The doctoral programme in Materials Research and Nanoscience (MATRENA) offers a high-level PhD student education at the University of Helsinki one of the leading research universities in the world. It is a joint programme of the Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Helsinki Institute of Physics.
Within these institutions (all of which also have other doctoral programmes), it represents the PhD student education in materials physics, materials chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, nanosciences, molecular spectroscopy, biophysics, medical physics, computational physics and computational chemistry.
A doctoral degree in the programme comprises of a doctoral thesis and 40 credits of additional studies. The studies are divided into discipline-specific studies, aimed to support your research project, and transferable skills training.
Part of the studies are completed flexibly through means other than traditional coursework: conference presentations, essays, scientific and popular articles, editing work 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 Natural Sciences.
Almost all PhD level courses within the MATRENA fields are offered in English, and the main working language within the research groups is English. However, medical physics courses are taught in Finnish.
Students who wish to take exams and get guidance in the national languages, Finnish or Swedish, have an opportunity and right to do so.
MATRENA organizes regular university courses and intensive special courses in the fields it represents. MATRENA can also be a co-organizer and co-funder of summer schools, workshops and conferences for MATRENA students.