Information for accepted applicants

Welcome to study in the University of Helsinki doctoral programmes! On this page you will find information on how to accept the offered study right, and the next steps of the process of becoming a doctoral student.
Admission results

The admission results for all programmes are published on the at the latest. Your personal admission results will be sent to you by e-mail. You can also find the result information in the .

It is not possible to obtain advance information on the exact timing of the publication of results. Results are not published on weekends.

Check the instructions for accepted and rejected applicants when the results are published. If you are offered a study place, remember to accept it by the given deadline.
Conditionally accepted applicants

Some applicants are accepted conditionally. If you are accepted conditionally, you will be notified by email, or you can check the conditions on your admission at Studyinfo. You can access your information in Studyinfo through the link in the message titled "The study place can be confirmed in Studyinfo" that you receive when the admission results are published.

You must meet all the conditions listed in Studyinfo by the given deadline. Failing to meet any of the conditions by the deadline causes you to lose the offered study place.

 

Possible conditions

Your acceptance may be conditional for one or a combination of the following reasons. Note that the conditions have a deadline, and you must meet the deadline.

  • Submit officially certified documents by the given deadline: One or more of the documents you submitted during the application period were not officially certified documents, but ordinary photocopies or scanned copies. You must submit those documents as officially certified documents.
  • Graduate and submit officially certified degree certificate by the given deadline: One or more of your previous degrees used as the basis of your application were incomplete during the application period, thus you must provide a proof of your graduation and the awarded degree.
How to submit educational documents to meet the condition

If you are required to submit your educational documents as officially certified documents, those documents will be listed in Studyinfo. Only submit the documents that are required.

  • See the instructions on how to submit officially certified educational documents on our website: 

Your degree was awarded outside of Finland

  • You must deliver an officially certified copy of your degree certificate to the Admission Services by the given deadline. See the instructions on how to submit officially certified documents to the Admission Services on our website: .
  • If your educational documents have not been issued in English, Finnish or Swedish, you must also submit  into one of these languages in addition to the officially certified copies of the documents in the original language.
  • If there is a considerable delay in receiving the final degree certificate due to a technical or administrative procedure at the awarding institution, you can provide a temporary degree certificate or another official document. The substituting document must contain the information required from a degree certificate. The substituting document can be, for example, your last transcript of records or an official letter addressed to the University of Helsinki.

The degree certificate or the document that substitutes for the degree certificate must carry the official stamp of the awarding institution and the signature, print name, and status of the certifying university officer, as well as all the following information:

  • the name of the degree awarding institution
  • the date when the degree was awarded
  • the name of the student
  • the awarded title

Failing to meet the set deadline causes you to lose the offered study place.

 

Your degree was awarded in Finland

  • You must notify the Admission Services that your degree has been awarded by . Once you have sent the notification, Admission Services will check the award of your degree in the national database in Studyinfo. Note that you can only notify us after your degree has been registered and is visible in MyStudyinfo.
  • You may also upload a copy of your degree certificate in the application system.
All accepted applicants

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

If you do not have a Finnish personal identity code, or you have not given the code on your application, 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 and you have given the code on your application, 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, .

Once you have accepted the offered study right, you can no longer cancel or change your notification. 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. 

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 . .

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 . 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 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:
    • Please note, that if you do not have a Finnish ID or bank account, you have to visit the Helpdesk Office personally.
    • 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 , 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.
    • 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  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 .
  • 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 . You will need a hosting agreement from the University of Helsinki as a part of your residence permit application. . 
  • If you need a hosting agreement, please contact the Doctoral Student Services of your home faculty.  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 .