Docents may provide teaching in their field, supervise students and examine theses and dissertations, as well as participate in other activities at the University in a manner separately agreed upon.
Provisions which are relevant to the conferment of the title of docent include the Universities Act (558/2009, Section 89), University of Helsinki regulations and the regulations of the Swedish School of Social Science.
According to the Universities Act, a university may award the title of docent to a person who has comprehensive knowledge of his or her own field, an ability to produce independent research or artistic work as demonstrated through publication or in some other manner, and good teaching skills.
At the University of Helsinki the title of docent is granted by the Chancellor. If the Board of the School finds that an applicant for the title fulfils the requirements for the title of docent, the Board will submit a proposal of appointment to the Chancellor. Before deciding on the matter, the Board will request statements on the applicant’s academic qualifications from two assessors, unless, for special reasons, the Board considers the statements unnecessary. The Teaching Skills Evaluation Committee of the School will issue a statement on the applicant’s teaching skills.
Docents may provide teaching in their field, supervise students and examine theses and dissertations, as well as participate in other activities at the University in a manner separately agreed upon.
Persons wishing to apply for the title of docent should begin by contacting the relevant professor at the Swedish School of Social Science for a preliminary assessment of whether an application would be appropriate. At this stage the applicant may submit his or her list of publications and academic portfolio to the professor. In addition, the applicant must prepare a report on the publications he or she considers most relevant to the overall assessment of his or her qualifications for the title.
The application for the title of docent must be submitted to the Swedish School of Social Science at sskh-administration[at]helsinki.fi. The application must be accompanied by the following items:
In their statement the assessors shall analyse and critically examine the main topics of the applicant’s scholarly publications, so that the assessment will clearly specify the grounds upon which the assessors have determined whether the applicant holds the required academic qualifications for the title of docent.
A general requirement for the title of docent is that in addition to his or her dissertation the applicant will have published scholarly works equal to a doctoral dissertation in level and scope. This means either a scientific monograph of a level equivalent to a dissertation or a collection of articles of equivalent quality and scope. Applicants for the title of docent are generally required to have published in international forums. The final decision on academic qualifications will be made by the Board of the School based on the assessor statements.
A docent must have good teaching skills. The Teaching Skills Evaluation Committee of the School will issue a statement on the applicant’s teaching skills. In assessing the applicant’s teaching qualifications, the Committee will consider teaching experience, pedagogical training, the ability to produce teaching material, other pedagogical qualifications and a teaching demonstration if necessary.
The application for the title of docent and its appendices is to be submitted to sskh-administration[at]helsinki.fi.
The application will be discussed by the Board of the School at two separate meetings. In the first meeting the Board will decide whether the applicant can be considered for the title of docent, and will appoint two assessors based on a proposal from the relevant professor. The assessors must have at least the qualifications of a docent. At least one of the assessors must be from outside the School. Persons appointed as assessors cannot participate in the processing of the application at a later stage.
After receiving the assessors’ statements the School will send them to the applicant. If the assessors find that the applicant fulfils the requirements for the title, the School will request that the applicant provide a topic for his or her demonstration of teaching skills (in a lecture). The Teaching Skills Evaluation Committee of the School will evaluate the teaching demonstration.
In the second meeting the Board will decide whether the applicant meets the requirements for the title of docent, and if so, will make a proposal to the University Chancellor for a nomination. The Chancellor grants the title of docent.