Admission Requirements

Doctoral Programmes | Application Procedure  |  Application Deadlines | Decision on Admission and supervisors | Registration  | Visiting Postgraduate Students

Doctoral Programmes

There are four doctoral programmes in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities: 

• The Doctoral Programme in Philosophy
• The Doctoral Programme in History
• The Doctoral Programme in Psychology and Logopaedics
• The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences 

The doctoral programme in Social Sciences includes the disciplines of Sociology, Social Psychology, Social Anthropology, Social Policy, Gender Studies, Music Studies and Social Work, and the research field of Peace and Conflict Research. 

The right to study is granted either to a certain doctoral programme (the doctoral programmes in Philosophy or History) or to a doctoral programme and a major subject (the doctoral programmes in Psychology and Logopaedics or in Social Sciences). Therefore the intended major subject must be stated in the application form when applying for a doctoral programme which includes several disciplines.

Further information on the doctoral programmes.

Research in disciplines.

Requirements

The requirement for admission to postgraduate studies is the Finnish Master's degree or a corresponding degree (M.A., M.Sc.) from a foreign institution of higher education. The Master's degree or its equivalent should include as a major subject the prospective major subject of the Doctor’s degree with a thesis, or the applicant should otherwise have comparable advanced studies in that particular subject. The professor of the prospective major subject makes the decision on the equivalence of former studies.  

In principle, it is recommended that the Finnish Master’s thesis has been graded at least magna cum laude approbatur. 

In addition, the applicant has to present a feasible research plan for his/her studies. This is a crucial document in the evaluation of the application.

The research plan should include information as follows: the topic and the background of the research, theoretical framework, the research methods to be used, the data and the realisation of the research. The research plan should indicate that the applicant is familiarized enough with the topic and with the previous research concerning the theme. When evaluating the research plan, the suitability of the topic to the research profile of the discipline and the resources available for supervision are taken into consideration. The recommended length of the research plan is five to eight pages.  

Also a preliminary study plan for the doctoral studies is required, including reasons for applying and the objectives of the studies. In addition, university level studies included in the degree of the applicant or other studies or research merits can be taken into consideration. 

The Doctor's degree may be obtained without first taking the Licentiate's degree.

 The Dean of the School decides on the admission of students. The decision is based on the application documents and on a statement given by the professor of the prospective major subject and on a statement given by the Postgraduate committee . 

The School may limit the number of students due to lack of resources and staff. Therefore, all applicants cannot be accepted. About 30 students will be accepted every year.

Please see also "Arrival in Finland: Practical Information"

Application Procedure

Applicants for doctoral degree are required to complete a specific application form addressed to the School. The application form is available here. In the application form and its enclosures, the applicant is required to give detailed information about the following:

• Previous academic studies and degrees: Certificates of academic and educational background.
  
  
• If the Master's degree has been taken outside Finland: an official transcript from university records as well as the Master's degree certificate officially translated into English, in addition to the syllabus of previous studies and a full copy of the Master's thesis must be enclosed with the application. If separately agreed, these can be in other widely known European languages.
   
• The desired doctoral programme and the major subject (if the doctoral programme includes several disciplines) for the doctoral degree.
   
• A preliminary study and research plan for the studies to be taken for the degree.
   
• A research proposal for the Doctoral dissertation (please see above).
  
  
• Certificates of language skills. For students planning to study in English the following scores are required:
• TOEFL, Test of English as a Foreign Language Minimum score: 90/Internet-based, 575/paper-based
• IELTS Academic, International English Language Testing System Minimum score: 6.5 with no individual score below 5.5
• PTE,  Academic English Language Proficiency test by Pearson; Minimum score: 62

Applicants who have taken their Master's studies and obtained their Master's degree in English in one of the following countries are exempt from the language test: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Also the students who have taken their Master's studies at the University of Tampere are exempt from the language test.

It is advisable to include also other certificates of language tests taken, if any, especially of tests taken in Finnish, Swedish, German or French.

Please note! The enclosures should be sent by mail.

Please note! The School will not send the applications back, therefore please don't enclose original certificates or publications you still need!

Application Deadlines

There are two deadlines for the applications: April 30 and October 31.  The decisions will be made before a new term begins.

Decision on Admission and Supervisors

1. The application is first sent to the professors of the intended major subject for their statement.
   
   
2. The postgraduate committee considers the applications based on the statements of the disciplines and gives a proposal to the Dean about the applications which the committee supports.
    
3. The right to take a postgraduate degree is given as a Dean's decision, which states the doctoral programme and the degree's major subject and the supervisor/s. The right to study is granted for a Doctor’s degree but it is also possible to take a corresponding Licentiate’s degree only.

The supervisor should be a professor or a docent in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities. The other supervisor may be a person who is a Doctor and has sufficient merits in the discipline, even from outside the School. The applicant also has a possibility to make a wish in the application form of a certain supervisor from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

The information on the supervisors is registered in the student's transcript of study records.  If there is later a need to change the supervisors, a new Dean's decision will be made, based on a proposal made by the professor of the major subject.  The application forms of the accepted students are filed and kept at the School Office.

Registration

All postgraduate students must register at the University at the beginning of each academic year. They register either as attending or non-attending students. Only students registered as attending may participate in teaching and pursue studies at the University. The registration takes place in the Registrar's Office in the MainBuilding of the University. 

If a postgraduate student fails to register he/she loses the right to take the degree.  If the student later on wishes to continue the studies, a written application must be made to the Registrar’s Office, or to the Dean if more than one year has passed since the last registration. 

So far, there are no tuition fees for degree students in Finnish universities. Postgraduate students may join the Student Union of the University of Tampere if they wish. The membership fee is 46 € for postgraduate students per academic year, and it is paid with a bank transfer enclosed to the letter of acceptance. 

If the student is not willing to join the Student Union, the registration can be done by visiting the Registrar’s Office, by mail, by email (aktuaari@uta.fi) or by NettiOpsu for students. 

Visiting Postgraduate Students

The School of Social Sciences and Humanities may also admit visiting postgraduate students from the partner universities of the School or students from other universities applying for admission on an individual basis.

A student applying for the status of a visiting postgraduate student is required to fill in the application form at http://www.uta.fi/admissions/exchange/application.php. The instructions given on those pages are to be followed.  The admission is decided by the Dean based on a statement given by the Professor of the intended major subject. Application deadlines are May 15th for the autumn semester and by October 15th for the spring semester.