Registration of doctoral studies

If you take a course or examination for which you have registered for in Sisu, the course coordinator assesses it in Sisu. You have the right to receive information on the assessment within one month of the date of taking the course or examination. Please note, however, that assessment in Sisu may take longer during the summer.

These instructions apply to registering credits from courses and/or other tasks that do not have registration in Sisu. Examples of these include conference presentations, publishing articles not included in your thesis, research visits, book exams, literature reviews, and teaching and supervising undergraduate students. Please follow these instructions where the study unit (course) description in Sisu instructs you to do so.

Instructions for the doctoral researcher:

1. If you are not logged into Studies Service: Please select your doctoral programme from the drop-down menu at the top of this page.
2. Find an appropriate registration code by checking the study unit descriptions in Sisu (or the degree structure page in Studies Service). You may also check the supplementary instructions for your doctoral programme at the end of this page. Pay attention to choosing a code that you have not yet used for registering credits – otherwise the previous entry will be overwritten.
3. Confirm who is the person to approve the studies you are proposing for registration (approver). You can find the information in the study unit information or descriptions. Most often the person approving the studies is your supervisor (who is employed by the University of Helsinki) or coordinating academic (in case none of your supervisors is employed by the University).  If necessary, you can also contact your doctoral programme senior advisor.
4. Fill in the following pre-completed registration form in Excel:

Registration form (Excel)

If the file does not open properly, please try another web browser. You can use the same file for registering several study units by filling one row per study unit.

The following information must be provided concerning credits to be registered:

• Doctoral researcher’s name, student number and email address
• Code and name of the relevant study unit
• Number of study credits. The number of study credits awarded cannot exceed or be below the scope of the study unit. Please check the appropriate number of credits from the study unit description, and if necessary, discuss the number of credits with your supervisor or coordinating academic. If not otherwise specified, 1 credit corresponds to 27 hours of work of the doctoral researcher.
• Date of completion
• Language of completion (report only one.) The language of completed credits is the language in which the student completes the study unit. The language may differ from the language of instruction. A single language is recorded in the student information system for each study unit the student completes. If a study unit consists of several components in different languages, the language of the study unit is the language in which the component with the largest workload was completed. If the components in different languages are of equal scope, the study unit evaluator decides which language is recorded as the language of completion.
• Grade (NB! Check the grading scale of the study unit)
• Person approving the credits
• Additional information, if needed (max. 200 characters). Additional information may include, e.g., conference title and dates, article title and publication date. Please note that the text of this field will be printed on your transcript of records as such, so do not include any information that you do not wish to include there. Please add the information in those languages that you wish to have on your transcript (one language is technically enough).

   5. Send the completed Excel file to the person who approves the study unit. Please include in your message any additional attachments or information that are mentioned in the study unit description in Sisu and/or may otherwise be relevant for approval. The approver may also ask for additional clarification of the completed tasks from you. These may include certificates of attendance or reports.

   6. The approver will send the Excel file to the assessment support services (uni-help[at]helsinki.fi) for registering. See the instructions for the approver below.

Instructions for the person approving the study unit

The supervisor (or coordinating academic) is most often responsible for approving the studies of the doctoral researcher that do not include actual teaching and do not have registration in Sisu. The approver can be the supervisor of the doctoral researcher in case they are employed by the University of Helsinki. In case the supervisor is not employed by the university, the approver will be the coordinating academic of the doctoral researcher. The coordinating academic has been appointed for the doctoral researcher upon granting the study right, and the information is available in Thessa.

Once the doctoral researcher sends registration form(s) to you, please follow these instructions:

1. Review the registration form (an Excel file). Verify especially that the number of credits is appropriate and follows the guidelines of the study unit descriptions. If not otherwise specified, determine the number of credits considering that 1 credit corresponds to 27 hours of work of the doctoral researcher. If you need any additional details (certificates of attendance, etc.) from the doctoral researcher to approve the studies, please ask the doctoral researcher to provide them for you.
2. Send the reviewed registration file to the assessment support services (uni-help[at]helsinki.fi) as an Excel file via email. Please do not submit completed credit details as image files. You do not need to sign the document – sending it from your email address will be the necessary approval for registration.

Doctoral programme -specific instructions

By default, the information is available in the study unit description in Sisu.

What course codes can I use for my studies?

Below you can find examples of what course codes to use for registering study credits from tasks and attainments that do not have registration in Sisu. Please note that you can discuss with your supervisor about including various forms of learning in your doctoral studies, as long as they support your doctoral research and/or your later career. 

Please check the study unit descriptions via the degree structure in Studies Service for more detailed information (select the doctoral programme in the drop-down menu).

Transferable skills training

PHD-251 / PHD-252 / PHD-253 Optional studies in scientific communication and societal impact

You may discuss with your supervisor about including in your studies tasks (or courses that you have completed elsewhere) that are related to the following themes:

• Publishing and presenting scientific research work
• Preparing funding proposals
• Teaching and/or supervising
• Popularization of science
• Other skills that support scientific communication and societal impact

PHD-351 / PHD-352 / PHD-353 Optional studies in working life skills

You may discuss with your supervisor about including in your studies tasks (or courses that you have completed elsewhere) that are related to the following themes:

• Career development (different career opportunities for doctorate holders, job opportunities outside of the academia, where to find a job, how to apply and how to prepare for the interview, what are the expectations of the employers)
• Management 
• Entrepreneurship 
• Archival or field work 
• Basic research tools and skills, e.g. statistics, programming, etc.

You can also include in your studies credits from secondments/intersectoral mobility to companies or other organisations. 

PHD-451 / PHD-452 / PHD-453 Optional studies in scientific thinking and responsible research

You may discuss with your supervisor about including in your studies tasks (or courses that you have completed elsewhere) that are related to the following themes:

• Legislation
• Research ethics
• Open science
• Responsible research and innovation
• Philosophy of science
• Argumentation

PHD-314 Management studies in specialist training

In you have completed a specialist training (usually in medicine or dentistry) that includes management studies, you may discuss with your supervisor about including them in your doctoral studies.

PHD-310 Language studies supporting working life skills

If you have completed language studies that support your doctoral studies and/or future employment, and the course/studies have not had registration in Sisu, you may discuss with your supervisor to include them in your studies with the abovementioned code. 

Your doctoral degree includes not only a doctoral thesis, but also a study module (30 ECTS) that consist of discipline-specific studies and transferable skills studies. Once you have completed all the studies required for the module, you can request its compilation. 

Most faculties require that module(s) are compiled before the preliminary examination of the doctoral thesis begins or, at the latest, before the doctoral researcher is granted the right to defend their thesis at a public examination. Please check the required completion date from your faculty’s instructions for initiating the preliminary examination process.

Remember that modules cannot include studies completed more than 10 years ago. Once compiled, modules cannot be deleted from the records or updated. Read more about the expiry of doctoral studies.

Please note that the total scope of both modules cannot be exceeded with more than 5 credits (total scope max. 35 credits). If you have started your doctoral studies prior to August 1, 2017, you are exceptionally allowed to exceed the maximum scope, should you so wish.

If you have been granted the right to complete a doctoral degree before August 1, 2024, you may, if desired, complete studies corresponding to previous regulations, which amount to 40 credits, and register them as modules by July 31, 2026.

After July 31, 2026, all doctoral researchers will transition to completing doctoral degrees that include 30 credits of studies, and the degree certificate will indicate 30–35 credits of doctoral studies. If the modules have not been compiled by July 31, 2026, the doctoral researcher will transition to the 30-credit degree requirements. If a module or modules have already been compiled, they can be used towards the degree for their validity period.

Starting from August 1, 2026, doctoral studies will consist of a single 30-credit module that includes both field-specific studies and general competence skills. All doctoral researchers must create a new study plan in Sisu after August 1, 2026, in order to enroll in courses or submit a completion request.

The method for compiling modules depends somewhat on when the doctoral studies were initiated and which studies you have completed. Please refer to the instructions below and follow the guidelines that correspond to your situation.

Please note that compiled study modules cannot be dismantled or updated. 

Option 1: Achievements Comply with Sisu Rules

If all the studies you have completed comply with the rules applied in Sisu, you can request assessment of the study module in Sisu when all the required studies are indicated in your study plan as completed and approved. Open your Sisu study plan and do as follows (make sure to use the traditional Structure of studies page):

• Click the code under the name of the study module.
• Click the Assessment request button.

Cancelling an assessment request is possible as long as the request has not been approved or registered in the Student Services. If you want to cancel your request, select ‘My profile’ from the main menu in Sisu, and then click open the Applications and requests tab. Click the name of the request for a study module assessment and once the request opens, click the 'Cancel the assessment request' button. 

Option 2: Approval of study modules based on the previous degree requirements as part of a study plan

If you have previously completed study modules that have been registered in accordance with the earlier degree requirements and if these modules partly or fully substitute for studies based on the new requirements, you should apply for the approval of the old modules as part of your study plan in Sisu’s free edit mode.

Before submitting your application in Sisu, you can contact the senior advisor of your doctoral programme to ensure that the required studies have been completed and your doctoral studies are ready to be accepted and compiled. If necessary, you will received detailed advice on the type of application you should submit.

If you have previously completed a module/modules that has/have been registered in accordance with the old degree requirements and if the module/modules substitute/substitutes as such for all required doctoral studies:

• Open the free edit mode in your study plan on the doctoral programme level (if needed, start by reading the Sisu user instructions for using the free edit mode).
• Remove the study module based on the new structures (Doctoral Studies) from your plan by clicking the trash can icon next to them.
• Add the old study modules you have completed to replace them.
• Submit the edited plan for approval in Sisu.
• The senior advisor of the doctoral programme will approve the plan.

If you already have registered modules based on previous requirements and have additionally completed the necessary extra studies required by the curriculum:

Submit the modified plan in Sisu for approval.

• Open the free edit mode in your study plan on the doctoral programme level (if needed, start by reading the Sisu user instructions for using the free edit mode).
• Add the module(s) based on the old degree requirements to your plan.
• Edit the Doctoral Studies (XXX-995) module to reflect the other studies you have planned or completed.
• Verify that your plan includes all the courses required by the study plan.
• Submit the edited plan for approval in Sisu.
• The senior advisor of the doctoral programme will approve the plan.

If you or your supervisor have any questions about the registration of doctoral studies or study modules, you can always contact the services for doctoral education.