Admission to doctoral studies

The programme includes three specialities with responsible institutes shown in parenthesis:

1. Physics (Institute of Physics)

2. Chemistry (Institute of Chemistry)

3. Space research and technology (Tartu Observatory)

See programme information

The programme includes five specialities with responsible institutes shown in parenthesis:

1. Computer Engineering (Institute of Technology)

2. Sustainable Energetics (Institute of Chemistry)

3. Environmental Technology (Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences)

4. Materials Science (Institute of Physics)

5. Molecular Biotechnology (Institute of Technology)

See programme information

II.5. Progress review

• Progress review is the assessment of the progress of the learner in doctoral studies in research and studies at the progress review meeting. During progress review, the completion of the doctoral programme and individual plan is assessed.

II.5.3. Documents required for progress review

• At least eight working days before the date of progress review, the learner in doctoral studies enters the documents required for progress review in the Study Information System.
• The progress review report and the period plan signed by the learner in doctoral studies and the supervisor(s) as well as additional materials required by the faculty’s progress review procedure must be submitted to the progress review committee. The individual plan must be submitted for the first progress review of the first year and thereafter if it needs to be changed.
• If, with the progress review report, the learner in doctoral studies applies for RPL or the recognition of academic and work experience obtained outside the university towards the completion of the doctoral programme under clause 30, the approval of the head of the specialisation of the doctoral programme must be obtained before submitting the progress review report. [effective as of 1 March 2024]

At the end of the first semester of the first year of study, the doctoral student:

1. has made an individual plan, inc. a preliminary publication plan, and a preliminary outline of the thesis data or how the data will be collected;
2. has made a realistic period plan for successful progress in the second semester of the first year of the studies;
3. and the supervisor have clarified their expectations of cooperation in an interview, using the expectations formulation worksheet. At the first progress review, the progress review commitee asks questions about the results of the interview.

At the end of the first year of study, the doctoral student:

1. demonstrates having started work on the doctoral thesis, e.g. has completed the first draft of at least one research article or monograph (at least 1/5 of the planned volume of the thesis), or has developed or selected a data collection methodology, collected the first data and decided on how to use them (article, utility model, etc);
2. has presented the results of his/her work orally at least once to a wider audience, e.g. at a doctoral seminar of the specialisation, a research colloquium, an extended doctoral seminar, a scientific conference, has actively participated in the seminars of the faculty;
3. as a junior research fellow, has fulfilled other contractual duties (not directly related to doctoral thesis) agreed in the individual plan during the progress review period;
4. in the programme "Engineering and Tecnology" specialisation "Materials Science", has completed the course "Introduction to Doctoral Studies in Science and Technology" by the end of the first year of study.

At the end of the second year of study, the doctoral student:

1. has presented the results of his/her work orally at least twice during the studies to a wider audience, e.g. at a doctoral seminar of the specialisation, a research colloquium, an extended doctoral seminar, a scientific conference, has actively participated in the seminars of the faculty;
2. has demonstrated progress in compiling the doctoral thesis, e.g. has submitted one research article qualifying for the defence of the doctoral thesis to a journal and started writing the second article or has completed at least 1/3 of the monograph and clarified the structure of the monograph.
3. has demonstrated progress with other activities of the module of research, development and creative activities, e.g. has passed on knowledge during studies through teaching, supervision of student theses and popularisation of their specialisation;
4. has demonstrated progress with the completion of the study module, e.g. has completed half of the courses developing professional and generic competences during the studies or has otherwise achieved the learning outcomes of the module;
5. as a junior research fellow, has fulfilled contractual duties agreed in the individual plan during the progress review period.

The aim of the doctoral thesis is to study gallium-oxide-based heterostructures prepared by atomic layer deposition method. To achieve the goal, the synthesis of gallium oxide layers on the surfaces of various oxides (such as tin, titanium, aluminum, chromium and copper oxide) and their mixtures, as well as the growth of those oxides on the surface of gallium oxide, will be studied. The resulting materials and heterostructures will be analyzed and deposition processes will be optimized. The expected results will increase the application potential of novel materials and material combinations in high-tech products. During the 4-year project, the PhD student will have access to state-of-art laboratories and equipment used for material studies. The student will exploit the atomic layer deposition method for the synthesis of abovementioned materials layers and different characterization tools, while studying the elemental composition, structure, optical and electrical properties of thin films. The PhD studies and the thesis is expected to markedly contribute to the development of technologies and methodologies for the preparation and characterization of materials suitable for a new generation of electronic and optical devices. Concurrently, the PhD studies will result in the training and graduation with the PhD degree of a highly qualified and skilled young researcher, who will be able to contribute to the further development of science and technology.

Please contact dr. Lauri Aarik (lauri.aarik@ut.ee). The study will be carried out in the Laboratory of Thin Film Technology.

Engineering and Technology (Materials Science).

Semiconductor gas sensors are popular due to their high sensitivity and small footprint, but their selectivity and stability have remained relatively low. The doctoral project is focused on developing advanced methods for improving the stability of the gas sensors and broadening the scope of detectable volatile compounds. Involving a joint effort by the Institute of Physics and Evikon MCI OÜ, the study compares and integrates two different approaches: a physical model of aging and machine-learning applied to sensor arrays. The volatile compounds present in human breath are of particular interest. An e-nose platform, targeting personal medical diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, will be implemented.

Please contact dr. Raivo Jaaniso (raivo.jaaniso@ut.ee). Co-supervisors are dr. Valter Kiisk and Madis Einasto. The study will be carried out in the Laboratory of Sensor Technologies.

Chemical and Physical Sciences (Physics).

In recent decades, the Baltic Sea region has warmed faster than the global average, a trend expected to continue throughout the 21st century. However, climate projections for the region vary widely and remain uncertain. While all models project warming, the magnitude and associated changes in other climate parameters differ significantly. This project aims to identify the sources of these discrepancies by analysing how regional climate change in the Baltic Sea region depends on large-scale atmospheric dynamics. A better understanding of these uncertainties will improve the physical interpretation of climate change in the region. The findings will also support the planning of adaptation measures for both low-wind periods and extreme storms.

Please contact prof. Piia Post (piia.post@ut.ee). Co-supervisor is dr. Hannes Keernik. The study will be carried out in the Centre for Climate Research.

Chemical and Physical Sciences (Physics).

Scintillators are materials converting ionizing radiation and particles into low-energy radiation appropriate for photodetectors. The aim of our project is to create a path for new generation of ultrafast scintillators with time resolution in ps time domain. A concept of electronic band structure engineering will be applied to ternary compounds with complicated valence band structure, which creates favourable conditions for the appearance of intrinsic emissions, such as cross-luminescence and intra band luminescence, with short sub-nanosecond decay times. Suitable materials will be selected on the basis of open databases (e.g., AFLOW), containing the results of theoretical studies of material properties and the experimental results available. Thereafter the selected materials will be synthesized as pure compounds and their solid solutions, their properties modelled and studied at the home laboratory and at large scale facilities (MAX IV Lab, DESY Photon Science) using time resolved luminescence spectroscopy with sub-nanosecond time resolution at its world top level. These materials will be beneficial for very different areas of technology, including high-energy physics (CERN), homeland security, controlled nuclear fusion research and especially medical diagnostics. Significantly improved time resolution will cause a breakthrough in positron emission tomography by allowing non-expensive low-dose scans for pediatric, prenatal and neonatal diagnostics in every major hospital, allowing early identification of tumours and other harmful conditions.

Please contact prof. Marco Kirm (marco.kirm@ut.ee). Co-supervisor is dr. Vitali Nagirnõi. The study will be carried out in the Laboratory of the Physics of Ionic Crystals.

Chemical and Physical Sciences (Physics).

General relativity which encodes both gravity and inertia within the geometric description of spacetime has been highly successful experimentally. Meanwhile, since inception, the lack of a satisfactory definition of gravitational energy has been a nagging problem on the theoretical side. Later investigations in the context of black holes have shown, that at best it is possible to postulate global notions of gravitational energy, momentum, and angular momentum as integrals over the whole spacetime, and combine those quantities into four statements that mirror the laws of thermodynamics. A breakthrough came only very recently under the name of “general parallel relativity”. It turns out that within a teleparallel extension of the underlying geometric framework of the theory, such conceptual distinction between gravity and inertia is possible which allows a consistent local definition of gravitational energy, while the field equations and classical dynamics remain unaltered from general relativity. The aim of the PhD project is to test these ideas in the case of nontrivial rotating (Kerr-Newman) solutions: first to derive the local gravitational energy of the solution, then to define in general and derive for the particular solution the local momentum and local angular momentum, and finally to formulate the comprehensive local laws of spacetime thermodynamics and explicitly check those in the given case. The current PhD project contributes to the objectives of the team grant PRG2608.

Please contact dr. Laur Järv (laur.järv@ut.ee). Co-supervisor is dr. Tomi Sebastian Koivisto. The study will be carried out in the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics.

Chemical and Physical Sciences (Physics).

Despite being in excellent agreement with different observations, general relativity is facing several challenges. The cosmological standard model based on general relativity is facing the “Hubble tension”, an apparent contradiction between different measurements of the Hubble parameter. General relativity is further challenged by its incompatibility with quantum theory and gauge theories in particle physics.
Teleparallel gravity theories are an important candidate to address these open questions due to their modified cosmological dynamics and relation with gauge theory. However, they are also contested by the strong coupling problem, which denotes difficulties with the perturbative expansion of the field equations around highly symmetric background solutions, such as the homogeneous and isotropic cosmological background. This project tackles these issues by studying spacetimes with reduced symmetry, their theoretical consistency and connection to observations, and possibly obtaining observational constraints on the parameters of specific models by applying a Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis.
Conventionally, cosmology is based on the assumption of homogeneous and isotropic (and thus highly symmetric) spacetime. Dropping this assumption, one may study cases of lower symmetry, such as the homogeneous Bianchi spacetimes, three of which retain one rotation symmetry. Such models are motivated by an anomaly observed in the cosmic microwave background, denoted the “axis of evil”. We study both the background dynamics of teleparallel Bianchi spacetimes, aiming for solutions which are originally anisotropic, but become isotropic at late times, and their perturbations, which describe gravitational waves and matter density perturbations.
We focus on the newer general relativity and scalar-torsion types of teleparallel gravity theories. The former is a simple class which allows us to develop the methods we will be using, while the latter is a large class of theories from which phenomenological models can be built. These models can then be compared to previous work on scalar-tensor theories, allowing us to apply previous results to these new models.

Please contact dr. Margus Saal (margus.saal@ut.ee). Co-supervisor is dr. Manuel Hohmann. The study will be carried out in the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics.

Chemical and Physical Sciences (Physics)