Guide to organise a doctoral level course

Doctoral programmes have different ways of accepting course proposals. The course organizer provides a course proposal with a preliminary course program, budget, schedule, target audience, number of credits, learning outcomes, prerequisites, assessment practices and criteria (grading 0-5, or pass/fail), number of participants (in particular if there is a maximum number) and other details either via an e-form (if a call is organized) or sending an email to the planning officer of the doctoral programme (e.g. mbdp-office@helsinki.fi).

The course program should include elements to challenge and engage the doctoral researchers in active learning, e.g. a pre/post-symposium, journal club, student presentations, small group discussions, workshops and exams.
 

The board of the doctoral programme reviews the course proposal and decides whether or not the course will be financed by the doctoral programme and included in the curriculum. Additionally, the doctoral programme may make recommendations to the course organizer on the program.

Based on the course program and approval, the course organizer agrees with the planning officer on training goals and pedagogical methods to be employed.

Based on the budget of the course, the course organizer agrees with the doctoral programme on the course expenses.

• Course materials, economy-class travel expenses, refreshments (coffee, snacks etc.) and speakers’ dinners/lunches can be covered.
• Fees can be paid for lecturers from outside the University of Helsinki, to University of Helsinki employees if teaching is not in the unit in which they are employed, and e.g. for technicians participating in workshop tutoring (please refer to the University of Helsinki guidelines for fees in Flamma: https://flamma.helsinki.fi/en/group/henkilostoasiat/fees).
• If the budget provided by the doctoral programme is not enough to cover all course expenses, additional sponsorship must be utilized and could be requested, e.g from departments, institutes, or other partners.

FACILITIES

The planning officer books the necessary facilities for the duration of the course and registers the course in OPTIME and SISU (and create a code for the course if needed). The room rents are excluded from the course budget if teaching is done in the University of Helsinki facilities.
 

PROGRAM

The course organizer prepares the program (schedule, titles, speakers, the affiliations of lecturers / instructors).

Advertising and handouts:

• Web and email: the course organizer provides the doctoral programme with the program and a short text, which includes the details of the course goals, program, timetable, target audience, credits, and any other necessary information.
• The doctoral programme will advertise the course to doctoral researchers in doctoral programme's and doctoral school's mailing lists. The course organizers are also encouraged to use their own targeted channels for further advertisement.
• Advertisement posters: The course organizer is encouraged to design, print and distribute program posters. It is important to include a list of speakers, dates, time, and venue. Depending on the course, a detailed program should be available for participants.

SPEAKERS/LECTURERS

The course organizer invites and instructs speakers and lecturers. For travel arrangements, please contact CWT (university.fi@contactcwt.com; +358 (0)205 615 635) and/or the planning officer of the doctoral programme to ensure whether the doctoral program should pay for the tickets directly. Use Form 1 to claim back travel expenses. More information on travelling in Flamma: https://flamma.helsinki.fi/en/group/matkustaminen.
 

COURSE PAGE AND MOODLE AREA

When the course is created in Oodi, a course page is generated in https://courses.helsinki.fi/. On the course page, you can add course materials such as the course program and links. On the course page, you can also create a Moodle area for the course. Moodle can be used to distribute course material, organize discussions, collect students’ assignments and inform students of the grades. Instructions can be found on the course page once you have logged in and clicked ‘Edit’. You can also create a new Moodle area and find more instructions: https://moodle.helsinki.fi/.
 

FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS

The course organizer reserves food and drinks, when needed and budgeted for the course.

• Biokeskus 1-3: biokeskus@hyy.fi
• EE-building: viikuna@hyy.fi
• Metsätieteiden talo (B building, Latokartanonkaari 7): Sodexo Ladonlukko
• Biomedicum Ravioli: ravioli.catering@hus.fi
• Haartman Institute: meilahti@hyy.fi
• Invoicing instructions
  • For the doctoral programmes in YEB doctoral school: Form 2
  • For the doctoral programmes in Donasci doctoral school: Form 2
  • For the doctoral programmes in HYMY doctoral school:Form 2

COURSE REGISTRATION/APPLICATION

Doctoral researchers at the University of Helsinki are required to register for courses in Sisu. Doctoral researchers and students from other universities as well as researchers and staff can register using a separate e-form or as agreed with the planning officer.

In some cases, the course organizer may wish to handle the registration per e-form, e-mail or in Moodle (the information on how to register for a course should always be clearly described on the course page). The course organizer should communicate about this with the doctoral programme office at an early stage to allow sufficient time for proper planning.

• Registration should be open for a period of time appropriate for the planning of the course. For practical courses and large international symposia, registration will close earlier than for seminars when registration can close only a few days before the seminar. It is generally recommended that registration be open for at least one month.
• Questions asked in the registration form should be carefully planned by the course organizer, in consultation with the doctoral programme office. Specifically, consider if you need to select participants, is an application required, or do you need registrations for social programs?
• The course organizer can get a list of registrants/applicants from Sisu, or the doctoral programme provides the list if agreed.
• Participant selection is the responsibility of the doctoral programme. Doctoral researchers are selected for the courses on the following basis, unless other criteria were included in the course advertisement:

1. Doctoral researchers in the doctoral programme (based on motivation)
2. Doctoral researchers in other programs in the doctoral school and doctoral researchers working in the departments and institutes associated with the doctoral school, but not yet formally admitted in a faculty.
3. Doctoral researchers in other doctoral schools at the University of Helsinki
4. Doctoral researchers outside of the University of Helsinki
5. Other applicants

• For courses with limited seating, a strict cancellation policy is necessary. The doctoral programme requires to be notified of cancellations in good time so that doctoral researchers from the waiting list can be accommodated. No-show’s will result in ineligibility for future travel and lab visit grants.

CREDITS

• The course organizer and the doctoral programme agree on the number of credits before the start of the course. Course organizers should keep in mind that 1 ECTS equals 27 hours of work.
• The course organizer collects the participant lists daily during all course meetings. The course organizer approves credits for doctoral researchers who have fulfilled all course requirements.
• Grading should be pass/fail and the criteria should be informed at the beginning of the course.
• If an exam is organized, the course organizer communicates the exam results to the students personally via e-mail.
• Course organizer may send the credits to be registered directly in Sisu (see instructions) or by sending the list of completed students to planning officer of the doctoral programme. Please remember to agree on the credit registration in advance.
• Please note that the course results (pass/fail) should be informed to students within one month after the course. The credits should be registered within one month after that.

INVOICES

Helpdesk: the planning officer of the doctoral programme 

For course expenses, the course organizer may:

1. Pay the costs directly from their institute or department funds, and then send an invoice to the doctoral programme, or
2. Pay the costs directly himself/herself and claim the money back (see Form 3), or
3. Forward individual invoices directly to the doctoral programme (in YEB: e.g. foodhealth-info@helsinki.fi) or to Minttu Uunila (in Donasci: minttu.uunila@helsinki.fi) as they come. See the invoicing instructions:
   • for the doctoral programmes in YEB doctoral school: Form 2
   • for the doctoral programmes in Donasci doctoral school:Form 2
   • for the doctoral programmes in HYMY doctoral school: Form 2

Please be aware that the doctoral programme has no funding for extra costs outside of the budget, and therefore, all additional costs must be covered by other means.

Please note that all facility costs are excluded from the course budget (if teaching takes place in the University of Helsinki premises).

Please note that all food and drink bills need to be accompanied with a participant list!
 

FEES

Fees can be paid for lecturers from outside the University of Helsink, to University of Helsinki employees if teaching is not in the unit in which they are employed and e.g. for technicians participating in workshop tutoring (please refer to the University of Helsinki guidelines for fees in Flamma: https://flamma.helsinki.fi/en/group/henkilostoasiat/fees). Use Form 4 for the fees.

Foreign lecturers need to fill a tax-at-source form (Form 5) if the work is done in Finland. If the work is done abroad (e.g. application evaluation), this is not needed. However, they should fill Form 6 if they don’t have bank account in a SEPA-country.
 

TRAVEL EXPENSES

Use Form 1 to claim back travel expenses.
 

WHERE TO SEND THE FORMS?

All personal salary/fee forms, travel bills (original receipts attached) and other forms should be signed, scanned and sent

• In YEB: to the planning officer of the doctoral programme e.g. mbdp-office@helsinki.fi.
• In Donasci: to Minttu Uunila minttu.uunila@helsinki.fi
• In HYMY: to hymy-doc@helsinki.fi

The course organizer collects feedback from the participants. Feedback collection can be organized either online with questions planned by the course organizer eg. in Moodle, or by a general eform such as this one: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/92256/lomake.html, or by a traditional paper feedback form (this is recommended if an exam is organized).

Please agree on the feedback collection method and transferring the results to the programme with the planning officer.

After the course, the organizer should deliver to the doctoral programme a short course report stating the number of students who passed the course and a summary of the feedback.