Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 20 000 students and more than 400 professors. Our campuses are located in Espoo and Helsinki, Finland.

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is an institution of higher education for design, media, architecture, motion picture, art education and art. The current key areas of research are design, digital media, audiovisual representation, art, visual culture, welfare architecture and emerging technologies as well as urban planning and design. The school produces specialists and innovators of art, design and architecture with strong artistic and technical skills. ELO Film School Finland, founded in 1959, is one of the eldest film schools in Europe and in the world.

The Department of Film invites applications for:

Doctoral Researcher position

We are looking for doctoral candidates to work on their Doctor of Arts (DA) degree at the Department of Film and Television. The position is fixed term and will be filled for 6-24 months upon the consideration of the Department. Only the applicants enrolled as a doctoral student at the Department of Film will be eligible for the position. The positions will start on the 1st of October 2025 at the earliest, or as agreed.

Applicants who will be able to finalize or get their manuscript ready for the pre-examination during the employment period will be prioritized.

Main tasks and requirements

The Degree Program in Film and Television offers education in nine majors (specialization): film directing (fiction), screenwriting, film and television producing, film editing, cinematography, film sound design, documentary film, production design, costume design and animation. In addition, the Department offers education in film history and courses in research skills. The Department endorses practice-based or artistic research with questions emerging from experiences in artistic and production work. The research activities aim at producing new theoretical and practical knowledge, insights, and approaches to filmmaking or costume design. The Department collaborates closely with the University of the Arts Helsinki and other national and international higher education institutions specializing in arts.

Job description

Primarily working on and maintaining progress in dissertation work

Participating in teaching, development work and administration at the department

Requirements

Master's degree

A doctoral student who studies within the Department of Film and is in the final stages of their doctoral studies (within 6-24 months from submitting the manuscript to the pre-examination)

Research skills and existing research plan that contributes to the Department's focus areas of research

Collaboration skills

Fluent skills in English

How to apply

The applications for the position are to be submitted through our recruitment system no later than 15th of August 2025. You should apply for the position via our internal system Workday -> Career -> find.

The application for the position should contain the following documents in pdf format (to be submitted in English):

Research plan

A work plan that includes the specification of the current status of the thesis work, the target time for the graduation and the progress of the work during the employment period, and a schedule and timeline for completion (max 2 pages)

Full CV

Most recent academic transcript from Aalto University

A statement from the Theses Advisor/s on the following topics: 1) The current phase of the dissertation work. 2) A realistic estimate of the required time the candidate will need to get the thesis prepared for the pre-examination.

The evaluation is based on the total assessment of the candidate's research plan, the present state of the thesis and the realism of the finalizing the thesis in proposed time. Short listed candidates will be invited for an interview which will happen in September.

More Information

If you wish to hear more about the position, you can contact Professor Susanna Helke, Head of Research, email: susanna.helke (at) aalto.fi. In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Partner Mariangela Bizzo, email: mariangela.bizzo (at) aalto.fi.

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Doctoral Researcher position