Celebrated for the first time on Wednesday, 13 May, European Doctoral Day is a reminder that doctoral education serves not only the scientific community but the entire society. In Finland, doctoral expertise is key as a motor for growth; in research, education and innovation activities. Doctoral degrees are valued in the job market.
European Doctoral Day aims to highlight the significance of doctoral education and doctoral graduates to society at a time when reliable information, expert competence and research-based decisions are ever more important. At the same time, the rapid development of artificial intelligence is challenging people to a higher quality of thinking.
Doctoral education provides strong competence for the collection and analysis of varied data and the application of information. Research expertise shows up as innovations, new products and services as well as social impact, among others. Especially the latest crises have emphasised the role of researchers in deciphering research information for the general public through the media. Research-based information is highly necessary for providing background and potential solutions in complex situations.
“It is important that Finland invests in doctoral education. It provides the in-depth expertise, analytical thinking and ability to solve complex problems that is widely needed in both the private and public sector. As AI transforms working life, people need new skills and the quality of cognitive work is emphasised”, states Miia Ijäs-Idrobo, Senior Adviser at Research Professionals.
As AI transforms working life, people need new skills and the quality of cognitive work is emphasised.
Finnish universities have significantly increased the number of doctoral degrees: in 2025, a total of 2,126 doctorates graduated from universities, an increase of 13% from 2024. This is driven by a need for a competent workforce in RDI activities. Only 8% of those working in RDI positions in the private sector have a doctoral degree. The parliamentary agreed goal is to increase Finland’s RDI funding to four per cent of the GDP by 2030. That is supported by the doctoral education pilot where universities hired one thousand doctoral researchers for 2024–2027 to do their doctoral degree.
“The doctoral pilot strengthens mobility between sectors and researcher career opportunities. For doctoral researchers, cooperation with other organisations appears as both a necessity for conducting the research and an important opportunity to strengthen their expertise, networks and research impact. Almost half of the doctoral researchers in the pilot assessed that, during their doctoral research, they will cooperate with companies in particular, and 63% estimated that they will most likely be employed in a research position at a Finnish company”, explains Janika Luukinen, Science and RDI Policy Adviser at Universities Finland UNIFI.
Doctoral degrees are carried out in different fields of science, such as natural sciences, technology, medicine as well as social sciences and humanities, and new PhD holders find themselves diversely in the different sectors of society. Many would want to continue an academic career, but only about a third are employed at a university. A doctoral degree is, however, a trump card in the job market. The unemployment of PhD holders is noticeably lower than at other levels of education, only about 3.8%.
“Doctoral education is a long-term investment in society’s competence base, and it also strengthens Finland’s appeal in the international competition for experts”, Ijäs-Idrobo says.
The idea of an annual day for doctoral education and doctorates was born out of a French initiative, which turned into a joint effort of European scientific communities. Over 170 different events will be organised across Europe.