Instructions for writing the Doctoral Training Plan

The Doctoral Training Plan is prepared during the first year of doctoral training together with the principal supervisor.

What is a Doctoral Training Plan?

When applying to the Graduate School, the doctoral researcher writes a research plan that will be updated and refined in collaboration with supervisors into a more detailed Doctoral Training Plan that includes the following components:

  • A. Research plan
  • B. Personal Study Plan
  • C. Career plan

The research plan should be written according to the practices and structures of the discipline.

A. Research plan

The research plan should be sufficiently detailed in order for the significance and feasibility of the research project to be evaluated. A good research plan can be used e.g. when applying for personal grants. It is also often possible to exploit the summary of the previous research while writing publications and the thesis manuscript. It is recommended that the student writes a good plan and uses the know-how of the supervisors and the follow-up group while refining the research plan.

The research plan typically consists of the following parts. The structure may be modified according to the usual requirements of the field.

B. Study plan

In addition to the research work doctoral training includes studies ranging from 20 to 50 ECTS depending on the major. The Personal Study Plan (PSP), a part of the doctoral training plan, is done in the Peppi system.

C. Career plan

The career plan can be written as a part of the research plan by evaluating one’s own learning objectives related to career planning. The career plan will be presented to the follow-up group at the time of the meeting.

Approval of Doctoral Training Plan

In the first follow-up group meeting, the doctoral researcher presents the Doctoral Training Plan to the follow-up group. The follow-up group recommends the approval of the Doctoral Training Plan (after possible corrections) and the chair sends it together with the follow-up group report to the Graduate School after which it will be approved if it contains all required parts.