Doctoral education
Everything there is to know about doctoral education for doctoral students, supervising professors and thesis advisors.
Summer digest for doctoral students 2026
Do you need more information on annual enrolment, Doctoral personal study plan or Sisu? Do you wish to take courses in the summer or plan for your pre-examination process and defence? Check out the summer digest for information and suggestions.
Enrolment of doctoral students for the 2026-2027 academic year
The enrolment period for the 2026-2027 academic year ends on 28 August 2026. All doctoral students must enroll annually, also in pre-examination and graduation phase.
Have you just started your doctoral studies?
Familiarise yourself with our instructions for new doctoral studentsInformation about doctoral students' orientation days
If you have just started as a doctoral researcher but do not yet have the right to study in the doctoral programme, see our application instructions.
Renewing your residence permit
If you need to renew your residence permit this summer and need a hosting agreement, please request it as early on as possible, by mid-June at the latest.
BIZ, ELEC, ENG, SCI: For the documents needed, please contact your Department HR.
ARTS, CHEM: If you are employed by Aalto University, you’ll get your documents by contacting the HR services. If you are not employed by Aalto, the Doctoral education services of your programme will make your hosting agreement. Please contact us well in advance and take into consideration your supervising professor's holidays, as their approval is required. We will need some personal information for the agreement (phone number, passport number and start-end dates for self-financed students) and your supervising professor’s approval. Also indicate the timeframe of your process at Migri.
If you have any questions regarding your permit, always be directly in contact with Migri.
Summer courses & individual studies
Do you want to advance your studies and take courses in the summer?
Explore summer studies for Aalto degree students
Independent online courses on transferable skills (Findocnet)
Findocnet courses are independent online courses, where students complete the course readings and assignments indepently at their own pace, and then report to the Doctoral education services to receive the credit. You are able to complete the courses over the summer, and get the credits in the autumn.
Instructions for taking Findocnet courses
Credit transfer or individual studies? How to apply in Sisu
Have you completed studies at another university or independent activities that aren’t yet in your credits? Not sure whether to apply for credit transfer or individual studies?
If you’ve completed an official course at another university and can provide an official transcript of records, apply in Sisu as credit transfer (inclusion).
If the activity isn’t recorded in another institution’s register (such as most Summer or Winter Schools), apply as individual studies using the relevant course code and a form signed by your supervising professor.
Use the same form for other individual studies you report to your supervising professor (e.g. conference presentations, advising Bachelor’s/Master’s theses, or literature). There are course codes for the most typical types of individual studies, listed in the curriculum of your doctoral programme.
Instructions on how to apply for credit transfer and individual studies
Help with Doctoral personal study plan (DPSP) and Sisu in the summer
A new digital DPSP tool for preparing and handling doctoral personal study plans was published in May. It replaces the old DPSP tasks on students’ MyStudies portal and the approval method for supervising professors on Student Success Hub.
More information on the new digital DPSP tool
Sisu instructions for doctoral studentsSisu and DPSP clinics for doctoral students in June and August
Pre-examination and graduation schedules over the summer 2026
Doctoral students who plan to start the pre-examination of their doctoral thesis, defend their thesis or graduate before September 2026 should check the schedules of their School’s Doctoral programme committee and the official graduation dates at Aalto University. Remember to enrol for 2026-2027 if you will not graduate by the end July 2026.
Campus restaurants and cafés
More information
More information in the Doctoral education hub. You can find all our pages in the Doctoral page index.
You may contact Doctoral education services also in the summer, but please note that during the summer holiday period only some staff members are available, and our faculty is mostly on holiday. When the staff members of the Doctoral education services for your doctoral programme are on holiday, you may contact us at doctoralservices@aalto.fi.
Doctoral education services
We support the whole university in matters related to doctoral studies, especially doctoral students, supervising professors, thesis advisors and doctoral programme directors.
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