Doctoral Degree in Philosophy or Social Sciences

Postgraduate students pursuing a doctoral degree in Philosophy or Social Sciences must write a doctoral dissertation and defend it in public. The doctoral dissertation is a substantial scientific thesis based on independent research. The dissertation must produce new scientific knowledge and demonstrate critical thinking, a profound knowledge of the field and its methods, and the ability to apply these methods.

A doctoral dissertation can be a manuscript of an unpublished dissertation (a monograph), an integrated entity of scientific publications or manuscripts approved for publication paired with a summary (an article-based doctoral dissertation) or another type of work that fulfils the scientific criteria. An article-based doctoral dissertation must form an integrated research entity, and the objectives, methods and results of the study must be presented in the summary. The research entity must include between three and five articles (depending on their scope), and at least some of the articles must be peer-reviewed. None of the publications or manuscripts may be exclusively referential: every publication or manuscript must contain new results or introduce new points of view. The publications may also include co-authored publications if the doctoral candidate's independent contribution can be shown. The candidate must present a written clarification of his or her contribution to the collective research when the doctoral dissertation is handed in for the preliminary examination. All the requirements concerning the doctoral dissertations apply not only to a monograph but also to an article-based dissertation. An article-based doctoral dissertation may not include parts of the candidate's previous dissertation.

Final Project in Art

Postgraduate studies in Theatre Work offer individualised academic studies in art. Postgraduate students specialise either in developing their own artistic work or in developing the field of theatre and theatre training. The purpose of the studies is to intensify and diversify interactions in the field of theatre and to create new openings in professional theatre. In fact, the interaction between education, research and artistic activity lies at the heart of the postgraduate studies, and interaction requires collaboration not only within the field of theatre but also with art universities and other institutions of higher education in Finland and abroad. A final project is based on the student's artistic work, and it is either an independent work of art or a series of works of art that focus on a certain theme. The work of art and the analysis must form an entity which represents, supports and promotes the student's artistic progress. The analysis is usually written, but it can also combine different media. Researchers or doctoral candidates can also produce a collective final project.

Works of art presented as final projects must be performed or displayed in public and recorded for examination at a sufficiently high level of technical quality. The purpose of the examination is to weigh the importance of the final project in relation to new knowledge or a new viewpoint it brings to the field, to promote interaction within the field and to assert the role of theatre in interdisciplinary and societal discussion. To the extent possible, the examination follows the format of the public defence of the doctoral dissertation. The work(s) of art and related analysis are evaluated as a whole.

In place of a work of art, the final project in Theatre Art can also be a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation must deal with theatre training or some other topic central to theatre work. In this case, all requirements concerning the dissertation, its defence and grading apply.