Employment as a doctoral researcher

The Doctoral Programme in Clinical Veterinary Medicine (CVM or DPCVM) is defined and shaped by three closely related and interconnected research areas: animal welfare, translational and clinical veterinary medicine. The most prominent aim of the CVM is to encourage the doctoral candidates to mature into ethically conscious, professional researchers and specialists who are genuinely multidisciplinary, critical, and innovative. In addition, the doctoral candidates become well incorporated into research networks and have workable international contacts at the time of graduation.

You can find CVM degree structure on the Instructions for students (select CVM from the dropdown menu).

The doctoral programme is offering salaried positions for 1–4-years (*clinicians 6–48 months) of full-time work, starting in January 2024. The length of the employment contract is determined by the stage of the applicant's doctoral thesis. Others than clinicians may only apply for full years.

*Exception for doctoral candidates enrolled in specialist training in veterinary medicine: Applicants pursuing a specialist degree in veterinary medicine can apply for half of a UH-funded position (6 months/year). The applicants are expected to commit to full-time (100%) doctoral training for a 6-month period and to specialist clinical training for the remaining six months of the same calendar year.

In addition to doctoral programme-specific positions, University of Helsinki Doctoral School allocates 10 strategically targeted doctoral researcher positions for the four-year period 2024–2027 in a thematic call. Theme of the call is Multidisciplinary research on One Health including a global dimension and the appointees in this call are selected among the high-scoring 4-year applicants in all doctoral programmes by a separate multidisciplinary thematic evaluation panel. If you want to apply for these positions, please fill out the ‘Thematic call’ section in the application form.

One Health is understood in its widest scope referring to an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment. The global dimension may be evident in the research proposals in the spirit of global responsibility, with a special focus on Africa. Groundbreaking basic research, open-minded curiosity and cooperation that transcends boundaries are supported. The projects are expected to increase our knowledge towards building a sustainable future by finding solutions to both local and global issues and thereby benefiting the global community.

In addition, University of Helsinki Research Foundation allocates 10 positions to high-scoring 4-year applicants in all doctoral programmes. The Foundation emphasizes multidisciplinarity and the applicant's ability to explain which societal problems or questions the research aims to answer.

You can apply for the salaried positions in the doctoral programme if: 

1. You already have the doctoral study right at the University of Helsinki

OR

2. You have an MSc, Licentiate of Veterinary Medicine or equivalent degree AND apply for the doctoral study right during the September application period on 1.–14.9.2023 (please note that you have to make a SEPARATE application for the study right, see instructions on the CVM admissions page)

OR

3. You have been accepted to complete a Licentiate of Veterinary Medicine degree in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki AND apply for the doctoral study right during the September application period on 1.–14.9.2023 (please note that you have to make a SEPARATE application for the study right, see instructions on the CVM admissions page)

OR

4. If you do not yet have the right to pursue a postgraduate doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, you may apply for the right in the September application call or in the next possible application call for the doctoral programme, however in the spring at the latest.

Please note that the application form requires you to upload a copy of your degree diploma (MSc, Licentiate of Veterinary Medicine or equivalent). If you have not yet obtained the degree diploma, you can upload an official transcript of your studies thus far.

Applications for a salaried position are submitted via the University of Helsinki recruitment system.

The application period will open on the 29th of August 2023 and close on the 14th of September 2023. The application form is open during the application period. You will find the application form for each doctoral programme during the open call period from the University of Helsinki Open positions webpages.

Mandatory attachments for all applicants are: copy of your degree diploma, CV, and research plan.

• CV
  • To ensure the equal treatment of applicants, CV must follow the template of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK. The application may be rejected if the instructions are not followed.
  • LINK to the CV template
  • Layout: Font Arial/Calibri size 11 or similar if not using Word
  • Row min 1,15
  • Maximum length of CV: 2 pages
• Research plan
  • To ensure the equal treatment of applicants, you must use research plan structure presented in the template and follow the maximum number of characters including spaces indicated in the template. The application may be rejected if the instructions are not followed.
  • Applicants who are applying for the continuation of their pre-existing salary positions will be assessed based on how well their doctoral research has progressed during the previously funded period. This should be explained clearly and concretely in the preliminary timetable of the research plan.
  • LINK to the research plan template
• Copies of your degree diploma and transcript of studies (or transcript of studies only, if you have not graduated yet)
• If you don't have a doctoral study right yet, please also attach an Approval form of the supervisors and the coordinating academic
  • LINK to the approval form
• Doctoral candidates who have enrolled (full-time) in specialist training and who apply for 6-month/year positions are expected to indicate how the doctoral training period will be integrated with clinical work. Please, fill in the requested information and signatures in this Commitment letter
  • LINK to the commitment letter
• All attachments need to be combined as one pdf file and attached to the ‘CV/Ansioluettelo’ section of the application. The maximum size of the combined file is 5 MB.

When applying for a funded position, please use the English application form and write the whole application in English. Other applications will not be considered.

Please note that you may apply for a UH-funded doctoral candidate position from a maximum of two doctoral programmes. If an applicant has submitted more than two applications, the two most recently dated will be considered and reviewed.

Please note that even though the application closes at midnight, we advise you to submit your application earlier. We will not answer your question about the application, or the application form, after 16.00 EEST on the day the application closes.

In order to be eligible for evaluation, a Recommendation letter must be completed by the primary supervisor in separate e-form by September 18th, 2023 at 16:00 EEST. It is the applicant's own responsibility to ask the supervisor to send a recommendation letter via e-form. The recommendation letters need to written in English. Recommendation letters are not accepted after the deadline.

Two external reviewers will evaluate the applications according to the following CVM-specific criteria:

1. Scientific input and significance to CVM research area
2. Practical implementation of the research plan
3. Research group and research environment, including international collaboration
4. Motivation and competence of the applicant

The topic of the research plan must suit the profile of the doctoral programme.

The evaluations made by the external reviewers are used in the decision making by the CVM board. Applicants who are applying for the continuation of their pre-existing salary positions are not evaluated by the external evaluating panel but will be assessed by the CVM board based on the progress of their doctoral research. The director of the relevant employment unit makes the final decision on the appointments. 

All applicants will be personally notified of the decisions by the end of November. The names of the applicants selected for the positions will be published on the doctoral programme’s web pages (if the applicant has given permission).

Please note that applications for the right to pursue a doctoral degree are processed according to a different schedule by the responsible Faculty. The relevant faculty makes decisions regarding study rights and applicants are personally notified in a separate notification to salary positions. If you are applying also for the study right, please read carefully the instructions for doctoral study right applicants from your doctoral programme webpage.

• Admission services: phd-admissions@helsinki.fi (questions regarding the study right application process)
• Salary position general info: phd-positions@helsinki.fi (questions regarding the UH-funded positions)
• CVM office: cvm-info@helsinki.fi (questions regarding the CVM degree requirements and other programme-specific questions)
• Doctoral Programme in Clinical Veterinary Medicine