The Ministry of Education and Culture is investing 255 million EUR into piloting new practices in doctoral education in 2024-2027. This action is part of Finland's strategy to enhance international competitiveness, foster innovation, and better utilise research-based knowledge. The doctoral education pilot is part of an increase in research and development funding, aiming to raise R&D funding to 4% of the GDP by 2030.

This initiative will fund 1,000 doctoral researchers with three-year employment contracts to complete their degrees. The funding will support 15 field-specific doctoral education pilots. Among the fields are for example cancer medicine, artificial intelligence, and social services, with the largest pilot in software development education involving 49 doctoral researchers across 9 universities. 

Doctors are traditionally educated for service in universities, but one of the goals with this pilot is for an increasing number of doctors to also work in private companies in the future. The expertise of doctors is utilised more widely in many European countries than in Finland. 

The first doctoral researchers will begin in the field-specific pilots in August 2024. The Ministry of Education and Culture will establish a monitoring group and a research evaluation project for the doctoral education piloting. 

The pilot will increase the number of doctoral candidates. Between 2024 and 2030 more than 2,000 doctorates each year is needed to R&D work. In Finland 1,623 doctoral degrees were completed in 2022.