pre-defined lyrics for custos, candidate and opponents. More details are available on university website.

After the defence, your opponents will discuss your grade -- give them time and opportunity to do that on the same day. This report will be submitted to the faculty who will finalize the grading of your thesis. To get the final decision and a grade, you need to wait until the next faculty meeting (deadlines are here).

Tip

Don't forget your charger for your laptop if the defence is in person!

Stage 7: After the defence and Karronka

Input: successful defence, opponents' report, and a grade.

Congratulations! You have done it! The Faculty will contact you regarding the opponents' report which is similar to reviewers' comments.

A few touches:

  1. You should send printed books to the opponents (or give them a signed copy before they leave if they attended in person).
  2. Apply for graduation in sisu or ask the academic officer for instructions.

Tip

You can ask for the recording of your presentation from the AV team if your defence was recorded.

Enjoy your life (finally ;-) !

Output: degree certificate and freedom