Applying for Admission/School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies

The University's Doctoral School opens for applications for postgraduate studies twice a year: in April-May and October-November (http://www.uta.fi/english/doctoralschool/applying/index.html).

The next call for applications is in April 2013 (from 2 to 30 April 2013). LTL admits new postgraduate students as follows:

Doctoral Programme in Language Studies: 0-3 postgraduate students
Doctoral Programme in Literary Studies: 0-3 postgraduate students

Please submit your application to Head of Administrative Affairs Tiina Harjula by 15.45 on Tuesday 30 April 2013.

Before applying for postgraduate studies, applicants must contact the postgraduate supervisor for their prospective major.

Please note that you must enclose official copies of all degree certificates relevant to the degree programme you wish admission to and your preliminary research and study plan with your application.

According to section 37 of the Universities Act (558/2009), a person must have received one of the following to be eligible for admission to postgraduate studies:

• an applicable higher university degree,
• an applicable higher polytechnic degree,
• an applicable education completed abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for corresponding higher education.

The ability and aptitude of postgraduate students is assessed on the basis of the following principles:

• The scientific quality and relevance of the student's research and study plan, and the feasibility of their implementation.
• The relevance of previous studies and the proposed research topic to the study programme the student is applying for admission to.
• The availability of competent supervision.
• The applicant's skills and knowledge, the grade received for his/her Master's thesis (preferably at least a magna cum laude approbatur) and the language proficiency necessary to complete the doctoral programme.
• The degree of promise and motivation shown by the applicant.

Candidates may be interviewed during the application process to assess their ability and aptitude. Assessments of individual postgraduate students are not made public.

The structure of a student's research plan should follow the instructions of the Academy of Finland to the extent possible. A research plan must include the following: the topic, background, objectives, methods and data of the study, and information on schedule and funding (see http://www.aka.fi/en-GB/A/For-researchers/How-to-apply/Appendices/Research-plan/). 

LTL's Postgraduate Committee processes applications, and the Dean decides who will be admitted.