1. Aalto Doctoral Programme OF Engineering Get together EVENT 11. 3
Aalto Doctoral Programme OF Engineering Get together EVENT Key elements of a successful doctoral thesis project Suvi Papula Aalto University School of Engineering Department of Engineering Design and Production Engineering Materials

2. Essential elements
An interesting research topic and a clear motivation
Proper definition of the main research hypothesis
Funding – continuous and sufficient
Enthusiasm for independent research work
Good scientific writing skills
Open-mindedness, patience and tolerance for setbacks

3. My thesis project
The study was a part of FIMECC’s Light and efficient solutions (LIGHT) research program ( ), targeting at novel high-strength material solutions
An industry driven (Outokumpu Stainless) research topic: Hydrogen-induced delayed cracking in low-Nickel stainless steels after forming operations
Funding:
4 years funding from Doctoral Program of Concurrent Mechanical Engineering (TUT) financed by the Academy of Finland
Project funding from Tekes
12 months Doctoral program funding from Aalto University School of Engineering
Grants from the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, KAUTE and Walter Ahlström Foundation

4. HOW TO succeed 1) Own contribution
Reading LOTS of books and journal articles about the subject, also older ’classics’, and keeping up to date with new publications
Helps in writing/producing scientific text
Important to know what has already been done
Hands-on attitude to research work
Planning and scheduling
Dividing the research in suitable sections for separate journal manuscripts
Simultaneously working on several subjects

5. HOW TO succeed 2) Help from others
Having dedicated thesis advisor and supervisor
Working in a joint research project with other universities and industrial companies
Collaboration, meetings, seminar presentation, reports
Constructive feedback from the journal manuscript reviewers: proposals for improvement and new aspects for the discussion
Exploiting your networks and asking help and advice whenever needed