Information for accepted applicants

Accept the offer of admission using MyStudyinfo service. You must accept or decline the study place by the deadline indicated.

If you do not have a Finnish personal identity code, the Studyinfo.fi service will send you an email with a link to a page where you can indicate whether you wish to accept the offered place. You will receive this email within 24 hours of the announcement of admissions results.

If you have a Finnish personal identity code, you can access Studyinfo by logging in via Suomi.fi e-identification for which you need Finnish online banking credentials, a Finnish electronic ID-card or a mobile certificate. If you do not have access to the required methods of identification to use the MyStudyinfo service, contact Admissions Services immediately.

Once you have sent the notification, you can no longer cancel or change it. If you do not accept the study place by the deadline, you will lose the study place you have been offered.

NB. During a single academic term, you can accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland in education that begins in the same academic term. The one-place-per-student provision concerns all degree programmes beginning on August 1st, 2016, or after. You may hold several rights to pursue a degree, i.e., you may have been admitted to several programmes to pursue a degree, but you must have accepted the offer of admission in different academic terms.

• You may accept only one offered study place that begins in the same semester and leads to a higher education degree in Finland.
• This also applies to postgraduate degrees in higher education, i.e. licentiate and doctorate degrees.
• This rule does not apply to study places obtained through transfer application procedure
• You can have more than one study right in a study programme leading to a higher education degree, but the study places must be accepted in different semesters. 

If you have not yet graduated but have completed all your studies, you may be granted a study right conditionally. If you are granted a conditional study right, you must be able to submit your degree certificate before the deadline for accepting a study place. Please submit your degree certificate according to the instructions on this page. 

If the study right has been granted to you conditionally for some other reason, you must meet the condition by the given deadline. You will see the possible condition in your acceptance letter. The deadline for meeting the condition is the same as the deadline for accepting the offered study right, unless otherwise instructed.

If you do not meet the condition by the given deadline, you will lose the offered study place.

Oili-registration in My StudyInfo is not in use for doctoral students.

When you have accepted the offered study right in My Studyinfo you will automatically be registred as an attending student for your first academic year..

Postgraduate students can register as non-attending on the first academic year only for a statutory reason. Further instructions on how to register as a non-attending student below. 

Membership in the Students’ Union is voluntary for postgraduate students. If you wish to join the Union, please pay the fee and return the receipt by email to phd-admissions. Read more on the Students’ Union membership here.

NB. In the future, you should register annually during the registration time. Annual registration is compulsory until your degree has been formally awarded. Failing to register during the registration period will result in you losing your study right. You should also notify the Student Services of any changes to your personal details (name, address, phone number) immediately.

During your first year as a doctoral student, you may register for non-attendance only if you meet one of the following criteria:

• you are completing military service as defined by the Conscription Act, the Non-Military Service Act and the Act on Voluntary Military Service for Women
• you are on maternity, paternity or parental leave
• you are unable to start your studies because of an illness or disability.

Send a copy of a certificate stating the reason for your absence to Helsinki University Admission Services. If your certificate includes sensitive personal information, please use encrypted e-mail while submitting your certificate.

NB. In the future, you should register annually during the registration time. Annual registration is compulsory until your degree has been formally awarded. Failing to register during the registration time will result in your removal from the student register. You should also notify the Student Services of any changes to your personal details (name, address, phone number) immediately.

Please note that there is always a delay in the registering your study right. You can't activate you user account right after accepting the offered study right. When your study right has been registered do at least the following procedures:

• Inform your supervisors and your thesis committee about the decision that you have received a study right and accepted it.
• Activate your user account to get access to e.g. UH e-mail address and UH internal webpages. See instructions here: Activating student user account
  • Please note, that if you do not have a Finnish ID or bank account, you have to visit the Helpdesk Office personally.
• Update your information at Sisu
  • In Sisu you will plan your studies, register for courses, and when the time comes, submit your request for graduation. (user account is needed).
• From the University’s Instructions for Students -service, you will find all the instructions related to your doctoral studies from a single address.
  • The service can be browsed without logging in, but for the best user experience, we recommend signing in with your University of Helsinki user account. When you log in, the service will automatically recognize your doctoral programme and show you instructions aimed specifically at you. If you use the service without logging in, don’t forget to choose the doctoral programme you want from the degree programme menu on the front page.
  • In th service you can find Instructions for a new doctoral researcher
• Get started with Thessa
  • With Thessa, you can plan your research project, track your progress and draw up a supervision plan with your supervisors.
  • Please note that access to Thessa only opens once your study rights are valid.

After accepting your study place, it's time to start planning on relocating to Finland. The University of Helsinki Uni Arrival Advisor is an electronic service that will help you find your way to information related to e.g. immigration, insurance, taxing issues, public transportation and other important things you need to take into account when moving to a new country. Through the service you will get a personal checklist that guides you through the process of arriving in Finland and settling in Helsinki step by step.

Im­mig­ra­tion and res­id­ence per­mits

• Citizens of EU, Liechtenstein and Switzerland intending to reside and work in Finland for longer than three months must register their right to reside in Finland at the Finnish Immigration Service MIGRI.
• Nordic citizens must register at the Local Register Office within one week from arrival in Finland in case their stay exceeds 6 months.
• Citizens of other countries must apply for a residence permit if the intended stay in Finland is longer than three months. As a rule, all doctoral students apply for a residence permit for scientific research, independent of their source of funding. The residence permit needs to be applied for before arrival in Finland.
• The residence permit is applied for from the Finnish Immigration Service MIGRI. You will need a hosting agreement from the University of Helsinki as a part of your residence permit application. You will find an example of the hosting agreement from MIGRI's site. 
• If you need a hosting agreement, please contact the Doctoral Student Services of your home faculty. Contact information for Faculty Doctoral Student Services is available in the Instructions for Students -service.
• Requesting a Finnish Identity Code in the immigration process is recommended for all doctoral students.

If you are moving to Helsinki, you should start looking for accommodation as soon as you have accepted the offered study right. For help with finding an apartment, see the Studies service.