The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK, Universities Finland UNIFI, Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Arene and the Academy of Finland prepared the first template for the researcher’s curriculum vitae (CV) in accordance with the responsible conduct of research for Finnish research organisations in 2012. This curriculum vitae template was updated in 2020.
- Researcher’s Curriculum Vitae Template. Recommendation of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK 2020 (PDF) /
- Researcher's Curriculum Vitae Template. Recommendation of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK 2020 (DOCX)
Main standpoints
A curriculum vitae (CV) is an overview of an individual’s studies, professional career, academic merits and other achievements. When included in an application, a CV is, in principle, a public document, and the information it contains must be verifiable. When a researcher writes their CV, they should always comply with the instructions of the organisation that has requested it.
The aim of the template is to provide guidelines for the writer of a CV so that the individual’s merits are presented as comprehensively, truthfully and comparably as possible.
The researcher should present full details of all of their merits and commitments that are relevant to the research career stage and the purpose for which the CV is intended.
Organisations and degrees should be referred to by their official names or titles, and job positions should be referred to by the titles specified by the employer or funding organisation. The translations of titles must be officially approved, used by the organisations themselves, or otherwise justifiable.
Research organisations, funding organisations and institutes of higher education can make use of the curriculum vitae template when they prepare their own guidelines. Organisations are advised to follow the headings and structure of the template when they prepare their own guidelines.
TENK recommends that organisations adopt the template in its original format. However, specific instructions on how to use the template must be provided in each situation. This is to ensure that the writer of the curriculum vitae complies with responsible conduct of research.
The curriculum vitae template is recommended to be used alongside the Good practice in researcher evaluation. Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland, produced by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies.
Focus on good scientific practice
In Finland, research organisations and research funding organisations require that all applications and other documents (such as applications, CVs, lists of publications, portfolios, research plans and statements) addressed to them or prepared by researchers affiliated with their research communities comply with responsible conduct of research.
If a researcher is suspected of exaggerating or distorting their merits in one of the these documents or their translations, the matter can be treated as a suspected violation of the responsible conduct of research in the organisations that have undertaken to comply with the RCR guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK (PDF).
Structure of the CV template
When using the template, please pay special attention to the headings (1–15). The sub-sections presented under the headings are included mainly for illustrative purposes.
1. Personal details and the date of the CV
- Surname (including previous surnames)
- First names
- Researcher ID, if applicable (e.g. ORCID, ResearcherID)
- Date of the CV
2. Degrees
- Date of degree certificate (the most recent one first), degree title, major subject/degree programme or equivalent, name of the educational institution, locality and country where the degree was completed; contact details of the organisation that granted the highest degree; official degrees are stated according to the Finnish and international system.
- Title of Docent: date of the certificate, research discipline and university. Note: the Finnish title dosentti is the Title of Docent in English.
3. Other education and expertise
- Other education, professional competences/qualifications or supplementary training: date of completion, name, scope and provider of the education or training (name and locality)
4. Language skills
- Native language
- Other language skills: the level achieved and the date of certificate, or a justified self-assessment of skills (the Europass Guidelines may be used for self-assessment)
5. Current employment
- Start and end date of employment relationship, current job title, employer and place of work (if the work is part-time, this should be stated; a short job description should be provided if necessary)
- Stage of the academic research career on the four-stage (I–IV) research career model, adapted if necessary
- For a full-time student: educational institution (name and locality) and degree title, degree programme or equivalent
- Secondary occupations
6. Previous work experience
- Previous employment relationships and grant periods (the most recent one first), including long-term visits abroad: the start and end date of the employment/role, job position, employer and place of work or funding organisation (if the work is part-time, this should be stated; a short job description should be provided if necessary)
- Previous secondary occupations and other positions and commitments that are relevant to the application (e.g. in companies)
7. Career breaks
The inclusion of this information is optional, but it may have a positive impact on the evaluation.
- Family leave, military or non-military service, other leaves of absence or career breaks, with dates and duration in months
8. Research funding and grants
- Significant research funding: start and end dates of funding, type, source and amount of funding; role in the preparation of funding applications for a research group; name of principal investigator
9. Research output
- Total number of publications and for example the ten most important and/or most cited publications (identify the database); links to open-access publications; list of publications categorised according to the classification by the Ministry of Education and Culture as a separate appendix
- Methods, software, infrastructures, materials, guides and tools developed
- Patents and inventions
- Most significant artistic works and processes
10. Research supervision and leadership experience
- Activities as the officially appointed supervisor of undergraduate and postgraduate students: number of supervisees by degree programme, principal supervisor/co-supervisor
- Leadership experience in research groups or projects (specify the job description, for example instructing post-doctoral researchers)
11. Teaching merits
Teaching merits should be carefully selected and presented as applicable. If necessary, teaching merits can be demonstrated with a separate teaching portfolio.
- Pedagogical training and other demonstrated pedagogical expertise
- Research-based and collaborative development of teaching and teaching methods (for example developing teaching material, providing open access teaching material, activities in development groups, pedagogical publications)
- Teaching experience in general
- Funding received for the development of teaching
12. Awards and honours
- Awards, prizes and honours granted for scientific, artistic, research or professional merits or on the basis of an academic career
- Recognition of teaching
13. Other key academic merits, such as:
- Acting as pre-examiner or opponent of a doctoral dissertation; memberships in doctoral dissertation committees or boards
- Acting as expert evaluator in recruitment and in evaluation of applications for the Title of Docent, for example
- Peer review of funding applications
- Memberships and positions of trust in scientific communities
- Memberships in national or international expert, evaluation or steering groups and other expert roles (such as evaluation activities in the researcher’s own scientific discipline)
- Memberships in editorial committees for scientific and professional publication series and journals or position as editor or editor-in-chief
- Referee for scientific publications
- Administrative or working group positions in institutes of higher education and research organisations, higher education community roles, and national and international positions of trust in science and research administration (for example on ethics committees)
- Significant invited international lectures
- Organising scientific conferences
14. Scientific and societal impact
- Promoting open science and research, for example the production and responsible distribution of research material and datasets
- Utilizing research output (own and that of others)
- Promoting responsible conduct of research for example by acting as a research integrity adviser
- Developing responsible research and innovation activities
- Key positions of trust, expert positions and assignments
- Merits in research communication and appearing as an expert in the media
15. Other merits
- Other positions and commitments of relevance in terms of the purpose of the CV (such as work in companies or organisations)
- Other societal merits and honours; Finnish military rank, if desirable
- Other expertise of relevance in terms of the purpose of the CV
Update 21 May 2021 - 10. Research supervision and leadership experience: The text "or their names and graduation dates" was removed on the basis of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
Update 22 June 2021 - Main standpoints: The text "TENK recommends using the template unaltered" was changed to "TENK recommends that organisations adopt the template in its original format. However, specific instructions on how to use the template must be provided in each situation."
