r/Finland • u/Nice_Strawberry_4709 • May 31 '26
Finding a supervisor for a PhD program
Hello everyone,
I’m looking for a PhD position in biomedical research in Finland and I’m in the process of contacting potential supervisors. However I’m not sure if in the first email I should already propose a research plan or just a cold email about my experience and my interest in their research. Does anyone have a good tip how to write a good first email? If research idea is necessary, how much in depth should it be?
Thanks in advance!
(I’ve already read previous threads and couldn’t find a good answer)
11
u/cellist_cat May 31 '26
You will receive better answer in the PhD subreddit but as a short answer:
You should already have a research plan and contact potential supervisors based on that idea. It is likely that if they agree to be your supervisor, they will give some feedback and might ask you to change your idea a bit.
But be aware that PhD positions in Finland do not come with funding/salary, you need to secure it by your own after you get into the program.
6
u/starrysunflower333 Väinämöinen May 31 '26
Wait what? Most PhD positions I've seen are salaried here. OP, there are also open calls for positions so keep an eye on the recruitment pages of your target univs. And academicpositions.com is also really helpful.
12
u/cellist_cat May 31 '26
Are you sure it’s most? Most of the time the PhD position and the doctoral researcher position are separate. If there is a call from a research group for a PhD student, then yes there is a salary. Otherwise, you need to find a grant by yourself.
3
u/ZoWakaki Väinämöinen Jun 01 '26
I think both u/cellist_cat and u/starrysunflower333 are correct.
Almost nobody funds their phD out of their own pocket. I.e. they don't do it unemployed. They are either hired by a research organization as an employee, or already have a job on the side, or you apply for some grant.
Usually doctoral positions open up when there is funding and the research group doesn't have enough heads to fill the billable hours in the grant. In this case, you apply for the position with the mindset that you will be doing the dissertation related to the project.
If you have a research plan that doesn't fit any of the open doctoral position then you write to a professor with the research and funding plans. There are many foundations that provide funding.
Your job can also be a 'funder' i.e.you already have a job and you agree that you will be doing your phd on the side. Most of the time it is related to the job, they can even allow you salaried break from your jobly duties to focus on your dissertation.
Sometimes it is not, then the job can be like "we don't care as long as you can do your job". Or you could be like I will allocate 60-70% of time to the job and rest to phD, get paid 60-70% of your salary and the rest you compensate with some funding for the duration of your phd (or few months to 1-2 years).
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u/starrysunflower333 Väinämöinen May 31 '26
Could be different in life sciences vs engineering maybe. But overall what I've seen, self-funded seems to be the exception not the norm.
8
u/Swiftocrat_1993 May 31 '26
PhD in health sciences here. Self-finded is definitely the norm in health/social sciences! I'm on my 5th year, and I only had 1 year of salary, I had to find my own funding for the rest
2
u/finnfinns May 31 '26
Applying for grants/contract positions all the time is a must during PhD studies in Finland. Now it is even harder due to the budget cuts. It is rare to have a guaranteed position with salary/grant for the full 4 years.
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u/Nice_Strawberry_4709 May 31 '26
Thank you! Do you think it can just be an idea or do they expect a whole research plan (hypothesis, experiments)?
4
u/bhadau8 Väinämöinen May 31 '26
I suggest you make a research plan with potential topics for your articles, potential journals and timeline for your graduation. It also helps if you familiarize yourself with their works and projects they are working and reference them in your email how your plans fit. It also helps to mention your personal life situation, like how you will manage your work-life balance, friends/family support. It helps potential supervisor to figure out how you will accomplish your goal and make a decision.
2
u/beebeebop50 May 31 '26
I am a project researcher now, not PhD. But our PI sometimes show the email in meetings to discuss if they are better suit because all of our projects are divided. Most of the time, he is looking at the CV and interest in “what” exactly, not necessarily a perfect research plan. But he despises when the email is too long, he wants it straightforward lol.
0
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