How to apply to doctoral programmes

You must have completed a Finnish second-cycle (master’s) degree or a foreign degree that makes you eligible for doctoral education in the country where the degree was completed. You must also demonstrate that you have academic level language skills.

The University of Helsinki will verify your eligibility for doctoral education from the documents you have submitted. 

The institution that confers the foreign qualification must be recognised as an official higher education institution with degree-conferring authority by the official authorising body of the country in question.

All the studies included in your eligibility giving degree - including a possible thesis - must be completed, approved and registered by the end of the application period.

If you have ever been granted a study right for a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, but your studies have been interrupted, find out whether you can be readmitted to the old study right or whether you need to apply for a new one.

Visit the doctoral programme websites to read their descriptions, teaching programmes and activities. Once you have found an interesting programme that matches your research topic and background, browse the research profiles of the programme’s supervisors. 

If you already have a supervisor, you can also discuss your programme options with them.

Start looking for a supervisor well in advance, that is, months before the application round begins. When contacting a potential supervisor be professional and prepare carefully, as many supervisors receive up to hundreds of messages. 

Check your programme's possible requirements for supervisors as they differ from programme to programme. Many doctoral programmes require that you have one or two supervisors at the time of submitting your application. Also note that some programmes require that you have a coordinating academic and a thesis committee already when applying.

The University of Helsinki’s Research Portal is a good starting point when looking for potential supervisors. The portal’s Research Units section contains faculty-specific lists of principal investigators.

Many research groups also have websites of their own where you can find out more about them.

A research proposal is the most important part of your application. Start preparing it in good time and, if possible, discuss it in advance with your planned supervisor(s). 

The research proposal is written on the application form in specific fields with a limited number of characters. Free-form research proposals will not be accepted.

A study plan is a preliminary plan of the studies you will complete as part of your degree. The study plan must be drawn up in a way that makes it possible for you to complete the studies in four years of full-time study. Further information on the degree requirements of different doctoral programmes is available in the Studies service.

A right to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki does not include funding. 

You are requested to submit a funding plan as part of your application.

There are no tuition fees for PhD students.

You have to demonstrate your academic level language proficiency in either Finnish, Swedish or English. Sufficient language skills are part of the eligibility criteria.

To ensure you have the time to complete a language test, if necessary, familiarise yourself with the language requirements well in advance of applying. 

You can demonstrate your language proficiency in any of the three languages regardless of the language in which you intend to write your doctoral thesis.

When you apply for a doctoral programme, you must submit the attachments specified in the general instructions and programme selection criteria. You must upload attachments also for studies completed in Finland, including at the University of Helsinki, to the application form. If you do not submit the required attachments by the deadline, your application will not proceed to evaluation and will be rejected.

If your educational documents are not in English, Finnish or Swedish, you must provide official translations into one of these languages in addition to the original documents.

During the application stage, simply upload good-quality copies of your educational documents as attachments on the application form. If you are admitted to a doctoral programme, you must provide electronically verifiable or officially certified copies of the uploaded attachments by the given deadline.

Also check if your programme has any programme specific enclosures, such as supervisors' supporting statement. 

Many doctoral programmes are multi- or cross-disciplinary, making it possible to pursue degrees awarded by a number of faculties. Check the admission instructions for your programme to see which degrees are available, and consider which one is suitable for your educational background and your chosen research topic.

You can only apply by filling in the online application form during the application period. The application can be written in Finnish, Swedish or English. Check the programme-specific requirements – some doctoral programmes require an English-language research proposal.

Reserve plenty of time for completing the application. The application cannot be saved as a draft, but you can edit it during the application period. To be able to save the application, there must be at least one character in every mandatory answer field.

We recommend preparing the application in a separate file and then copying the answers to the application form during the application period.

Upload the required certificates of your previous studies and language proficiency to the application form by the deadline for submitting attachments.If all the enclosures have not been submitted as required, your application will not proceed to academic evaluation and will be rejected.

Also remember to submit programme-specific attachments, if any. 

After submitting your application in the Studyinfo service, you will receive a confirmation by email. The processing of applications and related decision-making takes a few months. 

Your application will be processed as follows:

• Admission services will check that your application and its attachments meet the minimum requirements. If the minimum requirements are not met your application is rejected.
• If the minimum requirements are met, your application will go to the evaluation of the doctoral programme.

If you are conditionally admitted to a doctoral programme, you must submit to the Admission Services, by the given deadline, the officially certified or verified educational documents that you submitted on the application form at the application stage. Otherwise, you will lose the study place you have been offered.

In some countries it can take over a month to obtain officially certified documents, so start preparations  to obtain them well in advance!

• The decisions for July 2025 application round will be communicated by 29 August 2025 at the latest, the study place must be accepted by 12 September 2025 at the latest. The study right starts on 1 September 2025.

• The decisions for September 2025 application round will be communicated by 18 November 2025 at the latest. Officially certified documents must be submitted, and the study place must be accepted by 16 December 2025 at the latest. The study right starts on 1 January 2026.
• The decisions for November 2025 application round will be communicated by 20 January 2026 at the latest. Officially certified documents must be submitted, and the study place must be accepted by 17 February 2026 at the latest. The study right starts on 1 March 2026.