PhD career cafés

ULapland PhD career café meetings are a place for discussing and raising awareness of the vast career possibilities of doctoral degree holders. The online meetings are here to support our doctoral students in developing career thinking and planning in the following areas:

• recognizing and strengthening useful skills for PhD careers
• identifying versatile career opportunities
• supporting networking among doctoral alumni, doctoral students, and stakeholders in business life as well as in academia.

How can I join?

Who to contact?

ULapland PhD career forum on LinkedIn >

Expand your expertise and networks – take a traineeship!

A traineeship involves completing the course Practical training of academic expertise (TUKO1284) offered by the Graduate School. The purpose of the course is to provide support to doctoral candidates in building their career paths, and it is part of the Philosophy of research and research skills block in your doctoral degree (20 ECTS). You can get 7–9 credits by taking a traineeship.

The traineeship focuses on practical training of high-level academic expertise and applying it in working life in a non-university context. The traineeship may be completed either in the private or public sector, but if so agreed, also as part of a joint project of the university and working life organisations. The traineeship should be chosen in such a way that contributes to the doctoral candidate’s dissertation as well as supports the development of their working life skills and competencies.

The traineeship is voluntary. The doctoral candidate is responsible for seeking and applying for a traineeship independently as well as for planning the traineeship and reporting about it. The doctoral candidate’s supervisor will enter the credits in the study register after the traineeship and all related reporting have been completed.

Prior to the traineeship, the doctoral candidate discusses the traineeship with his/her supervisor and the representative of the organisation employing the trainee. After this initial discussion, the doctoral candidate prepares a plan for a traineeship of 1 to 2 months. The traineeship plan is approved by the supervisor and the representative of the organisation employing the trainee. The traineeship includes assignments for the doctoral candidate to complete.

View job and traineeship offers matching at the Aarresaari Career Services Network >

Ask for advice from the Career and Recruitment Services >

Why are working life connections important?

Doctoral degree holders have traditionally been employed by universities and research institutes in teaching and research. In the light of recent societal developments, a growing number of doctoral degree holders pursue a career outside academia. They work in expert tasks in companies and in the public sector and sometimes as self-employed entrepreneurs. Some doctoral degree holders continue to follow more traditional career paths in academia.

Given the diversity of career paths available to doctoral degree holders, more attention should be paid to establishing and maintaining doctoral candidates’ working life connections throughout doctoral training. In addition, doctoral candidates should take some time to reflect on how their expertise and researcher skill set are best transferred to working life contexts.
The University establishes and maintains connections with companies and the public sector.


Sources: 

•  Miten tohtorit työllistyvät. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2016:3. Abstract available in English.
• Doctoral degree career monitoring. Career monitoring surveys carried out by the Finnish Aarresaari network.

What are the competencies sought through enhancing working life connections?

From the perspective of career planning and employment prospects, the doctoral candidate should be able to identify their own expertise and skill set and to be able to envision these as applicable to new contexts. The doctoral candidate should reflect on their own interests and learn to verbalise their expertise fluently in various situations. Also, the doctoral candidate’s ability to forge meaningful connections between their research and the interests of various stakeholders of working life and society at large facilitates networking efforts and professional development, which, in turn, may support career planning.

By establishing and maintaining strong working life connections the doctoral candidate can develop:

• awareness of the applicability of their expertise gained during the doctoral training to various working life contexts and of possible career paths: In what areas of working life can my expertise and researcher skills be utilised?

• awareness of one’s own skills, interests and career motivations: What kinds of work and expert tasks are meaningful to me and what are my strengths? In what fields and with what kinds of tasks do I see myself as working in the future to utilise my academic skill set?

• communication, cooperation and networking skills: How can I best convey my expertise and competencies in various working life contexts, and how can I market my expertise to the stakeholders of my research?

• profound expertise in knowledge production: What kind of added value do researcher skills bring to work settings in which data is being collected, analysed and interpreted to provide a basis for decision making and development work?

The Graduate School offers courses in philosophy of science and researcher skills under the study module Philosophy of research and research skills (20 ECTS). The courses contained in this module focus on the development of the areas of competence listed above. The courses aim at developing the participants’ ability to communicate their expertise, their leadership and project management skills as well as the skills needed in applying for research funding and career planning. The doctoral candidate should also discuss these themes with the supervisor.

How do I complete a traineeship?

A traineeship involves completing the course Practical training of academic expertise (TUKO1284) offered by the Graduate School. The purpose of the course is to provide support to doctoral candidates in building their career paths.

The traineeship focuses on practical training of high-level academic expertise and applying it in working life in a non-university context. The traineeship may be completed either in the private or public sector, but if so agreed, also as part of a joint project of the university and working life organisations. The traineeship should be chosen in such a way that contributes to the doctoral candidate’s dissertation as well as supports the development of their working life skills and competencies. The traineeship is voluntary. The doctoral candidate is responsible for seeking and applying for a traineeship independently as well as for planning the traineeship and reporting about it. The doctoral candidate’s supervisor will enter the credits in the study register after the traineeship and all related reporting have been completed.

Prior to the traineeship, the doctoral candidate discusses the traineeship with his/her supervisor and the representative of the organisation employing the trainee. After this initial discussion, the doctoral candidate prepares a plan for a traineeship of 1 to 2 months. The traineeship plan is approved by the supervisor and the representative of the organisation employing the trainee. The traineeship includes assignments for the doctoral candidate to complete.

The expert traineeship is organised as part of the activities of a project Working life cooperation in strategic doctoral training, PhD work (European Social Fund, ESF). Before the traineeship the doctoral candidate orders forms for project-relating reporting from the address paula.tulppo(at)ulapland.fi. During and after the traineeship, the doctoral candidate and the organisation where the doctoral candidate is carrying out the traineeship will complete these survey reports. On the basis of the reports, a summary of the completed working life cooperation is prepared for the purpose of developing doctoral training. In addition, the aim is to collect information about participants, according to the ESF practice. 

Is there financial support for traineeships?

The doctoral candidate may apply for a traineeship voucher from their Faculty. The traineeship voucher is granted to the doctoral candidate and the financial support granted by the University is paid directly to the employer offering the traineeship after the traineeship has been completed.

Please contact the administrative manager of your Faculty to find out more.