Doctoral Projects

In addition to hosting doctoral candidates conducting research on Chinese law and Chinese legal culture, the Center’s member institutions have  supported collaborative seminars where doctoral students can get feedback on their research from professors and specialists in the field. In 2015, a delegation of doctoral candidates from all Finnish law faculties led by Dean Kimmo Nuotio of the University of Helsinki, visited China. The visit included a Sino-Nordic Doctoral Seminar, which was co-organized with Fudan University Law School with the support of the Nordic Center. The delegation also attended the 7th Bilateral Seminar on Comparative Law at CASS, and a Doctoral Seminar on Environmental Justice and Human Rights at Peking University Law School. During 11-12 June 2016, the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights at the University of Helsinki and PKU Institute of International Law organized the Sino-Finnish doctoral seminar on “Enforcement in International Law” at the PKU Institute of International Law.

The Center and its member institutions have also funded doctoral research. In December 2015, the Center received a donation of 40 000€ from Herlin Foundation (Tiina ja Antti Herlinin Säätiö). The purpose of the grant was to cover the salary of one PhD student for a year in order to advance research related to Chinese law. A Selection Committee, consisting of representatives from each member university, selected doctoral student Kangle Zhang, University of Helsinki, with a doctoral project “Unraveling the Economic Innocence of International Law: Credit Rating in International Financial Regulation”, to receive the grant. In 2020, the Faculty of Law University of Helsinki received funding from Herlin Foundation which provides for the salary of one PhD student for two year to develop research in Chinese law and environmental law.  The grant has been awarded to doctoral candidate Li Yuan whose doctoral project focuses on the topic “How to Improve China’s Circular Economy Law and Policies to Tackle Climate Change and Sustainable Development”.

Alongside projects funded by the Academy of Finland, member institutions of the Center host several doctoral candidates conducting research on Chinese law and legal culture:

Recently completed doctoral theses:

    • Wang Wei, PhD candidate: Merger Remedies in EU: Design under the Entire Competition Law Structure (Aatlto University, 2016)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Matti Rudanko
    • Herman Aubié, PhD candidate: Liu Xiaobo’s Struggle for Human Rights A Contextual Analysis from a Historical Perspective (University of Turku, 2016)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Lauri Paltemaa
    • Jyrki Kallio, PhD candidate: Towards China’s Strategic Narrative: On the construction of the historico-cultural roots of China’s national identity in the light of the Chinese debate relating to the rise of traditional schools of thought (University of Lapland, 2016)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Matti Nojonen
    • Junxin Jiang, PhD candidate: Citizen Resistance Through Public Interest Litigation In Contemporary China (University of Turku, 2017)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Lauri Paltemaa
    • Yajie Zhao, PhD candidate: China’s Intellectual Property Sytem in the Process of Catch-up – with Patent in Focus (University of Helsinki, 2018)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Niklas Bruun and Professor Rainer Oesch
    • Katriina Pankakoski, PhD candidate: Transfer Pricing of Trademark: Legal Restriction regarding the Arm´s length Pricing of the Intra-Group Transactions (University of Vaasa, 2018)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Juha Lindgren
    • Kangle Zhang, PhD candidate: Not Equal: Towards an International Law of Finance (University of Helsinki, 2020)
      Thesis supervisor: Docent Jarna Petman, Professor Martti Koskenniemi, Professor Anna Gelpern (Georgetown Law)
    • Michael Ristaniemi, PhD candidate: International Antitrust: Toward upgrading coordination and enforcement (University of Turku, 2020)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Jukka Mähönen and Professor Antti Aine
    • Wasiq Silan, PhD candidate: Social Policies and Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan – Elderly Care Among the Tayal (University of Helsinki, 2021)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Anne Maria Holli
    • Pia Eskelinen, PhD Candidate: Kiinan Naisten Oikeudellinen Asean, Erityisesti Maaseudun Maaoikeuksien Kohdalla (Univesity of Turku 2022)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Johanna Niemi
    • Iina Tornberg, PhD Candicate: Balancing State Interests with Party Autonomy in International Commercial Arbitration – Article 101 of the Treaty on Functioning of the European Union as a Mandatory Rule in Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Center Arbitration (University of Helsinki 2024)
      Thesis supervisor: Professor Ulla Liukkunen