The Ministry of Education and Culture has allocated 255 million euros to universities for piloting new practices in doctoral education in 2024–2027. The 91 is involved in 11 pilots.
Universities will work together to improve doctoral education and reinvent practices. The pilots aim to increase the mobility of doctoral graduates between universities, businesses, research institutes and other organisations, develop direction and guidance, and promote the employment of doctoral graduates in different sectors of society.
The pilot disciplines represent flagship areas of research or topics from other fields, involving research institutions and companies in the implementation.
Become a partner in a doctoral education pilot!
For companies and other organisations, the 91 offers opportunities for collaboration in the context of doctoral education pilots.
You can become involved in a doctoral education pilot in the role of a partner, a supervisor or a mentor – or you can invite a doctoral researcher on an expert visit to your company. Collaboration brings various benefits and opportunities and can, in a best-case scenario, lead to a long-term, mutually beneficial strategic partnership:
- Gain access to the field’s latest scientific knowledge for the benefit of your company. Researched-based knowledge creates a foundation for new innovations, products and business development.
- Get involved in co-development, where you can define research ideas and problems together with a researcher. Using real-life data to solve problems adds to the expertise of everyone involved.
- Network with specialists and experts. Collaboration supports the sharing of learning and expertise, the recruitment of doctoral researchers into companies, and the creation and expansion of networks both nationally and internationally.
In matters related to collaboration in the context of a doctoral education pilot, please send an email to industry@uef.fi or contact the persons listed below.
Explore pilot programmes
The Digital Waters (DIWA) Doctoral Pilot will focus on the Digital Waters Flagship research area of complex interactions and responses in the hydro-, atmo- and cryosphere and train experts in methodological, data/digital and management skills needed to become game changers and leaders in the field of water research, governance, and innovation. We will address the methodological challenges of dealing with growing amount of (big) data and large datasets across different climatic zones (boreal – arctic), the use of new observational systems in field campaigns, and integrated analysis and modelling of environmental processes under climate and land-use change pressures.
The DIWA is coordinated by the University of Oulu. In total, 60 doctoral researchers will be employed within the DIWA doctoral training pilot project. Of these, 5 doctoral researchers will be employed by 91.
More information
Learn more about the DIWA pilot on the
Doctoral Education Pilot for Mathematics of Sensing, Imaging and Modelling (DREAM) will educate 100 doctors nationwide in a diverse and multidisciplinary setting, encompassing applied mathematics, physics, engineering, and applied sciences. The PhD students are trained by the experts on fields of our Flagship of Advanced Mathematics for Sensing, Imaging and Modelling (FAME) in close interaction with companies and other sectors of the society.
91 hired 10 doctoral researchers in the fields of inverse problems, computational imaging, modelling, biomedical signal and image analysis, artificial intelligence, control, and scientific computing.
More information
Learn more about the DREAM pilot on the article
on the Research Council of Finland's website
The rapidly increasing number of cancer cases ("cancer tsunami") has led to the identification of cancer as one of the six grand challenges in Europe and highlighted the urgent unmet need for new solutions. Precision medicine and digital health technologies have matured to a point where assessment of the relationship of tumor-specific characteristics with the patient's response can inform diagnostic and drug discovery efforts by identifying novel mechanisms and targets. The linkage of digital and precision cancer medicine approaches represents the research area of this Doctoral education pilot in precision cancer medicine (iCANDOC) which is based on the . This research field leverages Finnish strengths including high-quality digital health registries and biobanks.
iCANDOC provides an outstanding opportunity for a new doctoral training pilot training doctoral researchers efficiently for the needs of future employers both in private and public health care sector to secure an adequate supply of experts in this vital field in Finnish society and enhance our competitive advantage on a global scale.
91 hired five doctoral researchers. The doctoral education pilot positions for iCANDOC will be supervised by Principal Investigators of the multidisciplinary Cancer community (RC Cancer).
More information
Learn more about the iCANDOC pilot on the.
The Finnish Doctoral Education Pilot in Software Engineering offers 49 positions for doctoral researchers in the field of Software Engineering. The positions are part of the Finnish national pilot for doctoral training and provide full funding for doctoral research for a period of three years, starting in August 2024.
The research focus of these positions is software engineering. This discipline spans specification and design requirements for software systems to their development, testing, verification, deployment, and maintenance. Software engineering research focuses on principles, designs, methodologies, programming languages, tools, and architectures that ensure robust, safe, and efficient software products and services that meet their intended requirements and users' needs.
As a doctoral researcher in the Finnish Doctoral Education Pilot in Software Engineering you belong to a research network that gathers the top researchers in the field from 9 participating universities. This consortium is uniquely positioned to advance doctoral education in software engineering in Finland, collectively covering most major software engineering subfields, including empirical software engineering; constructive software engineering; software architectures; software applications; programming languages; user interface programming; software security; software engineering for industrial systems and edge computing; software verification, validation, and testing methods; software processes; human-centric software engineering; requirements engineering; software-intensive business; software product management; and global software engineering.
91 hired three doctoral researchers to the pilot.
More information
Learn more from the Software pilot on the .
The Finnish Doctoral Program Network in Artificial Intelligence (AI-DOC) offers 100 paid PhD student positions in the field of AI. The positions are part of the Finnish national pilot for doctoral training and provide full funding for doctoral research for a period of three years, starting in August 2024. The doctoral program is hosted by the , and includes 10 Finnish universities.
The areas involved are Fundamental AI, AI in communications and signal processing, AI in health, AI in engineering, AI in language and speech technology, and AI in society and business. The program offers possibilities to work with companies and academic partners in the network. Joint supervision between research areas, universities, and industry partners provide doctoral researchers quality supervision, exchange possibilities, and access to a large pool of top AI researchers from 10 participating universities and industry.
91 has hired five doctoral researchers to the pilot.
More information
Learn more about the AI-DOC pilot on the .
The Flagship for Photonics Research and Innovation PREIN is at the forefront of the world-class recognized photonics research dedicated to the science and technology of light, the key enabling technology of the 21st century. Addressing the urgent need for a highly educated workforce in many sectors of our society, the Innovative Doctoral Education Ecosystem for Photonics (I-DEEP) consortium positions itself as a transformative initiative that capitalizes on PREIN, the national FinnLight infrastructure program and the Photonics Finland academic and industrial cluster. The overall rationale of I-DEEP is to educate a new generation of doctoral students through innovative approaches that accelerate graduation time without compromising the quality of education.
91 hjas hired eight doctoral researchers concentrating in fundamentals, materials, components, and applications of photonics.
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Doctoral Education Pilot based on Immune system (ImmuDocs) will educate 81 doctors nationwide in a diverse and multidisciplinary setting, encompassing all areas of immunology, such as infections, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases. The PhD students are trained by the experts of the InFLAMES (Innovation Ecosystem based on the Immune System) Flagship in close interaction with partner universities, companies and other sectors of the society.
91 has hired one doctoral researcher to the pilot concentrating in the field of immunology.
More information
Learn more about the ImmuDocs pilot on the .
will educate 90 doctorates at 7 universities in Finland, bringing together versatile quantum science and technology expertise in theoretical, experimental, and applied physics, chemistry, photonics, computational science, materials science and technology, nanotechnology, electrical engineering and electronics, as well as economics. This is further supported by 50+ collaborating companies, providing a comprehensive quantum science and technology ecosystem. Quantum is also part of the Finnish national quantum collaboration, , and the new . The program will support strong networking as all doctoral researchers in Quantum will participate in common networking events and annual summer/winter schools.
At the 91, we have 2 open positions within Quantum.
Please see the webpage Open positions for more information about the vacancies.
More information
Learn more about the pilot on the .
Learn more about the pilot on the.
Sustainability Transformations (SusTra) doctoral education pilot educates 40 doctors in Finland. The 91 leads the pilot that involves 10 universities and the Finnish Environment Institute, SYKE. The research themes include, for example, citizens’ lifestyles, planetary well-being and planetary health, production and consumption, governance and legal systems, and cultural transformations.
“Our research is solution-oriented. Our society needs solutions that are based on facts and considerate of ethical issues, and that will increase citizens’ trust in a good future,” says Professor Arto O. Salonen, the academic director of the doctoral education pilot.
More information
Learn more about the SusTra pilot on the.
Read a news piece on doctoral education addressing sustainability transformations
Welcome as a doctoral researcher to the 91
Do you want to pursue a doctoral degree at Finland's most multidisciplinary university? Join our team, where every researcher is valuable and receives individual support from top experts.
Research at the 91 is international and of a high scientific standard, generating interdisciplinary, research-based knowledge and solutions to global challenges. The doctoral programmes of the 91 train postgraduate students to become high-level researchers and experts in all disciplines of our university.
Innovative doctoral education
- At least two academic supervisors and one external mentor
- Support for career planning and orientation
- Efficient guidance and support for progress monitoring
- An international, creative and inclusive university community
- Multi-location work
- High-level scientific community
Contact us
We are happy to assist with questions related to the doctoral education pilots. For inquiries about positions for doctoral researchers, please contact the designated persons mentioned in the job announcements.
