Luke starts its doctoral programme to respond to future competence needs 

The Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) will starts its own doctoral programme to ensure the high competence of the next researcher generation and the impact of research in the future.  

Increasing the number of doctorate holders responds to the growing shortage of professionals in research in the natural resources sector. Luke’s goal is to have 20–25 doctoral dissertations completed each year. Through our doctoral programme, we seek to make the research career more attractive and predictable.

“We want to provide research scientists who are taking their first steps on their career path with diverse opportunities to develop themselves as part of a research team and to form networks by working in various projects,” says Executive Vice President Antti Asikainen, director of the Luke Doctoral Programme.  

Shared practices for doctoral dissertations and supervision  

The Luke Doctoral Programme harmonises supervisory practices, complements universities’ doctoral training and supports doctoral researchers in internationalisation and mobility. 

Doctoral researchers prepare their dissertations at Luke in accordance with the degree requirements of their universities. Each doctoral researcher has a personal supervisorat Luke and at the  university. The research plan and the formal training required for the degree are to form an entity that enables completion of the doctoral degree in four years when working full-time. 

“It’s great that Luke invests in supervision of doctoral researchers. This doctoral programme supports young research scientists on their dissertation path, and I believe that it will improve the job prospects of doctoral graduates,” says doctoral researcher Mikaela Mughal. 

Mughal is currently preparing her doctoral dissertation at Luke on improving the wellbeing of dairy cows through longer maternal contact for calves. She represents doctoral researchers in the doctoral programme’s steering group. 

Currently, some 70 doctoral researchers are preparing their dissertations at Luke. Doctoral researchers typically have a fixed-term employment contract or a visitor agreement with Luke. The right to pursue a doctoral degree, as well as the degree itself, are awarded by a university.

Luke is engaged in close cooperation with universities, other research organisations and business life to promote even more diverse career paths for doctorate holders.