Englanninkielinen abstraktiNew regulations in doctoral training in Finland require that a PhD degree should be completed within four years of the beginning of a PhD project. The Doctoral Program in Geology has organized two seminars for doctoral students and their supervisors to map out the best practices for realizing this goal within the field of geosciences. One seminar was organized in Tallinn (spring 2012) and another one in Oulu (spring 2013) during the annual Geological Colloquium (cf. Lehtonen 2013). The Doctoral Program in Geology recommends that the scope of the PhD thesis is re-evaluated and scaled so that it can be finished in four years. In addition the supervision processes need to be developed so that 1) a written supervision agreement is implemented, 2) every doctoral student is assigned a supervision group or a follow-up group in addition to the official supervisor, 3) beginning stages of the PhD project are emphasized in the supervision process, and 4) more attention is paid to the feasibility of the PhD project’s research plan throughout the entire project.New regulations in doctoral training in Finland require that a PhD degree should be completed within four years of the beginning of a PhD project. The Doctoral Program in Geology has organized two seminars for doctoral students and their supervisors to map out the best practices for realizing this goal within the field of geosciences. One seminar was organized in Tallinn (spring 2012) and another one in Oulu (spring 2013) during the annual Geological Colloquium (cf. Lehtonen 2013). The Doctoral Program in Geology recommends that the scope of the PhD thesis is re-evaluated and scaled so that it can be finished in four years. In addition the supervision processes need to be developed so that 1) a written supervision agreement is implemented, 2) every doctoral student is assigned a supervision group or a follow-up group in addition to the official supervisor, 3) beginning stages of the PhD project are emphasized in the supervision process, and 4) more attention is paid to the feasibility of the PhD project’s research plan throughout the entire project
