Welfare, Health and Management (WELMA) Doctoral Programme

Doctor of Philosophy, logopedics; all major subjects mentioned below. 

Licentiate of Arts (Psychology) and Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology), Major subject: Psychology For entry to the degree, the applicant must have completed a Masters degree majoring in psychology or another corresponding degree and providing the applicant with a professional licence to work as a psychologist. 

Licentiate and Doctor of Health Sciences, Major subjects: Health and Human Services Informatics, Health Management Science, Health Economics.

Licentiate and Doctor of Social Sciences, Major subjects: Health and Human Services Informatics, Social Management Science, Social Pedagogy, Social Psychology, Social Work, Sociology and Social Policy.

The student admission criteria for doctoral degree studies are a Master's degree and advanced studies in a major subject included in the doctoral degree programme, or another relevant subject or relevant degree completed abroad. Advanced studies as defined in regulation (794/2004, Chapter 3, Section 15). Only the research plans of applicants who meet the application criteria will be evaluated.

• Quality of the research plan: clarity, innovativeness, feasibility, implementation method and consideration of ethical questions.
• Scientific and social relevance of the research topic and links to the profile of the doctoral programme.
• Evidence of previous research: such as grades of final papers / thesis, publications, work experience, obtained funding, international orientation and proficiency in languages.
• Sufficient resources for supervision: Students applying for the doctoral programme must be able to name at least one supervisor from the programme. External supervisors are also admitted.  
• Further details on selections criteria, instructions for making application and attachments required can be found in  Studyinfo-service.

Eligible applicants for doctoral studies must have sufficient English skills in order to complete the doctoral studies.

The applicant can verify her/his English skills with an attachment to the application. These attachments must include a degree diploma, transcript of studies and a Diploma Supplement if the applicant has:

• English as foreign language included in at least a Bachelor-level degree conducted in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) or in an EU/EEA country;
• At least 20 ECTS university-level studies in the subject of English Studies completed in a Nordic or in an EU/EEA country.
• Master's thesis written in English when Master's degree is completed in a Nordic country or in an EU/EEA country;
• Bachelor's or Master's degree completed in English language in a Nordic country or in an EU/EEA country or Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States;
• Doctoral Degree completed in a Nordic country or in an EU/EEA country or Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States;   
• Secondary education and final examination completed in English (for example International Baccalaureate) in a Nordic country or in an EU/EEA country or Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States.  

In other case, the applicant is to prove her/his language skills in English with an English language test:  

• TOEFL paper-based: Total score 600 and Writing 4.0;
• TOEFL Internet-based: Total Score 100 and Writing 22; The Special Home Edition of TOEFL iBT is also accepted.
• IELTS (Academic): on paper, on computer or online, overall Score 6.5 and Writing 5.5
• PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English), on paper, on computer or online, min. 59 points;
• C1 Advanced (CAE), pass levels A, B or C / C2 Proficiency (CPE), pass levels A, B, C or level C1 Certificate;
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI). Skills level 5 or 6 in the reading comprehension, writing and speaking subtests. 

For more information on the tests, please contact the language testing organizations.

Please note that a written statement by the applicant, prospective supervisor, English teacher, etc., concerning the applicant's English skills is not an acceptable way to prove language skills.

Supplementary studies:

If the applicant's prior education is from a field not included in the major subjects of the WELMA doctoral programme, the student may be required to complete supplementary studies in her/his new major subject. The students of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies may be required to complete supplementary studies of no more than 30 ECTS.  The students of the Philosophical Faculty may be required to complete supplementary studies from their new field for a maximum of 60 ECTS.  Possible supplementary studies are specified when the right to doctoral studies is granted and they cannot be included in the doctoral degree.

When applying for doctoral degree studies, a research plan must be enclosed with the application. Prepare the research plan carefully, because it measures the skills and competencies of the applicant for the doctoral education. Please note, that the research plan is an independent document by the applicant, but he Professor who has agreed as to be your supervisor will give you good advice. The actual guidance will start after you have been admitted and registered to the university.  The research plan must cover the entire licentiate thesis or doctoral dissertation. If the research topic and materials change substantially, a new plan must be made. If the changes are significant, approval must be sought from the faculty. The research plan is usually drafted in Finnish or English and must include a list of references.

Examples of research plan

Example 1:  The research plan should contain

• starting points and theoretical basis of the research, previous research
• aims of the research, research tasks and questions, ethical issues
• research methods and data, administration of data
• working plan, working plan for part of the tasks
• schedule and funding plan
• publication plan
• evaluation of opportunities to exploit the results of the research, societal significance of the research results
• The extent of the plan is about 10 pages.

Example 2:  (from UEF DS Curricula, autumn term 2012) 

1. Title of the research and the name and contact information of the postgraduate student

2. Background

• a short summary of the background to the research with necessary sources (including the theoretical and methodological basis)
• a description of earlier research related to the topic
• a description of what remains unknown about the research topic and an explanation of the research's relevance on a national and/or international scale

3. Aims

• the research hypotheses
• the aims of the research clearly defined and presented

4. Materials and methods

• a description of the research methods and materials used, and the grounds for choosing the particular methods
• a description of how the materials will be handled and used (also after the research has been completed)
• a working plan, a plan for different stages of the work

5. Schedule and funding plans

• a description and a schedule for the different stages of the work
• the funding plan and funding sources of the research

6. The ethical aspects of the research

• the ethical aspects of the research (e.g. whether the research requires statements from ethics sommittees or statutory research permits; possible permits should be attached to the research plan)

7. Publication Plan

• the means and mode of publishing and/or presenting the research results

8. Applications of research results

• an estimation of the applications and the social significance of the research results

9. References

• a list of the research field's principal literature used for the research

10. the names of the persons and units participating in the research project

11. The supervisor(s) signature(s)

The right to pursue doctoral studies does not include funding or a contract of employment or teaching tasks at the University. However, full-time doctoral students need funding to cover their costs of living and potential research costs (travel costs, research material etc.). Funding options should be discussed with the supervisor already when planning to apply for a doctoral study right and creating a research plan.

Doctoral studies can be funded for example by a scholarship, by working as a researcher in a research project, by working as a doctoral candidate at the University of Eastern Finland (doctoral student position), or by studying part-time while at work. Doctoral students apply for funding themselves.

Read more about funding options of doctoral studies on Kamu Student handbook.