UEF’s Doctoral Student Association spreads awareness of doctoral studies among Master’s degree students and helps its members to find doctoral positions at UEF.
This autumn, the Doctoral Student Association (DSA) of the University of Eastern Finland has launched a new Doctoral Studies Ambassador programme (DSAP). In the programme, experienced doctoral researchers share their experiences of doctoral studies with Master’s degree students and help with practicalities relating to the application process.
“When I was doing my Master’s degree and looked for information on doctoral studies, it took me a long time to find a suitable programme. We’ve noticed in the DSA Board that we are short-handed when it comes to helping Master’s degree students who are eager to learn about doctoral studies. That’s why we started the Doctoral Studies Ambassador programme,” says Hasan Sohail, Chair of the DSA Board.
The programme will initially start with two Doctoral Studies Ambassadors, namely Evelyn Ansah Karkkulainen and Hasan Sohail. The ambassadors will soon see real action: on 15 November at 14.00, there will be an online webinar on the application process to doctoral studies. The webinar is aimed at Master’s degree students and it is organised in collaboration with the relevant doctoral programme’s coordinator.
“We can, for example, help applicants to write their research proposal, or to find a supervisor for their doctoral research. If we cannot answer a question ourselves, we will take help from other doctoral researchers who are members of UEF DSA”, Sohail says.
Career Planning Seminars give a career boost
The Doctoral Studies Ambassador programme is the DSA's first initiative that is aimed at Master’s degree students. Membership is open to Master’s degree students. They can apply for membership through DSA website and thus enjoy the association’s services and networking opportunities.
Currently, the Doctoral Student Association has 125 members. For students, the DSA offers many activities and networking opportunities, and the association also shares information on current issues via an e-mail list and on social media.
Currently, the main activity is Career Planning Seminars, which the DSA has been organising for each faculty. The next Career Planning Seminar, to be held on 26 October, is aimed at doctoral researchers of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies.
“We are very interested in guiding doctoral researchers on what to do after their graduation, where they can find employment, and help them to take decision whether to stay in academia or finding jobs in industry. That’s why we organise Career Planning Seminars, where more senior researchers and employers from different sectors talk about employment and career planning opportunities. In our last seminar, we had as a guest a professor who talked about what their career had been like after the PhD,” Sohail says.
Networking on leisure time
Creating opportunities for networking on doctoral researchers’ leisure time also constitutes a key activity for the DSA. The association has resumed its monthly meetings in order to foster international community spirit.
“When I joined the University of Eastern Finland, I also joined the association and made new friends in its meetings. Meetings are a good way to create networks and to make friends. In September, we had a barbecue with some twenty people attending. We also meet one another across the campuses,” Sohail says.
The association works on a voluntary basis. Organising events takes time, and it would be good if more people were involved. Sohail welcomes everyone to attend the Board meetings to learn more about the association’s activities.
“We offer a platform for collaboration. Soon, we will also start a blog for doctoral researchers, allowing them to share their experiences of doctoral studies.”
Learn more about the Doctoral Student Association on the DSA website at https://sites.uef.fi/dsa/.
For further information, please contact:
Hasan Sohail, Chair of the DSA Board, hasan.sohail@uef.fi
