The University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and Fudan University have launched a new doctoral dual degree programme to strengthen international doctoral education, cross-cultural research collaboration, and academic mobility between Finland and China.
The Doctoral Dual Degree Programme is a collaborative initiative between the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at UEF. The agreement was signed on 18 October 2024, marking the formal launch of the programme. It had been under development since 2022 and builds on sustained research collaboration between the two institutions since 2013.
The programme also reflects both UEF and Fudan’s strong research profile in social welfare, digital society, health and social care, ageing, and integrated care. UEF has developed long-standing expertise in evidence-based approaches that connect empirical research with social service practice. The new dual degree programme is expected to deepen collaboration in areas where both universities have shared academic interests, including welfare systems, ageing societies, digitalisation, social policy, and social work.
UEF and Chinese universities have developed extensive cooperation over the past decade. Since 2010, UEF has established university-level partnerships with several Chinese universities, including Fudan, Sun Yat-sen University, Nanjing Normal University, and Hefei University of Technology. In 2017, UEF’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies worked with first three universities mentioned directly above in an EU Erasmus+ project that contributed to the training of high-level social work professionals in China.
The collaboration also builds on a strong academic foundation. Professor Sari Rissanen has served as a Board Member of the Fudan Nordic Centre, and Professor Juha Hämäläinen has contributed as an expert evaluator to the development of China’s Master of Social Work education. In addition, professors Timo Toikko, Zhaofang, and Honglin Chen have made sustained contributions to comparative research in child welfare and digital social work. Scholars from both institutions have been actively engaged in Sino-Finnish academic collaboration, advancing research that bridges Finnish and Chinese perspectives in social welfare and social work. The programme enables doctoral candidates to pursue a dual PhD degree in School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan and UEF’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. It is designed to support high-quality doctoral training in fields such as sociology, social policy, social work, anthropology, demography, and related disciplines.
Vice-Dean Sari Rissanen of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at UEF, stated: “We have full confidence that the dual doctoral degree programme will further strengthen UEF’s long-term collaboration with Fudan and advance international doctoral education in the social sciences as well as maybe in some other disciplines in the future through leading research themes.”
A key feature of the programme is its jointly supervised structure. Doctoral candidates will be registered at both universities, complete curriculum studies and research under joint academic guidance, and spend at least one semester at the host university. Courses and research credits will be mutually recognised, allowing doctoral studies to be integrated across the two institutions.
“We highly value this opportunity to deepen collaboration between the two faculties. Both sides share strong research interests in welfare, social policy, family services, gerontology, unemployment, gender studies and related fields. Our first dual doctoral degree graduate, Dr. Zhu Ning, who graduated from Fudan in May 2026 and will graduate from UEF in June 2026, was awarded the 2026 Annual Academic Star at Fudan University. This recognition provides strong evidence of the achievements of our dual degree education. Dr. Zhu benefited from the joint supervision of Professor Timo Toikko from UEF and Professor Zhaofang from Fudan University,” said Deputy Dean Felicia Tian from School of Social Development and Public Policy.
Doctoral candidates admitted to the programme are expected to meet the admission requirements of both universities, including a master’s degree or equivalent qualification, a high-quality research proposal, and English-language proficiency. Students nominated for the programme will apply through the official application systems of both Fudan University and the University of Eastern Finland with scholarship opportunities. The programme may also be supported by wider research mobility opportunities, including research stays at the Nordic Centre at Fudan University and other relevant scholarship schemes.
The new doctoral dual degree programme strengthens UEF’s international doctoral education and contributes to broader academic cooperation and also supports the development of internationally trained researchers capable of addressing complex social challenges in ageing, welfare, health and social care, and digital transformation.
For further information, please contact:
Salla Lappalainen, Academic Affairs Specialist, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies University of Eastern Finland, [email protected]
Meiying Zhang, International Affair Secretary, School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University, [email protected]
