How to apply?

Overview
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
When and how to apply
The research plan

Overview

General informaiton on postgraduate students, their status and studies are found here:

http://www.helsinki.fi/admissions/postgraduate_applicants.htm

There are two application deadlines per year: 15 April and 15 October.

The next application round will be closed on 15 October 2013. The electronic application form will be opened in the middle of September.

In the Finnish system, only persons who have obtained a Master´s degree or equivalent from a recognized university are considered post-graduate applicants.

Therefore, postgraduate admission is meant only for applicants who have already completed a Master-level degree at an established and recognised foreign university.

Postgraduate studies can be divided into two degrees: Licentiate of Social Sciences and Doctor of Social Sciences.
Licentiate of Social Sciences is a lower, optional post-graduate degree, mainly composed of independent research. The objective of the degree is to prove the student´s ability to use scholarly research methods. There is another type of licentiate´s degree in social work which aims at professional specialization.

For the Doctor´s degree (Doctor of Social Sciences) the candidate must write a dissertation. After receiving publishing permission from the Faculty, the candidate must defend the dissertation in a public examination which is organized as a debate between the candidate and an opponent or occasionally two opponents.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

Admission to the doctoral studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences depends on two main criteria:

• The applicant should have a degree comparable to a Finnish Master's degree (about 3+2 years of studies including a Master's thesis) and preceding studies equalling Master's major in the field he or she is planning the dissertation - and with good marks. [This rule cannot be quite categorical because the borderlines between disciplines in social sciences are often vague and the discipline classifications vary.]
• The applicant should be able to submit a good research plan (the plan for one's dissertation, about 10 pages). See more below.

The applicants will be assessed by these two criteria. In addition, a suitable supervisor must be found for those considered eligible in principle.

The doctor's degree can be completed in all the disciplines of the Faculty. It is up to the applicant to choose and indicate the preferred/suitable discipline among those of this Faculty. You may also want to browse the University’s electronic dissertation database, E-thesis.

You are adivsed to look up the websites of the most suitable disciplines and check the link 'Research' there as well as the homepages or the blogs of the academic staff in order to find someone with similar scholarly interests as you. Once you have found someone you think is suitable you may send your research plan - or perhaps a synopsis first - for comments and to discuss possible supervisors.

Some of the disciplines have special requirements:

Economics:
- applicant's Master's degree (with Economics as the main subject) is completed less than five years ago; otherwise an examination is required.

- the applicant's preceding studies in Economics must be very similar as those taught in this Faculty (the applicant must be able to document the similarity). See the study guide of Economics.

- the applicant is able, before submitting the application, to find a supervisor for him/herself - a person among the staff of the discipline or one agreed upon by the discipline - who is willing to accept the task. The applicant should contact the professors in Economics via e-mail, attaching a preliminary research plan to his/her message in order for the recipient to be able to evaluate whether suggested topics fits into research interests of the recipient. NOTE! The best way to find out about research interests of potential supervisors in Economics (University of Helsinki) is via HECER-website - however, the applicant can ask only those teachers who are staff members of University of Helsinki to act as his/her supervisor.

Political Science:

- the applicant must choose one of the three study lines in Political Science already when applying and inform about it in the application. It is recommendable to contact a professor in the study line chosen. The study lines are: Politics, Administration and Organisation, and World Politics.

When and how to apply

There are two application deadlines per year: 15 April and 15 October in 2013. The applicants are required to submit the following documents.

All applicants are required to submit:

- The electronic application form available here between 16 September - 15 October 2013 (N.B. local time, + 2 GMT)

- Preliminary research plan

- Information on your Master's thesis: title and a brief summary.

In addition, those applicants who have not completed their Master's degree in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki are to submit these documents as well:

- Official information on the curriculum and course contents of your Master's degree. This information should be as detailed as possible.

- A copy of your Master's Degree Diploma

- Short curriculum vitae

- Language certificate (preferably TOEFL, IELTS) is recommendable

The electronic application form can be saved during fillling in, and all documents can be attached to it. Or the documents can be e-mailed to valt-postgrad@helsinki.fi or mailed to the Faculty of Social Sciences:

P.O. Box 54, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.

The student selection is based on the applicant's academic background and on a research plan made by the applicant. You will find more information about the research plan below. The selection of postgraduate students is completed from four to six weeks after the closing dates. Postgraduate applications are handled by the Postgraduate Studies Coordinator Marjukka Laakso, and all enquiries should be directed to her.

Read more general information on applying and studying at the website of the University of Helsinki.

The research plan

As indicated above, the research plan is an important criterion. Contrary to general instructions it has not been obligatory in this Faculty to get in contact with the discipline in question in order to discuss the research plan before submitting the application (with a few exceptions, however!). Even if it is not necessary, it is advisable and definitely in the best interests of the applicant.

The scope of the plan should be about 10 pages (in Economics the plan may be shorter). Its essential elements are:
- the research problem and its motivation (with respect to what is currently known about the subject)
- the theoretical frame of reference and the methods
- the research material and how it will be collected; a good plan also includes the timetable. In short: What? Why? How?