ILS is an international doctoral program providing structured training in life sciences areas requiring multidisciplinary skills and capability engage in multiprofessional cooperation.
The Life Science areas in Finland share a strong component of multidisciplinary approaches bridging research in basic biosciences, computational sciences and medicine. The research groups affiliated in ILS represent the highest quality life science research in Helsinki. Their research interests cover nearly all aspects of modern life sciences ranging from molecular medicine and developmental biology to biophysics and systems biology.
The integrative aspect of research may occur on various levels: versatile approaches to the research question, different levels of complexity (e.g. molecular, cellular, tissue level), or diversity of methodology used.
A doctoral degree in the programme comprises of a doctoral thesis and 40 credits of additional studies, including 10 credits of transferable skills training and 30 credits of scientific content studies. The studies are divided into discipline-specific studies (30 credits), aimed to support your research project, and transferable skills training (10 credits).
Studies are completed flexibly on courses and through means other than traditional coursework: conference presentations, scientific and popular articles etc.
Want to know more? Visit our study planning instructions for current doctoral students at the university's Instructions for Students.
Courses in research ethics and transferable skills are offered throughout the academic year by the Doctoral School in Health Sciences.
The date and time when registration for a particular course opens in Sisu is given in the course announcement. Once the call is opened a deadline for registrations is given. Usually the call for applications opens approximately one month and closes approximately two weeks before the course starts. These are only guidelines – always check the deadlines for the course you are interested in! Please follow your email and the doctoral programme bulletins to stay up-to-date on courses and seminars.
Follow this link to find the current degree structure of ILS:
ILS degree structure and course descriptions at the Instructions for students (choose ILS in the drop-down menu)
Information of seminar series organized in ILS is found in the Instructions for students.
PhD candidates have many opportunities to participate in planning activities and influence on decision-making in doctoral education.
Further information on student council activities is available in the Instructions for students on the article Doctoral students and student organisation activities, and on other organization activities in the Instructions for students on the article Doctoral students as student representatives.
Read more about The University of Helsinki PhD Students organisation (HYVÄT)
Read more about the ILS student council.