These regulations and principles are based on the Rector’s decision ‘'Pre-examination and acceptance of doctoral dissertations and also general criteria for dissertations'’ on 20 June 2017 and on the specification of that decision by the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Law on 26 September 2017.
The examination of doctoral dissertations is a two-stage process: first, dissertations are examined in a preliminary examination, and then, in a public examination. After the public examination, the Faculty Council approves and grades, or rejects, the dissertation based on its expertise and on the documents compiled during the examination process. The Faculty Council appoints the dissertation examiners for both stages upon the proposal of the dissertation advisor and the coordinating professor/person assigned to the doctoral researcher, after which the Faculty sends the appointees an official invitation and related instructions.
At the Faculty of Law, coordinating professors/persons may be professors or docents on the third or fourth tier of the career path for teaching and research staff at the Faculty who have prior experience in supervising dissertations to their completion. As a rule, one of the two doctoral thesis supervisors is appointed as a coordinating academic for each doctoral researcher. If this is not possible, the professor responsible for the relevant discipline is appointed as the coordinating academic.
Further instructions on initiating the examination process can be found at the Instructions for Doctoral Researchers.
A doctoral dissertation is a scholarly monograph or a compilation of articles, based on independent research, that makes an original contribution to knowledge.
On 26 August 2024, the Rector decided on the general criteria of doctoral theses of the University of Helsinki (HY/11925/00.00.06/2024). The decision came into force immediately. The Faculty of Law has decided on the specifications of faculty´s article-based thesis requirements on 19 November 2024. Below are the new, valid requirements and clarifications.
Article-based theses must consist of scholarly publications on the same research problem and of a summarising report (=introduction) compiled by the doctoral candidate.
As a rule, article-based theses at the Faculty of Law comprise three scholarly articles. In exceptional cases, two articles may suffice if they are of particular merit. At least two of the articles must be peer-reviewed articles already published or accepted for publication. The overall thesis comprising the articles and an introduction must demonstrate that the general scholarly criteria of doctoral theses are met in all respects. The recommended scope of the introduction is 40–80 pages.
Article-based theses may include co-authored publications if the doctoral researcher’s contribution to them is clearly demonstrated.
The dissertation is graded on a scale of Fail ‒ Pass ‒ Pass with Distinction.
The thesis must meet equitable academic criteria and
a) contain new scholarly knowledge,
b) illustrate the doctoral candidate’s critical thinking,
c) demonstrate profound familiarity with the field,
d) showcase mastery of research methods, including their application,
e) be academically convincing,
f) present justified results and g) abide by the principles of research integrity and the norms of research ethics.
Two preliminary examiners are appointed for the dissertation. The preliminary examiners must be professors, docents or scholars with equivalent academic qualifications. They may not be employed by the Faculty of Law or, preferably, even the University of Helsinki. The dissertation supervisor may not serve as a preliminary examiner. The preliminary examiners are proposed by the dissertation supervisor and the coordinating professor/person, or if a coordinating person has not been appointed for the doctoral candidate, the discipline coordinator.
The preliminary examiners must present their statements within two months of receiving the invitation. The statement must indicate whether the dissertation manuscript can be approved as is or with minor revisions. For particularly compelling reasons, the examiners may propose minor but non-negotiable revisions that do not preclude receiving permission to defend the dissertation in a public examination. In this event, the dissertation supervisor must, upon applying for permission for a public defence, approve the revisions and confirm to the Faculty Council in writing that they are sufficient.
The preliminary examiner may also conclude that the dissertation does not meet the criteria for doctoral dissertations and propose that permission for a public defence be denied. In this case, the examination process will be discontinued and may only be reinitiated with the approval of the dissertation supervisor and the coordinating professor.
If both preliminary examiners present statements in favour of a public defence, the Faculty Council will grant the doctoral candidate permission to defend the dissertation in a public examination, after which he or she may finalise and print the dissertation and organise the public examination. The public examination must be held within a year of receiving the permission.
The Faculty will provide the doctoral candidate with official instructions for this purpose after granting the permission.
When or after granting permission for a public defence, the Faculty Council also appoints one or two opponents, who must have the qualifications of a professor or docent or equivalent academic merits. The opponents must be selected from outside the Faculty and, as a rule, the University of Helsinki as well. Preliminary examiners may serve as opponents only for well-grounded reasons, such as when suitable opponent candidates are unreasonably difficult to find due to disqualifying factors or the language or topic of the dissertation. The dissertation supervisor may not serve as an opponent.
The Faculty Council also appoints a professor or an associate professor (on the second tier of the tenure track) of the Faculty from a field closest to the dissertation topic to serve as custos.
Pursuant to Rector’s Decision No HY/2379/00.00.06.00/2021, holders of the title of docent employed by the faculty awarding the degree can also be appointed as the custos as of 1 August 2021. The custos serves as the supervisor of the public examination.
In addition to the opponent and custos, the faculty will, at its discretion, appoint one or two faculty representatives to the grading committee. Faculty representatives must be either professors or docents the University of Helsinki or members of the university's teaching and research staff with the academic qualifications of a docent. The Faculty representatives are proposed by the coordinating professor/person. Faculty representatives must be familiar with the University of Helsinki’s public examination practices and grading criteria for doctoral theses. If the custos has not acted as a supervisor, he or she can also be appointed to the task of faculty representative. If the custos has served as the supervisor, he or she cannot participate in the grading of the doctoral dissertation.
The grading committee will have access to the preliminary examiners’ statements. All committee members must be present at the public examination.
The rector of the University of Helsinki has decided on the composition of grading committees in Rector’s Decision 134/2019.
The grading will be based on the opponent’s statement and the grading committee’s report on the public examination and the grading consultation. the grading committee’s statement must propose a grade for the dissertation; this proposal must also take into consideration the preliminary examiners’ statements. The doctoral candidate’s performance in the public examination must also be considered. The grading proposals must be submitted to the relevant presenting official within two weeks of the public examination.
As a rule, doctoral dissertations will be approved with the grade of Pass. Dissertations that are particularly distinguished and ambitious in terms of all key assessment criteria may be awarded the grade of Pass with Distinction. This grade may be awarded to up to fifteen percent of all dissertations. However, each dissertation must be examined independently on the basis of the assessment criteria.
The Faculty Council will approve the dissertation and award it a grade of Pass or Pass with Distinction on the basis of the criteria listed in the section “Definitions and criteria for doctoral dissertations”.