The University of Eastern Finland has appointed the first 22 doctoral researchers to its new shared doctoral student position system. The appointees will have parallel contracts of employment with the University of Eastern Finland and with another employer. At the University of Eastern Finland, they will be appointed as early stage researchers, and their main duty will be to complete their doctoral research in one of the 13 doctoral programmes available at the university.
Applicants from all over the world
The university’s first call for applications to the shared doctoral student position system attracted applicants from all over the world. The university received a total of 61 applications by the deadline.
One of the appointees is Mirjam Ndaimehafo Sheehama from Namibia, who works as a science teacher employed by the Ministry of Education of Namibia. She is already enrolled as a doctoral researcher at the Department of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education at the University of Eastern Finland. Her research investigates the impact of fieldwork on primary learners’ learning achievements and affective domain in science education in Namibia.
“This opportunity to work as a researcher at UEF will deepen my understanding of research and mostly develop my quantitative skills and knowledge. I am delighted to work for such a prestigious university together with other researchers. Although I am facing hectic four years ahead, I am praying that I will excel and perform my utmost best,” she says.
Based in Kuopio, Sami Kaartinen is also one of the newly appointed early stage researchers working within the university’s shared doctoral student position system. He works as a strength and conditioning coach for the ice hockey team KalPa Hockey, and his PhD research will focus on the biomechanics of the skating techniques used in ice hockey.
“I’m extremely flattered by this opportunity to work as a researcher and to be able to face the challenges and possibilities of this new role alongside my current one. The shared doctoral student position system allows me to allocate my time to doing research more effectively, and I can progress in my research more systematically. I’m excited to see what UEF’s shared doctoral student position system has in store for me, and what my everyday life between these two roles will be like,” Kaartinen says.
To be continued
The university’s Academic Rector Tapio Määttä is pleased with the interested attracted by the shared doctoral student position system.
“With this new opening, we want to strengthen the link between our doctoral education and the world of work. Based on the feedback we’ve received, there is an evident need for this kind of an opening. I’m pleased that nearly all of our doctoral programmes attracted applications, and the appointees represent a diverse selection of different disciplines,” Määttä says.
Being appointed as an early stage researcher in the shared doctoral student position system requires that the appointee’s employer commits to a parallel contract of employment with the university and that the appointee can use their working time for doctoral research in full. The employer can be, e.g., a company, an association, a research institute, a municipality, or some other public sector organisation.
“This is a new funding system for doctoral studies where the doctoral researcher’s salary is paid both by the university and by another employer. We will be evaluating the appointees’ progress in their doctoral research and, based on this evaluation, we’ll make decisions on how the system continues. It is my initial belief that the next call for applications to our shared doctoral student position system could open in early summer 2022. So, people interested in the funding available through this system can already start to prepare for the next call,” Määttä says.
For further information, please contact:
Academic Rector Tapio Määttä, tel. +358 50 575 1589, tapio.maatta@uef.fi
