Doctoral Studies:

Doctoral studies are a 4-year, intensive researcher training and education program. It is not a career choice, but a preparation for a future where having a Ph.D. is a license for participation.
You are responsible for making a success of this opportunity no matter what the circumstances are.
iBioMEP and all other Doctoral Programmes in Finland are now under extreme pressure from the funding agencies to see that doctoral students complete within 4 years. From the start it is important for you to focus on your studies with the aim of being the best.
The main idea is this: by the end of your time in a doctoral program, you will know how to solve problems by yourself. You will know how to write a publication for international scientific journals or present your research effectively in public. You will have some experience in guiding others in research and in teaching others. You will have ideas of your own that you want to pursue in research and you will be driven to implement them. You will know your field of interest well. When all of these are true, you are ready to defend the thesis and go off to the next phase of your life, and you should be a success.
iBioMEP is there for you to use and exploit, but is up to you under the guidance of your supervisor and other thesis committee members to plan courses, national and international, that will customize your education for your future plans. Remember, in the end, this is your Ph.D. and you - not your supervisor - are responsible for making it a success.
"International" is important! The Ministry of Education and the Academy of Finland have placed a huge importance on internationalization, in other words, that our students travel abroad for courses, workshops and in giving presentations and conferences. Consider a longer-term research visit with a collaborating group! If there is a desire it can be arranged.
iBioMEP has only a limited amount of funding to arrange courses for the whole school and the focus will remain on the iBioMEP organized intensive courses and summer-schools, support of doctoral students on research courses, workshops and research visits.

Career planning:

Remember: employers want quality, whether academic or in industry, they want excellent, productive employees (mediocre researchers will have difficulties). In academia, this means good research, publications, ability to communicate, teach others, ability to raise funds, more publications, more fund raising, etc. The Academy of Finland has support plans that cover the entire career of a scientist; consult www.aka.fi for details regularly as deadlines and types of funding change.
Whatever your future goals, the important things is to have a plan for your future and use the 4 years in the school wisely and in a way that prepares your way ahead towards a successful future. Think and plan 5 years ahead: "to get where I want to be in 5 years, what must I do now and over the next few years?" - if you are here just to get your Ph.D. you might be in the wrong place. PLAN ! - Then do it.
In Finland the progression in the academic world is: Ph.D. > Postdoc > Docent > Junior and Senior researchers > Professor. Industry may or may not need postdoctoral training after the Ph.D. Recent discussions at the Academy of Finland have identified the bottleneck in academic careers and recommendations are now suggesting corrections whereby more positions will be made for researchers after their postdoctoral training is completed.
In planning your career, you need to take into account the course credits and publication requirements to be completed over the four years. It is a rather large requirement and if you are not serious and focused from the beginning you may find it difficult to complete your requirements within 4 years. When planning for postdoctoral research after the Ph.D., you need to begin more than a year in advance: What lab? Finland?/abroad? How will it be funded? What project plan will be submitted along with funding applications? Etc.
Postdoctoral research funding - timing is important! The Academy of Finland has deadlines (see www.aka.fi) each year for postdoctoral applications. To quality for the application, you must have your Ph.D. defense scheduled by your university faculty, thus your timing of the defense is critical because if you miss the date, then you need to wait another year before applying. The decisions are usually announced more than 6 months after the application was submitted.
Postdoctoral training abroad 1: Doing research in another country for a year or more can bring you many benefits. Firstly, it will change you forever. You will be exposed to new ideas and ways of making science. You may even realize what a good system we have here and how lucky you have been; you may like it there and decide to stay forever. A majority of the most successful scientists in Finland today have been abroad for postdoctoral training.
Postdoctoral training abroad 2: Secondly, training in another country is looked upon very favorably when decisions are made on postdoctoral and other grant applications, as well as applications for positions at universities. The Academy of Finland has been disappointed at the decreasing number of Ph.D.s training abroad. Did you know that they provide excellent support to those that go out of the country for postdoctoral training as well as helping with funding for your return to Finland? Visit their website for details.
Other sources of postdoctoral funding. The Academy of Finland is not the only source for funding. Postdoctoral researchers, both in Finland and abroad, are funded from a research group's funding, too. In any event, you will have needed to make contact with possible research groups from 1.5-2 years before your anticipated date of graduation. Remember, funding is hard to raise and it takes time, and for a foreign research group or one here in Finland it will often take more than one year to arrange funding and hear a decision.