Population, Health and Living Conditions “Väestö, terveys, elinolot” (VTE)

 

Population, Health and Living Conditions (VTE) is one of the main research areas of the Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences. VTE aims to train professional researchers by providing high-quality education and supervision to doctoral students who focus their studies on demography, population health and living conditions using quantitative methods. Students usually have their background in demography, sociology, social psychology, social policy or public health. Training offered by VTE supports the use of quantitative data and advanced statistical methods and encourages international collaboration and research mobility. VTE trains students in scientific research at the highest international level and encourages to publish the results of their theses in high-quality international peer reviewed journals.

VTE collaborates with the Doctoral Programme in Population Health (DocPop, part of the Doctoral School in Health Sciences) and the most important Finnish research institutes in the field (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Statistics Finland. International doctoral training is carried out with partners at the Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS, Stockholm University / Karolinska Institutet) and the International Institute for Society and Health (University College London). Until 2013, VTE was a member school of the Finnish Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences (SOVAKO).

Twice a month VTE has a Monday seminar where students present their own work. In addition, the sub-programme offers courses in advanced statistical methods and practical research skills, guest lectures and an annual postgraduate seminar in demography. VTE also organises courses together with the Doctoral Programme in Population Health. Once a year VTE and the Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS) in Stockholm organise a two-day postgraduate seminar in which students can present their research.