Degree Structure and System of Study

Degree Structure

The current degree system took effect at the Finnish Universities in August 2005. The extent of a degree is given in credits (in Finnish opintopiste). Finnish credits are ECTS compatible, i.e. one Finnish credit corresponds to one ECTS credit.

• The minimum requirement for a first cycle university degree, Bachelor’s degree, is 180 credits.
• The extent of studies leading to a second cycle university degree, Master’s degree, is 120 credits (except for Master of Science in Psychology, the extent is 150 credits and for Licentiate of Medicine, 360 credits).

Postgraduate studies (=third cycle) in Finland consist of two degrees: Licentiate’s and Doctoral, the lower of these being the Licentiate’s degree. A Doctoral degree can be obtained without first becoming a Licentiate. The requirements for a Doctor’s degree include writing an extensive doctoral dissertation and defending it in a public debate. Postgraduate studies can be pursued only after completion of a  second cycle degree or equivalent.

Credits and Workload

The average input of 1600 working hours needed for studies of one academic year corresponds to 60 credits. The working hours include lectures, practical work, seminars, exercises, independent study, written examinations, and research. Thus, the credit system is based on a full student workload and is not limited to contact hours only. The credit system ensures that the programme will be reasonable in terms of workload for the period of study abroad.

Degree Programmes at UTA

The majority of the degree programmes at UTA are instructed in Finnish. For those who wish to study in English, UTA provides a selection of international Master’s degree programmes.

A list of degrees offered at UTA
International Master’s degree programmes on the Admissions site

At UTA the degree programmes were renewed in 2012. A total of 25 new degree programmes start in September 2012. Students admitted to these programmes will, upon admission, gain the right to study for both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree. In the new programmes, students first complete a Bachelor’s degree in a broad-based Bachelor’s programme. During the Bachelor’s programme, the students will opt for a certain specialization area in their Master’s studies. At the final stage of their Master’s Degree studies, students write a thesis based on independent research in a chosen area of their specialization. The Finnish Master’s thesis is a relatively large project and it usually requires a whole year of the student’s studying time.

In all the degree programmes, students draw a personal study plan HOPS with a mentor at the beginning of their studies. The student updates and reflects on her/his personal study plan throughout her/his studies. The study plan supports students plan on how to proceed in her/his studies, to make choices to do with studies and studying, and to develop and grow into and as an academic professional. Furthermore, the study plans help the degree programmes, Schools and the University gain important feedback from students and to direct means of study guidance and counseling, and to develop their services. The personal study plans are drawn up and maintained within the web tool NettiOpsu.

A joint graduation ceremony for graduates of University of Tampere is organised twice a year in June and in December. There is no dress code for graduates at UTA and attending the ceremony is voluntary.

Basic Elements of the Degree

Course Unit

All instruction is planned, arranged and taken in course units. Course units carry a certain number of credits, usually five or a number divisible by five. Quite often, a course unit includes taught classes and/or an exam on set books. Teaching methods include lectures , exercises, seminars, group work, practical work, and written assignments.

Course units form larger entities called study modules. Once all the course units required for a certain study module have been completed and registered, the student can request an overall grade on the completed module at the school office.

The largest single course unit included in a degree programme is the Master’s thesis, which is usually worth 40 credits. At the final stage of studies the student takes a course unit called a maturity test, which includes writing an essay on a topic based on the theme of the thesis and set by the examiner.

Study Modules and Their Level in Curriculum

A study module is the basic structural entity of the degree programme. Study modules comprise a certain number of course units and they either represent one discipline or are interdisciplinary.

Study modules usually range from 25 to 65 credits depending on the subject or the programme and on the level of studies. Basic studies (perusopinnot) and intermediate studies (aineopinnot) are included in the Bachelor’s degree, and advanced studies (syventävät opinnot), in the Master’s degree. A graded study module forms a complete part of the degree, which means that if the student has acquired an overall grade on a study module (Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Studies), she/he will not need to take any additional exams even if the requirements of the course units included in the study module were to change before she/he has completed her/hisyour degree.

The purpose of the basic studies is to familiarize the student with the general principles of the study field and its scientific principles and research, and to give a broad foundation for further studies.

The intermediate studies familiarize the student with the scientific terminology of her/his field of study, with its most important theoretical and methodological concepts, and its most significant research results and problems relevant to the objectives of the degree programme.

Advanced studies provide the student with good overall knowledge of the field, the ability needed to seek and apply scientific knowledge and methods and skills needed for scientific postgraduate education. A large proportion of the advanced studies (syventävät opinnot), is taken up by research.

A variety of general, optional and free choice studies, are included in each degree programme. These can be included on all levels of the programme.

General studies usually include language and communication studies and units related to general study skills. Optional studies provide the student with various possibilities within her/his degree programme, whereas free choice studies can include course units and study modules from one’s own School or another.